Born in Bhubaneswar, India, I am an MIT researcher who develops mathematical models to help lithium batteries scale faster. A consistent top performer in school, I secured awards such as the Kishor Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) fellowship, top rankings in national examinations in physics, and engineering before joining IIT Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) in 2016.

I gained significant exposure to physical modeling and computational tools during my time at IIT-KGP. My stellar performance in core classes and desire for deep understanding was called out by my professors who are among some of India's top chemical engineers. They inspired me to pursue a career in applied research.

This led me on a diverse geographic path of winning coveted research fellowships to work with major research labs such as Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Canada and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Germany where I studied the physics of living cells to better engineer therapeutics and nanotechnology. For me, these opportunities were golden. Interdisciplinary research presented itself as a gateway to pursue my interests in math, physics and CS from my schooldays, a time when, oddly enough, I could only make sense of pursuing a bachelor's in CS.

Deep support from my mentors and experiences shaped my desire to continue applied research after receiving my chemical engineering bachelor's and master's in technology from IIT-KGP in 2021. I now live in Cambridge and work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where I build physics models for batteries that power homes, data centers and transportation.

As of 2025, I have contributed to several publications, written battery simulators, consulted on four industrial projects, mentored two master's theses students, won two fellowships, and have taught several students in the graduate-level Transport Phenomena course at MIT. I am passionate about applying AI and physics to accelerate the growth of tough tech (such as batteries) and continue pursuing this in the energy and tech industry. Outside of research, I enjoy going on long walks, exploring math, following business trends, and discovering new food.

Hello, I am Sourim, currently a ME PhD student at Purdue University.

I am interested in solving mathematical problems from all domains and try to explain them from different perspectives. I see this blog as a platform to reach out a broader audience interested in basic mathematics and engineering puzzle problems.

Apart from the usual academic chores and research, I spend time learning the harmonica, reading a book or watching a movie.

Please feel free to contact me via email or linkedIn for a friendly discussion on a problem or in general.