Website of Dr. Gaurav Nilakantan
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About Me.

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Dr. Gaurav Nilakantan is currently the Associate Director for Business Development at Raytheon Technologies Research Center (RTRC). He previously was the Hypersonics and Space Structures Technology and Integration Lead at Boeing Research & Technology (BR&T).

Dr. Nilakantan holds PhD, MS, and BE degrees in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering. He has completed various certificate courses in Leadership, Finance, Six Sigma, and Aerospace Project Management. He has worked both in Scientist and Engineer type roles as part of his career spanning Industry and Academia. He has made both seminal and major research contributions in the field of composites. His body of work has spanned the manufacturing, experimental characterization, and finite element modeling of textiles, polymer matrix composites, and ceramic matrix composites for armor, aerospace, space, and hypersonics applications, with >20 first-author journal papers. He has served as the PI/PM on government-funded CRAD programs and industry-funded IRAD programs, and closely collaborated with several government agencies. He is extensively networked with government, industry, and academia. He has served as a symposium organizer and session chair at various technical conferences, and served as a reviewer for various technical journals. He has won various awards over the course of his career including a best university doctoral dissertation award.

Gaurav is a US citizen with active security clearance. He lives in Thousand Oaks, California and enjoys Southern California's beaches, hiking, basketball, and entertainment.
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Education and Certifications

  • PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, 2011
  • MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Cincinnati, 2006
  • BE, Mechanical Engineering, Visveswaraiah Technological University (India), 2003

  • Aerospace Project Management, California Institute of Technology, 2021
  • Leadership at All Levels, Massachusetts Institute of Technology xPRO, 2020
  • Accounting and Finance for the Non-Finance Manager, University of California San Diego, 2020
  • Six Sigma Green Belt for Process Improvement, University of Southern California, 2019

Work Experience

  • Associate Director of Business Development
    Raytheon Technologies Research Center
    East Hartford, CT (based out of SoCal)
  • Hypersonics and Space Structures Technology and Integration Lead
    Boeing Research & Technology
    Huntington Beach, CA
  • Sr. Composites M&P Engineer
    Composites Technical Lead Engineer

    Boeing Research & Technology
    El Segundo, CA

  • Research Scientist
    Teledyne Scientific & Imaging
    Thousand Oaks, CA

  • Senior Research Associate
    M.C. Gill Composites Center
    University of  Southern California
    Los Angeles, CA

  • Research Associate
    Center for Composite Materials
    University of  Delaware
    Newark, DE

Feb 2023 - present

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Jan 2022 - Feb 2023
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May 2019 - Jan 2022



Feb 2015 - May 2019


Nov 2012 - Feb 2015



Dec 2010 - Oct 2012



Copyright (c) 2022, Gaurav Nilakantan
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