Santosh Kumar S, PhD

KLA | PhD & MS @ UMN | B.Tech @ NITT

Milpitas, California, United States

About

I study photo-contamination and photo-degradation to enable next generation mask inspection. I completed my PhD in mechanical engineering from the university of Minnesota developing novel laser diagnostic tools for the study of turbulence.

Experience

  • KLA (5 yrs 10 mos)
    • Research Scientist
      May 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 3 mos

    • Product Engineer
      Oct 2020 - Jun 2023 · 2 yrs 9 mos

  • University of Minnesota (Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area)
    • Graduate Research Assistant
      Sep 2013 - Oct 2020 · 7 yrs 2 mos

      I am a research assistant in the flow field imaging lab, working with Prof. Jiarong Hong in developing novel optical tools for flow measurement and diagnostic applications. In this regard, I primarily work on digital inline holography, a single-camera 3D computational imaging technique that enables high resolution imaging over extended volumetric depth relative to conventional imaging. We use a laser illumination and capture the interference of light scattered by objects in the field and the unscattered portion of the beam as concentric fringe patterns i.e. a hologram. Once recorded, the holograms can be numerically refocussed to allow extending the depth of field of the imaging system. Research projects:

    • Graduate Teaching Assistant
      Jul 2013 - Dec 2017 · 4 yrs 6 mos

      ME4331: Thermal Energy Engineering Laboratory 1. Developed new experiments for transient conduction and schlieren imaging for thermal measurements 2. Incorporated active learning strategies for instruction and prelab activities to improve engagement from students ME3332: Fluid Mechanics 1. Developed new experiments to demonstrate fluid mechanics concepts including lift, drag, surface tension, and drag crisis 2. Incorporated novel teaching strategies to recitations with aims to improving student performance and engagement with the material