About

Sanjay Sampath is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University. His research encompasses the fields of thermal spray processing of materials, synthesis and application of multilayered surfaces, and the development of direct write technology for thick film sensors and electronics. His current research involves an integrated strategy combining the science and technology of thermal spray processing, focusing on both fundamental aspects, such as the evolution of microstructures under far from equilibrium conditions, and applied aspects related to industrial coating design, performance, and reliability. Professor Sampath has pioneered mesoscale direct writing technologies based on thermal spray for applications in prototyping and manufacturing of thick film sensor structures, electronics, and mesoscale multifunctional systems. He has held leadership roles as the Director of the NSF Materials Research Science & Engineering Center for Thermal Spray Research and the DARPA Thermal Spray based Direct Writing of Mesoscale Electronics & Sensors Systems. His contributions have been recognized through awards including the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, the Alcoa Foundation Research Award, and the Kobe Steel Research Award. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stony Brook University in 1989 and his B.S. B.Tech. in Metallurgy from the Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University in India. His professional career includes roles as an Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor at Stony Brook University, as well as an Advanced Research Engineer at Osram Sylvania Inc.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Composite material
• Chemical engineering
• Mineralogy
• Metallurgy
• Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Geometry
• Organic chemistry
• Forensic engineering
• Geology

Selected publications

• Formation dynamics of composite Ni-graphite abradable coatings

  Surface and Coatings Technology · 2025-10-03 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Ultrathick thermal barrier coatings enabled by additive manufactured alloys with novel surface features

  Journal of the European Ceramic Society · 2025-11-09

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Substrate effects on the interface fracture toughness energy of thermal spray coatings

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Plasma Gas Chemistry Effects on the In-Flight Stoichiometric Changes of Ytterbium Silicate EBCs

  Journal of Thermal Spray Technology · 2025-10-19

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Correction to: Plasma Gas Chemistry Effects on the In-Flight Stoichiometric Changes of Ytterbium Silicate EBCs

  Journal of Thermal Spray Technology · 2025-11-25

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Merging technologies: light-weight, high-throughput full-shell optics for x-ray imaging

  2025-09-18

  articleSenior author

  X-ray optics are an essential component of nearly all future x-ray astronomy missions. Nickel electroforming of full shell optics is well established and several existing X-ray astronomy missions have used the technique to fabricate Wolter mirror modules. Our innovative approach merges current electroform technology with lower density materials, replacing much of the electroformed nickel with ceramic material which has higher stiffness, higher hardness and lower mass when compared with current electroformed nickel large shell optics. This will lead to future cost-effective missions with large effective area and lightweight optics. Below we describe our approach and present our most recent results.

  PublisherDOI

• Novel, high throughput interface fracture testing method for thermal spray coatings: The modified cantilever bend technique

  Journal of the European Ceramic Society · 2024-05-03 · 9 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Phase and properties evolution of plasma sprayed rare earth silicate coatings

  Ceramics International · 2024-04-03 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Offset bending for interfacial toughness of plasma sprayed ceramic coatings

  Surface and Coatings Technology · 2023-07-06 · 7 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Offset Bending for Interfacial Toughness of Plasma Sprayed Ceramic Coatings

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• PFI: Partnership for Innovation in Thermally Sprayed Systems - Enabling New Applications Through Collaborative Research

  NSF · $600k · 2011–2016

• GOALI: Novel Interface Driven Phenomena in Thermal Sprayed Systems: Mechanics, Materials Processing and Industrial Linkages

  NSF · $620k · 2010–2015

• GOALI/FRG: Science and Technology of Thermal Sprayed Interfaces and Layered Structures

  NSF · $850k · 2006–2010

Frequent coauthors

• H. Herman

  184 shared

• Jon P. Longtin

  Stony Brook University

  75 shared

• R. J. Gambino

  63 shared

• Andrew Gouldstone

  Northeastern University

  49 shared

• H. Zhang

  North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power

  45 shared

• R.L. Williamson

  42 shared

• Christopher C. Berndt

  Australian Research Council

  37 shared

• Hugh McManus

  Universidad del Noreste

  36 shared

Labs

• Center for Thermal Spray ResearchPI

  The Center for Thermal Spray Research (CTSR) at Stony Brook University was established in 1996 through the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers program.

Education

• Ph.D.

  Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, State University of New York, Stony Brook

  1989

• Other

  Dept. of Metallurgy, Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, India

  1985

Awards & honors

• SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Cr…
• Alcoa Foundation Research Award (1995, 1996)
• Kobe Steel Research Award (1997)
• Director, NSF Materials Research Science & Engineering Cente…
• Director, DARPA Thermal Spray based Direct Writing of Mesosc…