Triveni Gangadari

Advisor: Sarma V. Pisupati
Expected Graduation: 2027
LinkedIn Profile

What student organizations and activities are you involved in?
I am part of SME(society for mining and metallurgical exploration), GWIS(graduate women in science) and AID(Association for India’s development). By being part of these organizations, I have volunteered for several social and science outreach activities.

Why EME?

What’s the number one reason prospective graduate students should choose EME to pursue their research?
EME is a very versatile department that people with many backgrounds can fit into. You get to meet people from various backgrounds, such as chemical engineering, mineral engineering, mining engineering, mechanical engineering, energy engineering, material science, chemistry, petroleum engineering, etc. In every interaction that I have, my colleagues are always very thoughtful and happy to share their knowledge. I would say they can really learn and grow in such a diverse, elite environment like EME.

What is your dream job and how EME is helping you to get closer to it?
My dream is to set up my own company to extract valuable minerals from low-grade secondary resources such as industrial wastes. My research at EME as a Ph.D. student helps me expose my various mineral processing and hydrometallurgy techniques and build the necessary skill sets for mineral processing in general. Besides that, I am very passionate about Indian ethnic fashion. I would love to develop my own designs and establish a brand.

My Research

My research work is on the separation of critical minerals, such as rare earth elements, from various secondary resources, such as acid mine drainage and red mud (industrial waste). I am currently working on the selective separation of scandium( a rare earth element) and iron from various aqueous solutions. Iron is the fourth most abundant element on the earth. It is one of the major impurities in the hydrometallurgical separation of various elements, including rare earths. Selective separation of scandium and iron is very challenging due to their similarity in chemical properties.

For the past few years, most rare earth elements(REEs) have been listed as critical minerals for the United States. For a few of the elements, the reliance on imports is 100%. The science developed through our research could develop efficient separation and purification technologies for the U.S., which has the potential to increase the domestic supply of critical minerals and make the US self-reliant.

Additionally, since there is a shortage of primary resources for REEs, our research group aims to use low-grade industrial wastes such as red mud and naturally available waste streams such as acid mine drainage. Acid mine drainage(AMD) is a major concern in Pennsylvania. Acidic streams occur when natural waters flow through abandoned coal mines and react with sulfur-containing compounds to produce sulfuric acid. It not only leaches several elements but also disrupts the ecological balance through the course of flow. Pennsylvania has about 5,500 miles of AMD. Our technique could simultaneously recover the critical elements dissolved in AMD but also treat it ready for discharge

Methods

I work with solid liquid extraction-based materials such as adsorbents and ion exchange resins as part of my research. My research aims to understand the fundamental basis for separation science and apply those principles to selectively separate rare earth elements into their individual constituents or into a mixture of rare earth elements useful for a particular application.

Advice

What is the one Penn State activity that everyone should participate in, and why?
One should not miss the homecoming parade, white-out match, arts festival and pumpkin festival.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in college so far?
Be prepared to taste the failures . . . Grad school as a research student is not easy! When you are doing something new, you will not see success on the first attempt but don’t give up on what you are doing. Believe in your instincts; just be patient. Trust me, everybody has to go through the tough phase. Be sure to surround yourself with people with positive mindsets (sometimes be silly, too).