Biography
Dr. Athira K. S. is a Scientist-B at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, working in the area of additive manufacturing. Her research primarily focuses on electron beam melting (EBM), with current efforts directed toward the development of single crystals for high-temperature applications. Alongside this work, she contributes to studies on laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and microstructural characterization of additively manufactured alloys.
Dr. Athira completed her Ph.D. and M.Tech from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering at IIT Hyderabad, where her research involved welding and microstructural studies of Ni- and Co-base superalloys. Her doctoral work included laser welding of a newly developed W-free precipitation-strengthened Co-base superalloy and keyhole-mode gas tungsten arc welding of industrially relevant Ni-base alloys such as Haynes 282 and Inconel 740H. This work provided insights into weld pool behavior, heat input effects, microstructure evolution, and hardness response in advanced high-temperature materials.
Before joining ARCI, she gained diverse research exposure through collaborations and internships. At IIT Hyderabad, she contributed to a joint project with Pratt & Whitney involving LPBF of the Ni-base superalloy Inconel 939 and its post-processing analysis. Her early research experience spans CALPHAD-based thermodynamic modelling of high-entropy alloys, size-dependent deformation studies of Nb microwires at IISc Bangalore, and projects in biomaterials and nanostructured systems during research fellowships at IISc, NCBS, and Nanyang Technological University.
Her technical expertise includes electron beam melting, laser powder bed fusion, laser welding, keyhole GTAW, and a wide range of materials characterization techniques such as SEM, TEM, EBSD, XRD, nanoindentation, and mechanical testing. She has worked extensively with Ni- and Co-base superalloys and Ti-6Al-4V, along with experience in tools such as Thermo-Calc and MATLAB.
Dr. Athira has authored peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Materials Science and Technology, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, and Journal of Materials Science. She has been recognized with awards including the OmVimla Award for Innovation in Materials for Society at IIT Hyderabad and the IFSM Young Researchers Award.
At ARCI, she aims to advance additive manufacturing for high-performance materials, with a current emphasis on understanding processâmicrostructure relationships during EBM of superalloys and exploring pathways to fabricate single-crystal components. Her long-term interest lies in bridging processing science with practical requirements for aerospace and energy applications, contributing to materials development through careful experimentation, characterization, and collaboration.
Research Areas of Interest
Additive Manufacturing, Metallurgy, Single Crystals
Highest Qualification
Other Qualifications
Conference Proceedings
1. Athira K S, Gururaj Telasang, Ravi Bathe. Additive Manufacturing of Mission-Critical Components for Strategic Applications. ESTIC-2025 Conclave, New Delhi, November 03-05, 2025.
2. Athira K S, B.K. Nagesha, Gururaj Telasang. Powder Bed Fusion by Laser Beam Melting of BZL12Y Superalloy: Process Optimization, Microstructural Analysis and Mechanical Properties. NCWAM-2025, BITS Hyderabad, February 27-28, 2025.
3. Athira K S, Gururaj S T, Ravi Bathe. Effect of High-Temperature Substrate Plate During Powder Bed Fusion Laser Beam Melting of Titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) Alloy. IIM NMD ATM 2024, Bangalore, November 20-22, 2024.
4. K. S. Athira, G. Muvvala, S. Chatterjee, Effect of laser surface remelting of Ni-base superalloy Haynes 282. 4th EuroSuperalloys 2022, Bamberg, Germany.
5. K.S. Athira, S. Chatterjee, Effect of keyhole gas tungsten arc welding (đ-GTAW) of Inconel 740H. NMD ATM 2022, Hyderabad, India.
6. E. Nandha Kumar, K.S Athira, Subhradeep Chatterjee, Dheepa Srinivasan, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Inconel 939. NMD ATM 2022, Hyderabad, India.
7. K. S. Athira, G. Muvvala, S. Chatterjee, Effect of laser surface remelting of Ni-base superalloy Haynes 282. 4th EuroSuperalloys 2022, Bamberg, Germany.
8. K. S. Athira, E. NandhaKumar, S. Chatterjee, Dheepa Srinivasan. Understanding the microstructural evolution in laser powder bed fusion Inconel 939. International conference on powder metallurgy 2022 (PM-22), Virtual mode.
9. K.S. Athira, P. Pandey, S. Mukhopadhyay, K.V. Phani Prabhakar, K. Chattopadhyay, S. Chatterjee. Using microscopy to understand solute partitioning and microstructural evolution in a Co-based superalloy weld. APMC-2020, Hyderabad, India.
10. K.S. Athira, P. Pandey, S. Mukhopadhyay, K.V. Phani Prabhakar, K. Chattopadhyay, S. Chatterjee. Laser welding studies on a precipitation strengthened Co-base superalloy. NMD ATM 2019, Trivandrum, India.
Patents
1. Athira, K. S., Kanchi, A., Bathe, R., & Telasang, G. (2025). Effect of Post-Heat Treatment on Clad Layer of High-Speed Tool Steel Fabricated by Laser Direct Metal Deposition. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 1-10.
2. Athira, K. S., & Chatterjee, S. (2024). High-current gas tungsten arc welding of Ni-base superalloy Haynes 282: correlating heat input with weld profile, microstructure, hardness and indentation size effect. Materials Science and Technology.
3. Athira, K. S., & Chatterjee, S. (2023). Effect of Keyhole Gas Tungsten Arc Welding and Post-welding Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Hardness of Inconel 740H. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 1-15.
4. Athira, K. S., Pandey, P., Prabhakar, K. V., Chattopadhyay, K., & Chatterjee, S. (2022). Laser welding of a W-free precipitation strengthened Co-base superalloy. Journal of Materials Science.
5. Nandha Kumar, E., Athira, K. S., Chatterjee, S., & Srinivasan, D. (2022, October). Effect of Heat Treatment on Structure and Properties of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Inconel 939. In International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (Vol. 86601, p. V001T02A003). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
6. Peddiraju, V. C., Athira, K. S., Simhambhatla, S., & Chatterjee, S. (2021). Enhancing Surface Hardness of Titanium Through Ni-Ti Intermetallic Microstructures Formed In Situ During Weld Deposition of Nickel. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A.
7. Peddiraju, V. C., Pulapakura, K. K., Jagadeesh, D. S., Athira, K. S., Gudur, S., Suryakumar, S., & Chatterjee, S. (2020). Weld deposition of nickel on titanium for surface hardening with Ti-Ni-based intermetallic compounds. Materials Today: Proceedings, 27, 2096-2100.
8. Sunkari, U., Reddy, S. R., Athira, K. S., Chatterjee, S., & Bhattacharjee, P. P. (2020). Effect of niobium alloying on the microstructure, phase stability and mechanical properties of CoCrFeNi2. 1Nbx high entropy alloys: Experimentation and thermodynamic modeling. Materials Science and Engineering: A.
9. Athira, K. S., & Chokshi, A. H. (2018). Size Effect in Mechanical Behavior of Nb Microwires. In Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Science: Selected Extended Papers of ICAMMS 2018 (pp. 213-220). Springer International Publishing.
10. Athira K S, Sanpui P., & Chatterjee, K. (2014). Fabrication of poly (Caprolactone) nanofibers by electrospinning. J Polym Biopolym Phys Chem, 2(4), 62-66.
Awards & Honours
1. Best Poster Award, ESTIC-2025 Conclave, New Delhi
2. OmVimla award for innovation in materials for society, IIT Hyderabad
3. IFSM Students/Young Researchers award, APMC 2020 conference
4. KVPY SX 2013 Fellowship (continued for 2014-2017)
Affiliation to Professional Societies
Indian Institute of Metals Member