Resume

University of Houston [USA]

Doctor of Philosophy, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (May 2026)

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur [India]

Master of Technology, Chemical Engineering (2019)

Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda [India]

Bachelor of Engineering, Chemical Engineering (2017)

University of Houston [Houston, Texas, USA]

PhD Candidate ChBE, Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey D. Rimer
January 2021 – Present

• Identified/screened molecular modifiers for Calcium Oxalate Monohydrate (COM) dissolution using microfluidics.
• Investigating co-operativity of multiple modifiers of COM using the isobologram analysis.
• Understanding growth mechanism of Calcium Oxalate Dihydrate (COD) crystals.
• Optimized microfluidics setup for in-situ crystal study for inhibition and dissolution.

AbbVie [North Chicago, IL]

R&D Process Engineering Summer Intern
May 2025 – Present

• Assessing and developing of a variety of process technologies for long-acting injectables (LAIs) of small molecules.
• Developing robust processes to manufacture small-molecule API, toxins, and drug products.
• Areas of research interests: LAI process development, crystalline nanosuspensions, crystallization fundamentals, and crystallization process development.

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur [Kharagpur, West Bengal, India]

Junior Research Fellow – Advanced Technology Development Center, Advisor: Prof. Sunando DasGupta
September 2019 – July 2020

• Studied the effect of magnetic fields on evaporation dynamics of aqueous droplets.
• Designed digital microfluidics setup for droplet splitting and transport.

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur [Kharagpur, West Bengal , India]

ChemE, Graduate Research Assistant, Advisor: Prof. Rabibrata Mukherjee and Prof. Sunando DasGupta
July 2018 – June 2019

• Developed anisotropic wrinkles by physical vapor deposition and studied droplet evaporation dynamics.
• Utilized soft lithography for replica molding nature-inspired bio-mimicking surfaces and further integrated with
  electrowetting studies on replicated surfaces.

Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) [Berlin, Germany]

Summer Research Intern, Advisor: Dr. Knut Rurack
May 2018 – June 2018

• Designed and fabricated a 2D microfluidic chip for chlorine sensing using an in-house fluorescent molecular probe
  and performed assays. Contributed to the design of optical setup for fluorescence microscopy.
• Worked in multi-user Clean room (Class 6) for photolithography and micro-fabrication

Maharaja Sayajirao University [Baroda, Gujarat, India]

Undergraduate thesis, Advisor: Prof. Ranjan Sengupta
July 2016 – May 2017

• Developed a detailed and optimized plant design for Styrene using ASPEN, CHEMCAD, and Microsoft Excel, demonstrating technical and economic viability. Designed and implemented a program integrating material and energy balance calculations with equipment design and cost estimation.
• Identified plant location(s), ensuring optimal safety and compliance with environmental standards crucial for efficient and sustainable operations in the oil and gas sector. Comprehensive survey for plant location, safety, waste management, and treatment standards.

Crystal Engineering

Inorganic Crystallization, Nucleation and Growth, Surface and Materials Characterization

Microfabrication

Worked in Clean Room, Photolithography, and soft-lithography.

Microscopy

Optical Microscopes, AFM, SEM, and TEM

Microfluidics

Lab-on-a-Chip for understanding kidney stone pathogenesis.

Biomaterials

Bioinspired materials for drug development

Soft-matter and Biomimetics

Bioinspired surfaces, droplet dynamics and interfacial phenomena

1. Chauhan, V.P., and Rimer, J.D.: “Capitalizing on the cooperative actions of multiple modifiers to control Calcium Oxalate Crystallization” [In prep]
2. Chauhan, V.P., Asplin, J.R., Best, S., Rimer, J.D.: “Dissolution Therapy for Kidney Stones” [In prep]
3. Chauhan, V.P. and Rimer, J.D.: “Effective Accelerants of Calcium Oxalate Monohydrate Crystal Dissolution” Invited – Crystal Growth & Design – In Revision (2025)
4. Kim, D.,* Chauhan, V.P.,* Alamani, B.G., Fisher, S., Yang, Z., Terlier, T., Jones, M.,R., Vekilov, P.G.,
   and Rimer, J.D.: “Bio-Inspired Dual Action Disruptors of Pathological Calcium Oxalate Crystallization” [In Press – Nature Communications] [* joint first author]
5. Chauhan, V.P., Grobman, G.Y., Vidavsky, N., and Rimer, J.D.: “Time-resolved Dynamics of Calcium Oxalate Dihydrate Crystallization” Crystal Growth and Design [Invited special issue: Celebrating Mike Ward’s Contributions to Molecular Crystal Growth] [Link]
6. Su, Y., Li, S., Li, X., Zhou, J., Chauhan, V.P., Li, M., Su, Y., Liu, C., Yin, W., Rimer, J.D., and Cai, T.:
   “Tartronic Acid as a Potential Inhibitor of Pathological Calcium Oxalate Crystallization” Advanced Science 11,  2400642 (2024) [Link]
7. Tang, W., Yang, T., Morales-Rivera, C.A., Geng, X., Srirambhatla, V.K., Kang, X., Chauhan, V.P., Hong, S., Tu, Q., Florence, A.J., Mo, H., Calderon, H.A., Kisielowski, C., Robles-Hernandez, F.C., Zou, X., Mpourmpakis, G., and Rimer, J.D.: “Tautomerism Unveils a Self-Inhibition Mechanism of Crystallization” Nature Communications 14, 561 (2023) [Link]
8. Tillo, A., Bartelmess, J., Chauhan, V.P., Bell, J., and Rurack, K., “Microfluidic Device for the Determination of Water Chlorination Levels Combining a Fluorescent meso-Enamine BODIPY Probe and a Micro-hydrocyclone for Gas Bubble Separation” Analytical Chemistry, 91, 12980-12987 (2019) [Link]

