Biography

Bhuvana Srinivasan is a Professor in the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington where she is the director of the PLASMAWISE laboratory. Prior to joining UWAA, she was an Associate Professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean engineering at Virginia Tech where she was the director of the Plasma Dynamics Computational Laboratory. She was appointed to the Endowed Crofton Faculty Fellowship in Engineering from 2021 until the end of her appointment at Virginia Tech. Prior to her appointment at Virginia Tech, she was a postdoctoral researcher and a scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. She received her PhD from the University of Washington where she specialized in computational plasma physics applicable to nuclear fusion with a focus on high-fidelity multi-fluid models using the discontinuous Galerkin method.

Her research aims to advance a number of different fusion energy concepts, to further several plasma-based propulsion concepts, and to enhance understanding of fundamental plasma physics relevant to space and astrophysical plasmas. Specific research topics include plasma-material interactions in thrusters and fusion devices, instabilities in high-energy-density fusion and astrophysical plasmas, ionospheric plasma instabilities, and numerical algorithm development for fluid and kinetic models.  An understanding of plasma-material interactions along with methods to handle the extreme plasma conditions encountered near material walls is a critical area of research necessary for the success of the majority of fusion and propulsion concepts. Additionally, the majority of fusion concepts suffer from plasma instabilities that require high-fidelity modeling efforts.  Her research explores plasma instabilities across a range of plasma parameters from high-energy-density fusion to near-earth space plasmas. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, DOE Office of Science, DOE National Nuclear Security Administration, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and several DOE national laboratories. 

Bhuvana Srinivasan is also active in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts and served as Chair of the DEI committee in the aerospace and ocean engineering department at Virginia Tech and through her involvement with the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity at Virginia Tech.  She is presently a member of the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Energy, she serves as Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee for the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics, and has served as a member of the Executive Committee for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Plasma Science and Applications Committee. She has also been active in the APS Division of Plasma Physics Committee on Women+ in Plasma Physics. 

Education

• Ph.D., Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington
• M.S., Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington
• B.S., Aerospace Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology
• B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology

Previous appointments

• Associate Professor, Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Virginia Tech
• Assistant Professor, Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Virginia Tech
• Scientist and postdoctoral researcher, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Select publications

