Welcome Thaneshan Sapanathan

We like to welcome Dr Thaneshan Sapanathan to the Curtin Corrosion Centre team. Thaneshan will be leading the Chevron-Woodside Chair research between 2022 and 2025. 

A bit more about Thaneshan

Thaneshan completed a Mechanical engineering degree with 1^st class honours at Monash University and was listed in the dean’s honours list. Then he earned a PhD with Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship, in an interdisciplinary area of mechanical engineering, material sciences and modelling at Monash University, Australia in 2014. After that, he joined the University of Technology of Compiegne in France, as a postdoctoral researcher, and worked extensively on material characterization, and electromagnetic forming and welding. During which he worked on a consortium of 9 partners and made a significant contribution to the project as a leading postdoc. Since early 2017, prior to joining Curtin Corrosion Center, Thaneshan worked as a senior researcher, and an FNRS (National Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium) research fellow at the Institute of Mechanics, Materials, and Civil Engineering (iMMC) at the University of Louvain in Belgium.

During his research, he worked with leading steel manufacturers and industrial suppliers including ArcelorMittal -France, Valeo – France, Thales – France, John Cockerill – Belgium. Thaneshan also secured three beamtime experiments as a lead in large scale facilities at European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) to carry out in situ nano-tomography experiments, and Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) neutron source to quantify 3D residual stresses in welded joints. During his research in Belgium, he holds visiting research positions at IMDEA Materials – Spain. The experiments performed at IMDEA during his research stay for high temperature in situ nucleation and early growth stages of Fe-Al intermetallics within an SEM chamber is a major achievement in his research career. He also pioneered the subject of impact damage quantification and optimization in patch repairing of CFRP composites. His experiences in various subjects well demonstrate the studies on fundamental sciences and their industry relevance in manufacturing/engineering applications.

Thaneshan is a leading research scientist in materials sciences, mechanical behaviour of materials and manufacturing encompasses corrosion at Curtin Corrosion Centre. Thaneshan has a strong interest to bring his extensive experience in materials characterization using advanced techniques (in situ testing, 3D characterization e.g. μCT, and X-ray/Neutron diffraction) to investigate real-world challenges of the oil and gas industries. His current projects involve the identification of appropriate cost-effective materials and manufacturing/welding/testing methods those comply with the standards and requirements of the oil and gas industry.

Thaneshan is an active member of the German Society for Material Science (DGM) and the European Microscopy Society (EMS). In his personal life, Thaneshan likes to spend time in nature, enjoys cooking at home, cycling and swimming.