Meet Professor Rohit Karnik

NEET Faculty Director

Rohit Karnik, Ph.D., is the Faculty Director of the NEET program at MIT. He is also Tata Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, where he leads the Microfluidics and Nanofluidics Research Group. His research focuses on the physics of micro- and nanofluidic flows and the design of micro- and nanofluidic systems for applications in water, healthcare, energy, and environment. His research includes topics such as atom-thin graphene membranes for chemical separations, low-cost water filters made from wood, microfluidic devices for making nanoparticles for drug delivery, and methods for separation and detection of cells from complex samples such as blood or food.

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Professor Karnik obtained a Bachelor's in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology at Bombay in 2002, and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 2006. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT in 2007 after completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT. Among other honors, he has received the National Science Foundation Career Award (2010), Keenan Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education (2011), Department of Energy Early Career Award (2012), the Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Distinguished Teaching (2018), and the Office of Graduate Education Committed to Caring Award (2024).
Professor Karnik teaches classes on thermal and fluids engineering, and has taught classes on nanoengineering, mechanics, heat transfer, and others in the past. He also serves as Associate Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS). In the past, he served as Undergraduate Officer, Associate Department Head for Education, and Interim Co-Department Head of Mechanical Engineering at MIT.

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