April 2023
Congratulations to Sophia for winning an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship! Wishing her the best in her future pursuits at Princeton University in Prof. Claire White’s group!
January 2023
Dr. Nair has been selected as one of the Early Career Research Fellows in the Offshore Energy Safety track. The National Academy of Sciences NASEM Gulf Research Program was formed in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Ever since her first postdoc, improving offshore energy safety and reducing emissions has been a research area of interest. Energy transition will play a critical role both in offshore / onshore drilling activities and there are many advances to come!
October 2022
Sophia Shapiro and Ryan Schanta, Senior undergrads in Dr. Nair’s group & Rawlings Presidential Scholars won 2nd and 3rd place respectively for their poster presentations at ACI Fall 2022 in Dallas.
January 20 2022
Lyn Zemberekci, the first graduate student from the Nair group has passed her qualifying exam. The qualifying exam in the Civil Infrastructure Group is based on an oral presentation by the student on an intensive mini project. It is designed to provide insight into the research abilities of the students and to gauge their potential.
October 26 2020
Check out the feature on Dr. Nair in the EZRA Magazine
As a recently hired faculty Dr. Nair was featured in the Ezra Magazine. Check out the link to learn more about Dr. Nair and her research.
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/10/faculty-profiles-research-focus-fintech-nutrition
June 29 2020
Improving Cementation of Geothermal Wells
Geothermal energy is a promising alternative to conventional fossil-based energy sources, using steam from reservoirs to power turbines or pass through heat pumps. Proper construction and subsequent cementation of geothermal wells are required to recover this heat. Drilling wells that remain intact, using new formulations can help reduce climate risks. The Nair group has received funding from the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability to identify and test the suitability of alternate cementitious materials, for the expected geological conditions in Ithaca, and provide recommendations for the Earth Source Heat project at Cornell University. http://www.atkinson.cornell.edu/grants/avf/?ID=2020_Nair
The project is a collaborative effort between Prof. Nair, Prof. Coates and Prof. Geddes groups at Cornell University, PQ Silicates and Magnum Cementing.
Dr. Nair trying out the driller’s chair at XRig, Norway where pilot experiments will be conducted.
February 1 2020
Abandonment of Oil and Gas Wells: A Major Upcoming Challenge
It is estimated that a there are currently 10 million wells worldwide producing oil and gasses and many of the wells are coming to the tail end of their production life. Currently American Petroleum Institute requires placement of a 500 ft long cemented plug to abandon a well. Since cement slurry takes a few hours to gain strength, during hydration it is possible for unwanted migration of oil and gasses leading to the formation of permanent channels. To address this issue there is an ongoing collaborative effort with WellSet, a startup company based in Norway to ensure wells are adequately abandoned using magnetorheological blended cement slurries.
The project is a collaborative effort between researchers in Dr. Nair’s lab at Cornell University, Dr. Eric van Oort’s group at the University of Texas at Austin and Well Set. Well Set is currently sponsored through Conoco Phillips, Repsol and Oil and Gas Technology Center.
December 15 2019
A triaxial setup was developed for use at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source and is now available for users. Check out the news article at https://www.chess.cornell.edu/high-energy-diffraction-microscopy-under-pressure
December 5 2019
Our paper on using high energy X-rays to study the micro-mechanical behavior of alternate cementitious materials has been published in Scientific Reports. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-54724-8