Rajendra was a PhD candidate at The University of Melbourne, working on Development and Implementation of Auxetic Composites to Protect Infrastructures from Blast Load.

Solid monolithic structures provide reasonable protection against blast loading, but they are heavy, inefficient and costly. Rajendra’s research aimed to develop lightweight high-performance auxetic cellular structures for protective engineering applications. Innovative topologies that maximise energy absorption were employed in the core of protective sandwich panels.

Before starting his PhD, Rajendra worked with Thammasat University, Thailand, where he mainly contributed to developing precast wide U beam-column system, design of Earth-covered Magazine, and design of hybrid beam for marine environment.

His research interests included auxetic metamaterials, cellular structures, topology optimisation, computational modelling, protective structures, 3D printing, earthquake resistant structure, etc.

PhD Start and End Dates
Rajendra completed his PhD in 2023. He is an engineer at Karagozian & Case. 

PUBLICATIONS

• August 2024 – An experimental study of cold-formed steel connections with screwed clip angle under tension and shear loads
• December 2023 – Robust design of CFS connections to prevent progressive collapse in mid-rise buildings
• May 2023 – A multi-deformation stage auxetic structure for blast energy absorption