Friday, Sep 12, 2025 • Brian Lopez : Contact

Partha Pratim Das, a mechanical engineering doctoral student at The University of Texas at Arlington, was selected as the winner of the American Society for Composites’ 2025 Four-Minute Doctoral Research Impact Competition.

Competitors were first asked to submit a 90-second video explaining the impact of their research. Nine of those submissions were selected for the contest finals, in which the students were required to give a four-minute live speech in layman’s terms to explain their work.

“This is a prestigious competition for doctoral students in our field, so it felt good to be able to showcase my research in front of academics, industry and funding organizations,” Das said. “The limited time allowed me to focus on the basic approach to my research.”

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Das is part of the Institute for Predictive Performance Methodologies research group at the UT Arlington Research Institute in Fort Worth. His work focuses on developing a smarter, non-destructive way to monitor moisture damage in composites in real time.

Many modern aircraft are built from more than 50% composite materials, which can gradually absorb moisture. This hidden damage may weaken the structure from within even when it looks sound on the outside. Because there is no reliable method to measure moisture while an aircraft is in service, engineers design for worst-case scenario—leading to heavier, overbuilt planes that cost more to fuel.

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Using his experiment results, Das examined the fundamental physics of moisture-related degradation and developed a framework for in-situ structural health monitoring. His approach uses dielectric sensors and predictive algorithms to continuously track moisture levels in structures such as aircraft wings, wind turbine blades and ship hulls.

“My findings could lead to safer structures, lighter designs and better-informed maintenance schedules, which could potentially save millions of dollars across industries,” Das said.

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

Celebrating its 130^th anniversary in 2025, The University of Texas at Arlington is a growing public research university in the heart of the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. With a student body of over 41,000, UTA is the second-largest institution in the University of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation’s top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 280,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond.

—    Jeremy Agor, College of Engineering