Faculty
Dr. Ashutosh Agrawal
Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Office Location N217 Engineering Building 1
Phone 713-743-4534
Fax 713-743-4503
Email ashutosh [at] uh.edu
Website Life at the Interface
Education
Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, May 2009, University of California, Berkeley
Master of Science, Civil and Environmental Engineering, August 2003, Rice University
Bachelor of Technology, Civil Engineering, August 2001, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Professional Experience
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX (August 2011 – present)
Research Associate, Department of Applied Physics, Caltech, Pasadena, CA (June 2010 - May 2011)
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX (March 2009 - May 2010)
Summer Intern, Merck Research Laboratories (MRL), North Wales, PA (June 2008 - August 2008)
Research Interests
Biophysics, Mechanics of Surfaces and Interfaces
Selected Publications
- Thomas, N., Combs, W., Mandadapu, K.K., Agrawal, A. (2024). Preferential electrostatic interactions of phosphatidic acid with arginines. Soft Matter.
- Bazmara, M., Sauer, R.A., Agrawal, A. (2023). Biomimetic torene shells. Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, 28(8), 1926–1935.
- Thomas, N., Agrawal, A. (2022). A lateral electric field inhibits gel-to-fluid transition in lipid bilayers. Soft Matter, 18(34), 6437–6442.
- Thomas, N., Mandadapu, K.K., Agrawal, A. (2022). Electromechanics of lipid-modulated gating of potassium channels. Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, 27(7), 1284–1300.
- Torbati, M., Agrawal, A. (2022). Membrane tension determines the geometry of donut-shaped transcellular holes. Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, 27(3), 501–506.
- Thomas, N., Agrawal, A. (2021). Quantification of in-plane flexoelectricity in lipid bilayers. EPL, 134(6), 68003.
- Agrawal, A., Steigmann, D.J. (2021). Asymmetric lipid bilayers from the perspective of three-dimensional liquid crystal theory. Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics, 33(2), 591–602.
- Joseph, J.G., Osorio, C., Yee, V., Agrawal, A., Liu, A.P. (2020). Complimentary action of structured and unstructured domains of epsin supports clathrin-mediated endocytosis at high tension. Communications Biology, 3(1), 743.
- Agrawal, A., Lele, T.P. (2020). Geometry of the nuclear envelope determines its flexural stiffness. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 31(16), 1815–1821.
- Walani, N., Agrawal, A. (2020). Stability of lipid membranes with orthotropic symmetry. Communications Biology, 3(1), 743.
Books / Book Chapters
- Agrawal, A., “Mechanics of membrane-membrane adhesion,” Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, doi: 10.1177/1081286511401364 (2011).
- Agrawal, A., Steigmann, D. J., “A model for surface diffusion of trans-membrane proteins on lipid bilayers,” Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Physik, 62, 549-563 (2011).
- Agrawal, A., Steigmann, D. J., “Mechanics of cellular membranes,” Chapter in Computational Modeling in Biomechanics, Eds. De, S., Guilak, F., Mofrad, M.R.K., Springer (2010).
- Agrawal, A., Steigmann, D. J., “Modeling protein-mediated morphology in biomembranes,” Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 8, 371-379 (2009).
- Agrawal, A., Steigmann, D. J., “Boundary-value problems in the theory of fluid films with curvature elasticity,” Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics, 21, 57-82 (2009).
- Agrawal, A., Steigmann, D. J., “Coexistent fluid-phase equilibria in biomembranes with bending elasticity,” Journal of Elasticity, 93, 63-80 (2008).