Dr. Aghna Mukherjee

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, where I lead the Adaptive & Multifunctional Structures Lab. My research focuses on designing intelligent structural systems that integrate advanced materials, nonlinear mechanics, and computational design to enable adaptability and multifunctionality.

I am particularly interested in how structural instabilities and material nonlinearities can be harnessed—rather than avoided—to create transformative engineering solutions. My work spans space deployable structures, morphing aerospace systems, and compliant robotic architectures, combining theory, high-fidelity numerical simulations, and experiments. Through this multidisciplinary approach, I aim to bridge fundamental mechanics with next-generation applications in aerospace and smart structural systems.

Prior to joining IIT Kharagpur, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher at CMASLab in the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich, where I led research on reconfigurable composite booms for space debris collection satellites. I received my Ph.D. from IIT Madras in the Department of Applied Mechanics, working on integrable bistable structural components and their actuation mechanisms for morphing applications. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Durgapur.

• Nonlinear Structural Mechanics
• Adaptive & Multifunctional Composites
• Deployable Aerospace Structures
• Smart Materials & Instability-Driven Mechanisms

• Ph.D., 2021
  Department of Applied Mechanics
  Indian Institute of Technology Madras
• M.S., 2021
  Department of Applied Mechanics
  Indian Institute of Technology Madras
• B.Tech., 2015
  Mechanical Engineering
  National Institute of Technology Durgapur

• Postdoctoral Researcher, 2021–2024
  DMAVT, ETH Zurich
• Postdoctoral Researcher, 2021 (6 months)
  Indian Institute of Technology Madras
• Maintenance Engineer, 2015–2016
  Exide Industries