Jetti to begin prestigious Cambridge fellowship

MechSE alumnus Yaswanth Sai Jetti (MSME 2021, PhD ME 2025) has been awarded a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) position at Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge, starting in January 2026. Junior Research Fellowships are fixed-term awards of college membership given to early-stage academics. They are awarded on the basis of research excellence and are considered both prestigious and highly competitive.

Jetti, who earned his PhD under Professor Martin Ostoja-Starzewski, is currently a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, working with Professor Fehmi Cirak. His research focuses on developing stochastic and computational methods for understanding how geometric imperfections, material loss, and other forms of microstructural variability influence structural performance. The commonly used deterministic mathematical modeling approaches do not account for the range observed in experimental data and may therefore misrepresent the location and extent of deformation or damage. Stochastic methods provide a way to account for these uncertainties and can significantly improve predictive capability.

Building on his doctoral work on micromechanically consistent random field models for heterogeneous materials, Jetti’s research as a junior research fellow will aim to link sensor data from real structures with advanced stochastic material models to infer damage evolution. By integrating statistical inference with multiscale mechanics, his work seeks to improve the prediction of degradation and support more reliable structural assessment. In the long term, he hopes that this line of research will contribute to reducing costly repairs, enhancing resilience, and extending the lifespan of critical infrastructure.