• Chairing Opportunities:
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Conference (AIChE), Separations Division and Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development and Manufacturing Division.
    
    2025: Co-chair: Nucleation and Growth [To be held] [Boston, MA]
    2024: Co-chair: Foreign Species and Crystallization: Impurity, Rejection, Additives, Dopants, etc. [San Diego, CA]
    2024: Co-chair session: Advancements in Drug Substance Processing and Material Science. [San Diego, CA]
• Talk:
  • ACS Spring, San Diego, CA, 2025
  • AIChE Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 2024
  • 39th Annual Research Symposium, OChEGS, University of Houston, TX, 2024
  • Gordon Research Conference on Biomineralization, New London, NH, 2024 [Invited talk]
  • Student Seminar Series – Organization of Chemical Engineering Graduate Students (OChEGS), University of Houston. 2024
  • AIChE Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, 2023
• Poster:
  • ACS Spring, San Diego, CA, 2025
  • AIChE Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 2024
  • 39th Annual Research Symposium, OChEGS, University of Houston, TX, 2024
  • Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) and Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Biomineralization, New London, NH, 2024
  • AIChE Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, 2023
  • 38th Annual Research Symposium, Organization of Chemical Engineering Graduate Students, University of Houston, TX, 2023
  • Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) and Gordon Research Conference (GRC), Crystal Growth and Assembly, NH, 2023

1. TEX-E Entrepreneurship BootCamp, Greentown Labs, Houston, Texas [Sept 2024]
2. Summer School: Chemical Crystallography organized by American Crystallographic Association, Purdue University, West Lafayette [June 2024]
3. Write Winning Grant Proposal Workshop organized by Division of Research, University of Houston [Feb 26-27, 2024]
4. Partners in Academic Laboratory Safety (PALS), ExxonMobil, Baytown, Texas [August 3-5, 2021]

1. Mentor – Pen Pal program, Letters to a Pre-scientist (LPS) [2024]
2. Active Volunteer at George Observatory, Houston Museum of Natural Science – Brazos Bend State Park [2024] – mostly deck telescopes and East Dome crew.
3. Special Awards Judge: Science and Engineering Fair of Houston [SEFH] [2024]
4. Volunteered for UH Energy Day [October 15 2022, October 21 2023]

• Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development and Manufacturing (PD2M) Student Award, AIChE
• AIChE – Graduate Research Student Award: Crystallization & Evaporation, Separations Division
• Society of Plastics Engineering Graduate Student Scholarship, UH Chapter [2024]
• AVL Video Contest Winner organized by American Crystallographers Association. [Link][2024]
• American Society of Indian Engineers & Architects (ASIE) Student Scholarship, Houston, TX [2024]
• Audience Choice Award, 3-Minute Thesis (3MT), AIChE and Early Career Community, San Diego, CA [2024]
• Graduate Scholarship Award – National Association for Surface Finishing (NASF) [2024]
• Invited Talk – Gordon Research Conference, Biomineralization, New London, New Hampshire [2024]
• Travel Award for Summer School on Chemical Crystallography by ACA at Purdue University [2024]
• Finalist, 3-Minute Thesis (3MT), University of Houston [2023]
• Future Faculty Fellowship [2023]
• Axalta Bright Futures Scholarship [2023]
• Multicultural Success Initiative, University of Houston [2023]
• Presidential Fellowship, University of Houston [2020-2022]
• Graduate Tuition Fellowship, University of Houston [2020-2025]
• Junior Research Fellowship, IIT Kharagpur [2019]
• GATE Scholarship, MHRD, IIT Kharagpur [2017-2019]

• Instruments: Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Optical Microscope, and Goniometer, FTIR
• Clean Room: Photolithography and Microfabrication. (Class 5, 6, 10 and 100).
• PAT Tools: Crystal 16, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Karl Fischer (KF), Mastersizer, Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD), Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)
• Simulation Packages: ANSYS Fluent, COMSOL
• Programming: C, Python