Kota research group
Prior to joining the faculties of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering in the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, Kota earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland. He held research positions in materials science and engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan.
Leveraging his diverse education and training in multiple fields, he and his group pursue highly interdisciplinary, cutting-edge research that spans across materials, mechanical, chemical, and biomedical engineering with focus on both fundamental and applied aspects of surface and interfacial science. By systematically tailoring the surface nanostructure, or hierarchical structure and surface, or interfacial energy, his research group attempts to understand and design novel superhydrophobic surfaces, superomniphobic surfaces, icephobic surfaces, chemically patterned surfaces, stimuli-responsive surfaces, paper-based microfluidic devices, bio-compatible surfaces, and other bio-inspired surfaces for a wide variety of applications.
Kota’s work has been highlighted by Nature, Bloomberg TV, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, ACS News, NASA Tech Briefs, Chemical & Engineering News, and several other newspapers, magazines and websites. He received the Best Science Paper Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers in 2014, the Teaching Excellence Award from the School of Biomedical Engineering at CSU in 2016, and is the holder of three patents.