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Contact Information

Name Prakash Thakolkaran
Professional Title Postdoctoral Scientist
Email tprakash@ethz.ch

Experience

  • 2025 - present

    Zurich, Switzerland

    Postdoctoral Scientist
    ETH Zurich
    Large-scale generative modeling of graph-based metamaterials; interpretable analysis of ferroelectric structure–property relationships.
    • Generative modeling of graph-based metamaterials
    • Ferroelectric structure-property relationship analysis
  • 2021 - 2021

    Zurich, Switzerland

    Research Assistant
    ETH Zurich
    Developed property-guided generative models for complex shell-based metamaterials using language-inspired sequence modeling approaches.
    • Property-guided generative modeling
    • Language-inspired sequence modeling
  • 2019 - 2020

    Zurich, Switzerland

    Development Engineer Intern
    Helbling Technik AG
    Mechanical design, prototyping, and experimental validation of robotic systems.
    • Mechanical design and prototyping of complex robotic gripper
    • Development of Raspberry Pi-based webcam monitoring system

Education

  • 2021 - 2025

    Delft, The Netherlands

    Ph.D.
    Delft University of Technology
    Mechanical Engineering
    • Advisors: Prof. Dr. Siddhant Kumar, Prof. Dr. Marcel H.F. Sluiter
    • Topic: Data-driven design and modeling of complex materials across scales
  • 2018 - 2021

    Zurich, Switzerland

    M.Sc.
    ETH Zurich
    Mechanical Engineering
    • Thesis: Language-based modeling of triply periodic metamaterials
    • Advisors: Prof. Dennis Kochmann, Prof. Siddhant Kumar
  • 2015 - 2018

    Zurich, Switzerland

    B.Sc.
    ETH Zurich
    Mechanical Engineering
    • Thesis: 3D fabrication of fully iron magnetic microrobots
    • Advisor: Prof. Bradley J. Nelson

Awards

  • 2022
    Finalist, Robert J. Melosh Medal
    Duke University

    Selected as one of six finalists at Duke University for outstanding research in finite element modeling.

  • 2022
    Invited Speaker, Engineering Mechanics Symposium
    Engineering Mechanics Symposium

    Delivered a workshop talk about unsupervised modeling of hyperelastic materials.

  • 2025
    Invited Speaker, AI4S3M2
    Lorentz Center Leiden University

    Delivered a workshop talk about attention score analysis to reveal structure-property relationships in covalent organic frameworks.

Skills

Programming (Advanced): Python, MATLAB
Tools & Frameworks (Advanced): Git, Jupyter, LaTeX, Linux, PyTorch, Keras, pandas, numpy

Languages

Swiss German : Native
German : Native
English : Fluent
Malayalam : Native

Interests

Materials Science: Metamaterials, Data-driven design, Inverse design, Structure-property relationships
Machine Learning: Generative modeling, Physics-constrained learning, Interpretable AI
Hobbies: Hiking, Basketball, Gaming, Espresso brewing