As the PI responsible for organizing the 2025 PREM Principal Investigators Meeting, Dhananjay Kumar coordinated a full day of programming that brought together PREM teams and NSF staff to share strategies for research, student engagement, and center development. Representing the CREAM PREM at NC A&T, he opened the event with remarks that helped set the stage for panels on SEED-to-PREM transitions, mentoring, and collaborative program growth.

After nearly two decades at N.C. A&T, Dhananjay has made important developments in the field of mechanical engineering. The native of India has also become a kind of cultural ambassador of sorts, bonding with his students by sharing his culture.

In the 2023 Spring Meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS) held in San Francisco, California, a team led by Dr. Dhananjay Kumar visited the labs of Dr. Ethan Crumlin and Dr. Junko Yano. The team included Sheilah Cherono and Moses Ashie, who were both students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) State University.

Dr. Kumar's research focuses on TiN and TiNxOy thin films for electrocatalysis, examining substrate conditions to optimize electronic properties for energy conversion applications like OER in water splitting.

My research explores substrate-induced strain effects and interface engineering to optimize electronic, magnetic, and electrochemical properties in complex oxides and nickel oxide thin films for advanced device applications.

Research involves investigating oxide-based catalysts for OER, enhancing efficiency through nanocomposites and elucidating mechanisms using spectroscopy and synchrotron techniques, focusing on structure and defect states.

Dr. Kumar's research on Fe-Ta and Fe-W thin films investigates tunable magnetocaloric effects, exploring influences of film thickness and nanostructure for sustainable solid-state cooling technologies.

Research involves investigating powder behavior and infiltration techniques in 3D-printed ceramics and metals, enhancing shear properties of boron carbide and developing W-ZrC composites for aerospace and defense applications.

The protection of the planet through the development of clean energy will be explored more deeply at North Carolina A&T State University. The university’s College of Engineering has received a federal grant of $10.35 million to research how to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water to create clean energy, a release from NC A&T announced.

The grant – at least the third major investment for energy and technology received this year by A&T – is part of $420 million the Department of Energy awarded for its Energy Frontier Research Centers, which are created to study future energy development and move toward the goal of having a zero-emission economy by 2050.