Vivek Kumar

Dr. Vivek Kumar is a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering and an accomplished researcher with expertise in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Engineering, Bio-Fluid Mechanics, Image Processing, and Machine Learning. He earned his M.Tech in Materials Science and Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Allahabad and his Ph.D. in Thermal and Fluid Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi. He has over four years of postdoctoral research experience at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He received a travel grant from DST (SERB/ANRF) to present his work internationally. His multidisciplinary expertise and strong academia–industry collaborations make him a valuable contributor to teaching, research, and innovation. 

Dr. Kumar has over four years of postdoctoral research experience at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, where he worked as a Postdoctoral Project Researcher. He led the Bio-Fluid Mechanics research group and contributed to multiple research projects during his tenure. He coordinated collaborations with globally renowned institutions, including Brown University, Penn State University, the Max-Planck Institute, and the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center (Japan), as well as major Japanese companies such as Daikin, Mitsubishi, and Komatsu. He joined UPES as an Assistant Professor (Senior Scale) in July 2025. 

His research interests span a broad range of thermal and biological fluid systems, including thermal management, nanofluids, fluid dynamics, bio-fluid mechanics, and vascular optimization (pruning and angiogenesis). He also works extensively on machine learning and image processing for biological applications, drug delivery, shape and topology optimization, and wind energy. His recent work includes the use of Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) for estimating blood flow in zebrafish.

Dr. Kumar’s teaching philosophy emphasizes conceptual clarity, problem-solving skills, and the practical understanding. He integrates research with classroom learning and real world applications to help students develop strong analytical and experimental abilities. He believes in creating an engaging and collaborative environment where students can connect fundamental concepts in fluid and thermal sciences with emerging technologies such as machine learning and bio-engineering. 

Advanced Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, Thermodynamics 

• MHRD fellowship during Ph.D. at IIT (BHU), Varanasi 

• International Travel Grant (2019) from SERB (now ANRF) to present research in Spain 

Dr. Kumar has published in reputed journals such as ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Physics of Fluids, International Journal of Thermal Sciences, Applied Thermal Engineering, and PLOS Computational Biology. He has delivered invited and plenary talks at multiple international events, including the 11th International Symposium on Symbiotic Nuclear Power (China), the UTokyo–HEU Joint Workshop, the KIT–IIS Workshop, the Hitachi–UTokyo Meeting, Niigata University, and the JVBMO Annual Meeting. He also serves as a reviewer for leading journals including Numerical Heat Transfer Part A, Scientific Reports, Micromachines, and Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. Additionally, he has supervised many student’s research projects in computational fluid dynamics, haemodynamics, and data-assimilation-based flow analysis. 

vivek.kumar@ddn.upes.ac.in