1. Yuzhi Li, Bhuvana Srinivasan, Yanzeng Zhang, Xian-Zhu Tang. “The plasma-sheath transition and Bohm criterion in a high recycling divertor.” Physics of Plasmas 30 no. 6 (2023): 063505, pp 1-10
2. Petr Cagas, James Juno, Ammar Hakim, Andrew LaJoie, Feng Chu, Samuel Langendorf, Bhuvana Srinivasan. “An investigation of shock formation vs shock mitigation of colliding plasma jets.” Physics of Plasmas 30 no. 5 (2023): 053903, pp 1-9
3. Lujain Almarhabi, Chirag Skolar, Wayne Scales, and Bhuvana Srinivasan. “Nonlinear Three-Dimensional Simulations of the Gradient Drift and Secondary Kelvin–Helmholtz Instabilities in Ionospheric Plasma Clouds.” Atmosphere: Special Issue on Ionospheric Science and Ionosonde Applications 14, no. 4 (2023): 676, pp 1-13
4. C. R. Skolar, K. Bradshaw, J. Juno, B. Srinivasan. “Continuum kinetic investigation of the impact of bias potentials in the current saturation regime on sheath formation.” Physics of Plasmas 30 no. 1 (2023): 012504, pp 1-11
5. Yanzeng Zhang, Yuzhi Li, Bhuvana Srinivasan, and Xian-Zhu Tang. “Resolving the mystery of electron perpendicular tempertemperature spike in the plasma sheath.” Physics of Plasmas 30, no. 3 (2023): 033504, pp 1-7
6. John Rodman, Petr Cagas, Ammar Hakim, and Bhuvana Srinivasan. “A kinetic interpretation of the classical Rayleigh-Taylor instability.” Physical Review E 105 (2022): 065209, pp 1-8
7. Liang Wang, Ammar Hakim, James Juno, and Bhuvana Srinivasan. “Electron cyclotron drift instability and anomalous transport: two-fluid moment theory and modeling.” Plasma Sources Science and Technology 31, no. 10 (2022): 105001, pp 1-12
8. Y. Li, B. Srinivasan, Y. Zhang, and X.-Z. Tang. “Bohm criterion of plasma sheaths away from asymptotic limit.” Physical Review Letters 128 (2022): 085002, pp 1-6
9. R. K. Bera, Y. Song, and B. Srinivasan. “The effect of viscosity and resistivity on Rayleigh–Taylor instability induced mixing in magnetized high-energy-density plasmas.” Journal of Plasma Physics 88, no. 2 (2022), pp 1-26
10. C. Samulski, B. Srinivasan, MJ-E. Manuel, R. Masti, J. P. Sauppe, and J. Kline. “Deceleration-stage Rayleigh–Taylor growth in a background magnetic field studied in cylindrical and Cartesian geometries.” Matter and Radiation at Extremes 7, no. 2 (2022): 026902, pp 1-12
11. R. L. Masti, C. L. Ellison, W. A. Farmer, K. Tummel, and B. Srinivasan. “The effect of anomalous resistivity on fast electrothermal instability.” Physics of Plasmas 28, no. 10 (2021): 102106, pp 1-1
12. C. Rathod, B. Srinivasan, and W. Scales. “Modeling the dominance of the gradient drift or Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in sheared ionospheric E×B flows.” Physics of Plasmas 28, no. 5 (2021): 052903, pp 1-13
13. Chirag Rathod, Bhuvana Srinivasan, W. Scales, and B. Kunduri. “Investigation of the gradient drift instability as a cause of density irregularities in subauroral polarization streams.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 126, no. 5 (2021): e2020JA029027, pp 1-16
14. Yang Song and Bhuvana Srinivasan. “An efficient reconstruction algorithm for diffusion on triangular grids using the nodal discontinuous Galerkin method.” Computer Physics Communications 264 (2021): 107873, pp 1-15
15. Petr Cagas, Ammar H. Hakim, and Bhuvana Srinivasan. “A boundary value “reservoir problem” and boundary conditions for multi-moment multifluid simulations of sheaths.” Physics of Plasmas 28, no. 1 (2021): 014501, pp 1-6
16. Petr Cagas, Ammar Hakim, Bhuvana Srinivasan. “Plasma-material boundary conditions for discontinuous Galerkin continuum-kinetic simulations, with a focus on secondary electron emission”. Journal of Computational Physics 406 (2020): 109215, pp 1-19
17. Bhuvana Srinivasan and Ammar Hakim. “Role of electron inertia and electron/ion finite Larmor radius effects in low-beta, magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability”. Physics of Plasmas 25 (2018): 092108, pp 1-8
18. Petr Cagas, Ammar Hakim, James Juno, and Bhuvana Srinivasan. “Continuum kinetic and multi-fluid simulations of classical sheaths”. Physics of Plasmas 24.2 (2017): 022118, pp 1-11
19. Bhuvana Srinivasan and Xian-Zhu Tang. “Mitigating hydrodynamic mix at the gas-ice interface with a combination of magnetic, ablative, and viscous stabilization”. Europhysics Letters 107.6 (2014): 65001, pp 1-6
20. Bhuvana Srinivasan, Guy Dimonte, and Xian-Zhu Tang. “Magnetic field generation in Rayleigh-Taylor unstable inertial confinement fusion plasmas”. Physical Review Letters 108.16 (2012): 165002, pp 1-5

Honors & awards

• Crofton Faculty Fellow in Engineering, 2021-2023, Virginia Tech Board of Visitors
• Faculty Fellow, 2019, Dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech
• Outstanding Assistant Professor, 2017, Dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech
• NSF CAREER, 2019-2024, National Science Foundation
• Amelia Earhart Fellowship, 2007-2009, Zonta International
• Outstanding Female Engineer, 2007, Society of Women Engineers, University of Washington chapter
• Outstanding Female Engineer, 2006, Society of Women Engineers, University of Washington chapter
• Top Scholar Award, 2004-2005, Graduate Fund for Excellence and Innovation, University of Washington
• John L. Way award, 2002, Academic Resource Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology

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