PNNL

Sameera Nalin Venkat is a postdoctoral research associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She implements image analysis methods for studying the behavior of heterogeneous materials systems, including soils. Her work involves fusing image datasets to construct detailed three-dimensional models that integrate the structural and chemical information of soil aggregates. 

In her doctoral research, she developed a framework for analyzing microscopy images and the behavior of individual particles, which was applied to investigating the behavior of fluoroelastomers and their crystallites. She has experience in applying classical, machine learning, and neural-network-based techniques to investigate the properties of diverse materials systems, including polymers and photovoltaic modules. 

• AI/machine learning 
• Image analysis 
• Data science 

• PhD in materials science and engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 2024 
• MS in materials science and engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 2021 
• Integrated MSc in chemical sciences, University of Hyderabad, 2019 

• Submission Reviewer, Computational Materials Science, 2024 
• Submission Reviewer, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 2023 
• Invited Virtual Bureau Speaker, Sir C.R. Reddy College of Engineering, February 2023 

• Outstanding Poster Award, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Photovoltaic Reliability Workshops, 2020 and 2025 
• Preeminent Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Central Florida, October 2024–May 2025 
• Materials Research Society (MRS) Communications Early Career Distinguished Presenter, MRS Fall Meeting and Exhibit, 2023 
• Materials and Chemistry Institute Summer Graduate Intern, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, May–August 2022 
• Walt and Sylvia Culver Distinguished ThinkEnergy Fellowship, August 2021–April 2022 
• The Chennupati and Vidya Jagadish Endowment Scholarship, May–July 2018 

2024 

Venkat, S. N., T. G. Ciardi, M. Lu, P. C. DeLeo, J. Augustino, A. Goodman, A., J. C. Jimenez, A. Mondal, F. Ernst, C. A. Orme, Y. Wu, R. H. French, and L. S. Bruckman. 2024. “A General Materials Data Science Framework for Quantitative 2D Analysis of Particle Growth from Image Sequences.” Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Innovation 13 (1): 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40192-024-00342-w. 

2023 

Lu, M., S. N. Venkat, J. Augustino, D. Meshnick, J. C. Jimenez, P. K. Tripathi, A. Nihar, C. A. Orme, R. H. French, L. S. Bruckman, and Y. Wu. 2023. “Image Processing Pipeline for Fluoroelastomer Crystallite Detection in Atomic Force Microscopy Images.” Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Innovation 12 (4): 371–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40192-023-00320-8. 

 Venkat, S. N., X. Yu, J. Liu, J. Wegmueller, J. C. Jimenez, E. I. Barcelos, H. H. Aung, X. Li, J.-N. Jaubert, R. H. French, and L. S. Bruckman. 2023. “Statistical Analysis and Degradation Pathway Modeling of Photovoltaic Minimodules with Varied Packaging Strategies.” Frontiers in Energy Research 11: 1127796. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1127796.