Assistant Professor Jean-Charles Stinville was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Shankari Subramanyam Impact Grant, supporting his collaborative research visit to the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in May 2025. His two-week engagement featured intensive lectures, laboratory visits and workshops that drew graduate students and researchers from across India, establishing new international partnerships and laying the groundwork for future collaborative research.
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Assistant Professor Jean-Charles Stinville from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Shankari Subramanyam Impact Grant. The honor supports his collaborative research visit to the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in May 2025.
Why it matters
Assistant Professor Jean-Charles Stinville pictured with students at IIT Madras as he receives grant honors.
The SSIG grant, established by IIT Madras alumnus Dilip Subramanyam, represents a new model for fostering international academic collaboration. This fellowship specifically targets collaborative research across international frontiers, enabling faculty to forge meaningful scientific connections and strengthen research ecosystems spanning from India to the United States. Stinville's selection as the inaugural recipient establishes him as a pioneer in this new framework for global academic exchange.
The big picture
Stinville's two-week engagement at IIT Madras featured an intensive program of lectures, student interactions and laboratory visits designed to elevate the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering's research profile. The visit centered around a two-day symposium on "Deformation and Failure in Metals," which drew young academic minds from IIT campuses across India, including Bombay, Delhi, Indore, Roorkee, BHU and Madras, as well as industrial and research organizations such as Tata Steel, BHEL, IGCAR, and BARC.
The fellowship included a three-day workshop entitled “Characterizing Plasticity in Deformed Metals”, which attracted 35 graduate students and researchers from across India.
Stinville engaged with undergraduate students in informal discussions about pursuing graduate programs abroad, particularly at Illinois.
Laboratory visits and faculty discussions sparked new collaborative research avenues and laid the groundwork for long-term academic partnerships.
The initiative exemplifies how alumni engagement can elevate an academic institution's global reach and research capabilities.
"This fellowship provided an incredible opportunity to engage with brilliant minds at IIT Madras and across India's research community. The interactions with students and faculty during the symposium and workshop have already sparked ideas for collaborative research that I believe will strengthen materials science education and research on both sides of the globe." - Assistant Professor Jean-Charles Stinville