Before joining IIT-Madras in February 2011, Dr. Gurappa spent 3 months as visiting fellow at KULeuven (Belgium) in Prof. Jan Vermant’s group. He was a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Norman J. Wagner at the University of Delaware (USA). He studied chemical engineering at SIT, Tumkur (Bangalore University), and received a M.S (Research) from IISc, Bangalore, by working on - the determination of local dispersion coefficient and local holdup in a packed bed using X-rays. His PhD in chemical engineering is from KULeuven, Belgium (Prof. Jan Vermant) and his PhD thesis was on - Tailoring colloidal gel rheology in bulk and at interfaces: Exploiting shape and surface chemistry effects.