Sridhar Seetharaman

Recognized under Tier 5 — Energy Systems & Power Generation, Sridhar Seetharaman conducts research into electrochemical and materials processing approaches with direct applications to space resource utilization and energy systems at the University of Warwick. Seetharaman's work on molten oxide electrolysis and related high-temperature electrochemical processes — which can extract metals and oxygen from oxide-rich materials like Martian regolith — bridges energy systems and ISRU in a highly practical way: the same electrochemical process that produces oxygen for life support or propellant manufacture can simultaneously yield metal feedstock for manufacturing, exactly the kind of process integration a self-sustaining Mars colony will need.