Chandrasekharan Vanajakshi
Education
Ph.D., North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Astrophysics (Minor: Mathematics)
M.S., North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Astrophysics (Minor: Mathematics)
M.S., York University, Toronto, Canada
Semiconductor Physics (Minor: Mathematics)
M.S., University of Madras, Chennai, India
Electronics (Minor: Mathematics)
B.S., University of Madras, Chennai, India
Physics (Minor: Mathematics)
Teaching Experience
- 20+ years
- Astrophysics, Physics, Astronomy, Statistics, Mathematics, Chemistry; course development; Accreditation related work; Book Reviews.
- 3 countries: US, Canada, India
- Universities: San Jose State University, San Francisco State U., CSU East Bay, University of Phoenix, North Carolina State University, York University [Canada], University of Madras [India]
- Colleges [Bay Area] ( I have taught at these colleges at different times and am teaching at some of them currently): De Anza College, Foothill College, College of San Mateo, San Jose City College, Ohlone College, Menlo College, Laney College, Merritt College, College of Alameda, West Valley College, City College of San Francisco, Chabot College
Astronomy
Austin Community College - Astronomy, Physics 01/2020 – Present
College of San Mateo – Astronomy (Regular Lecture, online classes), Astronomy Labs 08/2000 – Present
Canada College – Astronomy Lecture, Labs 08/2002 – 08/2005
San Jose City College – Astronomy (Regular and Hybrid classes) 01/1995 – Present
San Francisco State University: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Astronomy 08/2003 – 12/2011
City College of San Francisco – Astronomy 08/2003 – 12/2010
Chabot College – Astronomy 01/2004 – 05/2006
Laney College – Astronomy 08/2003 – 05/2005
West Valley College – Astronomy 08/1995 – 06/1997
Physics
San Jose City College – Physics 2A (algebra-based), Physics 4A 9Calculaus-based) 01/1995 – Present
Physics 4B (Calculaus-based)
Notre Dame De Namur University – Physics 2A and Physics 2B 08/2018 – 06/2019
Ohlone College - Physics 2A 08/2012 – 12/2012
Merritt College – Physics 01/2004 – 05/2005
Professional Training - Online Teaching
Online Course Design and Development, and Teaching Online
QM Training - ACC - Fall 2020
EDIT 022 - Online Course Development - Full semester course completed with an "A" at Evergreen Valley College, CA - FALL 2020
Online Course Management – STOT [Structured Training for Online Teaching] - Levels I and II at College of San Mateo, SMCCCD.
Quality Online Teaching & Learning - College of San Mateo July 2020
CSM Regular and Substantive Contact - College of San Mateo 2020
DE Training - San Jose City College - Summer 2020
Software Design & Development
Software Design and Development, Curriculum Development in Software – Siebel Systems, Asera Inc
Research Experience
NASA: Scientist, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Consultant
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 04/1985 – 09/1986
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
NASA/ Stanford University, Moffett Field, CA 09/86 – 07/89 | 01/94 – 07/95
Indian Institute of Astrophysics: Visiting Scientist 07/1989 – 08/1993
*Research area: [published in Astrophysical Journal, Journal of Computational Physics]
- Origin of solar system
- Origin of life on Earth
- Star Formation
Professional Publications
Astrophysicsl Journal:
"Effect of Turbulent Viscosity on the Isothermal Collapse of a Rotating Protostellar Cloud". The Astrophysical Journaal, 294, 504-512, 1985 July 15
Icarus
Journal of Computational Physics:
TC Vanajakshi, KW Thompson, DC Black - … of Computational Physics, 1989 - Elsevier
Numerical simulations of time-dependent phenomena involving magnetohydrodynamic
(MHD) waves encounter serious problems due to artificial reflection of waves at numerical
boundaries in situations where the time-dependent magnetic fields external to those
Time-dependent boundary conditions for hyperbolic systems, II
KW Thompson - Journal of computational physics, 1990 - Elsevier
… Volume 89, Issue 2, August 1990, Pages 439-461. Journal of Computational Physics … Phys., 68
(1987), p. 1. 2. KW ThompsonLecture Series in Computational Fluid Dynamics. NASA …
Springer-Verlag, New York (1948). Google Scholar. 5. TC Vanajakshi, KW Thompson, DC Black
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 20, p.882
A 2-D Simulation for Rotating, Magnetized Solar Wind
CT Vanajakshi, A Barnes - Bulletin of the American …, 1988 - adsabs.harvard.edu
… The structure is assumed to be symmetrical about the equator and the pole. The propogation
of information through the inner boundary (ro) is treated rigorously using the method of
non-reflecting conditions for MHD waves developed by Vanajakshi et aL(1).
Spectral Irradiance Measurements of Simulated Lightning in Planetary Atmospheres
Author links open overlay panelW.J.BoruckiaC.P.McKayaD.JebensbH.S.LakkarajucC.T.Vanajakshid
ICARUS Volume 123, Issue 2, October 1996, Pages 336-344
Measurements of the spectral irradiance from approximately 380 to 820 nm are reported for laboratory simulations of lightning in the atmospheres of Venus, Jupiter, and Titan. The observations were made at 1 and 5 bars of pressure for Venus and Jupiter and at 1 bar for the Titan mixture. The spectra were obtained by observing laser-induced plasmas with a scanning spectrometer and an optical multichannel analyzer. Simulations of lightning show that atomic line and continuum radiation dominate the spectra. Weak molecular band radiation from CN was also observed for Venus and Titan. As the ambient pressure was increased from 1 to 5 bars, the prominence of the line radiation diminishes compared to the continuum radiation, some lines disappear, and the intensity of the molecular band radiation increases. Laboratory results for the venusian lightning spectrum are consistent with those found by the Venera 9 spectrometer when it viewed a storm on the nightside of Venus. For both Jupiter and Venus, narrow spectral features are present that are ideal for detecting lightning from Earth-based telescopes.
LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
SLO/Assessment Coordinator, College of San Mateo
Member, NASA, Scientific Organizing committee, Human Exploration of Mars Program
Member, National Board of Advisors for the development of distance education courses used by universities and colleges all over the US for distance education - (Coastline Community College)
In charge of training faculty in assessment software TRACDAT
Created User Guides for Student Learning Outcome Management software – TRACDAT
Project Manager, Siebel Systems
Published: August 23, 2024