Kaustubh Deshmukh

Kaustubh graduated from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (Nagpur, India) in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering and with a master’s degree in Materials Science & Engineering from Delft University of Technology (Delft, The Netherlands) in 2020. For his master’s thesis at TU Delft, Kaustubh worked with Dr. Vera Popovich on the topic of Fatigue Crack Propagation in Additively Manufactured and Functionally Graded Inconel 718. Through this work, Kaustubh was familiarized with the Metal AM and Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) technology, and the effect of processing parameters in L-PBF on the microstructure and fatigue behavior of IN718 parts. He also studied the functionally graded materials (FGMs) and the underlying dynamic structure-property-processing relationships in such FGMs.

Kaustubh joined Virginia Tech in Spring 2022 to pursue a Ph.D. with a focus on Metal AM through L-PBF. Kaustubh has been involved with DREAMS Lab since Spring 2023 and is working on L-PBF for 316L stainless & Inconel 718 steel as well as binder jetting of copper composites. Kaustubh is also co-advised by Dr. Prahalada Rao from Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. His research mainly deals with deciphering the structure-property-processing relationships in Metal AM through thermal modeling and in-situ process monitoring.

Beyond additive manufacturing, Kaustubh’s interests lie in material characterization, metallurgy and mechanical testing. His research also involves sensor integration for in-situ monitoring of the L-PBF process.

Outside of work, Kaustubh enjoys photography, soccer, ping pong, hiking, driving and traveling.