Rishika Mehavarnam’s Charge: Powering EV Innovation at the Nanoscale
By John Russell
When Rishika Mehavarnam begins to talk about her research, her words carry the enthusiasm of discovery and the precision of someone who knows she’s building the future, one molecule at a time. A second-year master’s student in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, she’s an international student from India, driven by a vision of cleaner energy and smarter materials.
Rishika’s journey began at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, one of India’s leading engineering universities. There, she earned her Bachelor of Technology in metallurgy, the science of metals and their properties.
“Back then, I was focused on understanding materials at a macro level,” she explains. “But when I came to Penn, I realized there was this entire universe at the nanoscale that I hadn’t explored.”
Her first experience with nanotechnology came in a course taught by Mark Allen, a name synonymous with micro- and nanofabrication at Penn.
“That course gave me such a solid foundation,” she recalls. “It was the first time I understood how materials behave differently at the nanoscale.”
That curiosity led her to Guyseok Kim’s advanced lab course, where theory turned into hands-on experimentation.
“I got to fabricate quantum dots, create MEMS devices, and even build graphene pH sensors,” she says, smiling. “It was fascinating to see how something so small could have such a big impact.”
Rishika is a member of Eric Detsi’s lab, where she’s helping to pioneer sodium-based nanobatteries—an emerging alternative to lithium-ion technology.
“My focus is on improving battery performance for electric vehicles,” she says. “Sodium is more abundant and environmentally friendly than lithium, so it could make sustainable energy more accessible.”
Her work involves optimizing materials, testing energy storage efficiency, and imagining how these innovations could shape a cleaner, electrified future.
“I aim to work in battery tech, developing, optimizing, and testing systems for EV applications. Ultimately, I want to contribute to sustainability and energy development.”
Her journey is one clearly defined by curiosity.