Padmini Rangamani has formal training in both biology and engineering, which has allowed her to develop a unique combination of skills. During the course of Rangamni's education, she learned three things that have shaped her research interests: (a) a well-designed experiment, rather than a ‘fishing expedition’ is key to obtaining insights in complex multicellular phenomena, (b) we need predictive models that can help us quantify transport and signaling in cells and in tissues, and (c) for such models to be relevant and inform new experiments, they must be rooted in biological facts and not phenomenology. Rangamni's Ph.D. training in biological sciences was a departure from the traditional engineering career path but she believes that move shaped her research interests and has put her in a position where she can develop mathematical models that are reflective of the underlying biology and communicate with biologists, physicists and engineers with great ease.Padmini Rangamani has formal training in both biology and engineering, which has allowed her to develop a unique combination of skills. During the course of Rangamni's education, she learned three things that have shaped her research interests: (a) a well-designed experiment, rather than a ‘fishing expedition’ is key to obtaining insights in complex multicellular phenomena, (b) we need predictive models that can help us quantify transport and signaling in cells and in tissues, and (c) for such models to be relevant and inform new experiments, they must be rooted in biological facts and not phenomenology. Rangamni's Ph.D. training in biological sciences was a departure from the traditional engineering career path but she believes that move shaped her research interests and has put her in a position where she can develop mathematical models that are reflective of the underlying biology and communicate with biologists, physicists and engineers with great ease.

electrochemical energy storage, control of thermal energy, and fluid flow at the nanoscale