Curriculum Vitae

Shashi B. Mishra · Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park

Education

Ph.D. in PhysicsMarch 2021
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
Thesis: Ab initio modelling and functionalization of graphene and TiO2 surfaces and interfaces · Advisor: Prof. B. R. K. Nanda
Prof. A. L. Lashkar Prize for Best Ph.D. Thesis in Physics, IIT Madras (2021)
M.Sc. in PhysicsJune 2013
Utkal University, Odisha, India
B.Sc. in PhysicsJune 2011
Fakir Mohan University, Odisha, India

Professional appointments

Assistant Research ScientistMarch 2026 – Present
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Working with: Prof. Thomas E. Murphy
Postdoctoral FellowApril 2023 – March 2026
Department of Physics, SUNY Binghamton, NY
Advisor: Prof. E. R. Margine
  • Developed vertex corrections for electron–phonon interactions beyond the Migdal approximation.
  • Investigated phonon-limited transport in Weyl semimetals (TaAs family).
  • Core developer on the EPW (Electron-Phonon Wannier) code.
Postdoctoral FellowApril 2021 – March 2023
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Riverside
Advisor: Prof. Sinisa Coh
  • Formulated a gauge-invariant theory of the inverse Faraday effect in nonmagnetic metals.
  • Modelled light-induced magnetic phenomena for ultrafast switching applications.
Project OfficerJune 2020 – March 2021
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India — TiO2-based materials for gas sensing and solar cells.

Research interests

  • Density-functional and many-body perturbation theory — first-principles modelling of electrons, phonons, and their interactions.
  • Phonon-mediated superconductivity — beyond-Migdal vertex corrections, anharmonicity, high-pressure hydrides.
  • Topological quantum matter — transport in Weyl and Dirac semimetals, Berry-curvature effects, work functions of topological surfaces.
  • Light–matter interaction — inverse Faraday effect across 3d–5d metals, ultrafast optical control of magnetism.
  • Machine learning for materials — ML-accelerated discovery and data-driven models for electron–phonon coupling.
  • Energy materials and catalysis — 2D battery anodes/cathodes and oxide surface chemistry.

Research funding

  • Principal Investigator, ACCESS allocation PHY250052 (2025–2026) — 150,000 credit hours of HPC time.
  • DST Young Scientist Travel Award (2019) — ICAMM International Conference, Rennes, France.

Honours and awards

  • APS DCOMP Travel Award 2026 — Global Physics Summit, Denver, Colorado.
  • Young Scientist Award 2024, Odisha Physical Society, India.
  • Best Ph.D. Thesis Award in Physics 2021 (Prof. A. L. Lashkar Prize), IIT Madras.
  • DST Young Scientist Travel Award 2019 — ICAMM, Rennes, France.
  • Best Oral Presentation, EESTER International Conference, SRM & IIT Madras (2020).
  • Best Poster, International Conference on Advanced Functional Materials, Anna University (2017).
  • First Prize, I2CAM School on Clean and Renewable Energy, JNCASR Bangalore (2017).
  • Meritorious Master Scholarship, Institute of Mathematics & Applications / DST India (2011–2013).

Professional service

  • Treasurer / Secretary, APS Topical Group on Energy Research and Applications (GERA), 2025–2027.
  • Early career representative, APS Division of Computational Physics (DCOMP), 2024–2025.
  • APS Annual Leadership Meeting & Congressional Visit, DCOMP representative, Washington DC (Jan 2025).
  • NSF CSSI-PI Meeting, Denver, CO (Jul 2025).
  • Session Chair, APS March Meeting 2024 — "Session K58: Electrons, Phonons, and Electron-Phonon Scattering".
  • Peer reviewer for Phys. Rev. Lett., Phys. Rev. Applied, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., Sci. Rep., J. Energy Storage, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, Comp. Phys. Comm., Chem. Eng. Sci., Phys. Lett. A, Solid State Comm., Comput. Theor. Chem., J. Phys. Chem. Solids.

Teaching

Guest Lecturer, Statistical Mechanics I (PHYS 631)Fall 2025
Graduate course, Department of Physics, Binghamton University.
Teaching Assistant2015 – 2019
Department of Physics, IIT Madras — PH1010/PH1020/PH1030 undergraduate physics & labs; EP3291 Engineering Physics Lab; PH5060/PH5770 M.Sc. physics labs.

Selected invited talks

  • "Insights into the surface chemistry of oxide semiconductors," ICAM-SEEi 2025 Workshop, IITRAM Ahmedabad (Nov 2025).
  • "Understanding phonon-mediated superconductivity: from fundamentals to frontiers," International Faculty Development Program on Frontiers in Material Science, SRM IST Chennai (Mar 2025).
  • "Phonon-mediated superconductivity in H3S and NaC4," Young Scientist Award Winner Talk, 41st Annual Convention, Orissa Physical Society, KIIT University (Feb 2025).

Contributed presentations (selected)

  • "Automating many-body workflows with EPWpy in the MATCSSI framework," NSF CSSI-PI Meeting, Denver (2025).
  • "Stability-superconductivity map for compressed Na-intercalated graphite," APS March Meeting, Anaheim (2025).
  • "Phonon-mediated superconductivity beyond the Migdal approximation," APS March Meeting, Minneapolis (2024).
  • "Theory of inverse Faraday effect in 3d, 4d, and 5d metals," APS March Meeting, Las Vegas (2023).

Technical skills

  • Software: Quantum ESPRESSO, VASP, EPW, Wannier90, WannierBerri, WannierTools, Gaussian.
  • Programming: FORTRAN, Python, MATLAB, Bash.
  • HPC: parallel computing and optimization; SLURM job scheduling; MPI / OpenMP.

Professional memberships

  • American Physical Society (APS)
  • Materials Research Society (MRS)
  • American Chemical Society (ACS)

Publications

See the full publication list — 29 peer-reviewed articles and one conference proceeding.