Project Page

DWH Project Funding

$76,000

Known Leveraged Funding

$0

Project Description

Dr. Sriramya Nair is an Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University. She is also a Faculty Fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and a Field Member in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. Dr. Nair’s research focuses on the development and characterization of sustainable cementitious materials and novel cementing techniques. She has developed a novel concrete with real-time control based on the principles of magneto-rheology. This patented work has led to the development of a wireline electromagnet for improving the displacement efficiency of well-cementing operations and preventing the formation of channels during hydration of cement slurries. As a Research Associate in Petroleum Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, her work focused on alkali-activated materials, a superior alternative to traditional oil wells cements, which exhibit improved compatibility with synthetic-based drilling fluids. In addition, she worked on the use of fiber optic sensors for the detection of unwanted migration of oil and gases through cemented annuli. She also worked as a Post-Doctoral Associate at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), investigating the micro-mechanical response of alternate cementitious materials and co-developed a high-pressure cell for testing materials under downhole conditions. She is a member of the American Concrete Institute, American Ceramics Society, and American Society of Civil Engineers. Dr. Nair received her B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Davis, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering Materials from The University of Texas at Austin.