SANTHOSH KUMAR

About Me

I'm an Aerospace Engineering student at IIT Bombay.

Education

M.Tech in Aerospace Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Duration: 2024 - 2026
CPI: 9.04/10

B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering

Anna University (ACT, Chennai)

Duration: 2020 - 2024
CGPA: 8.65/10

Key Projects

Aerospace Surface Defect Detection

(CNN-YOLOv8, PyTorch)

Developed a CNN-based computer vision system to detect cracks, deformation, paint peel, and rivet damage.
Trained the model using transfer learning, data augmentation & class balancing.
Deployed a low-latency FastAPI inference backend with an image-upload web interface hosted on Render.

View Project

Sizing and Regional Deployment Analysis of Electric Commuter Aircraft for Indian Short-Haul Operations

M.Tech. Project, Guide: Prof. Avijit Chatterjee | IIT Bombay | Jun 2025 - Present

Developed an algorithmic sizing framework for electric commuter aircraft to estimate weight, power, energy and performance from mission profiles and validated it against existing electric aircraft concepts.
Built a FlightRadar24-based mission analysis to extract real climb, cruise & descent profiles for energy estimation.
Analyzing payload–range trade-offs and identifing Indian routes suitable for early electric aircraft deployment.

View Project

Multimodal Airline Support Agent

OpenAI/Claude/Gemini API

Built multimodal customer-service agent with text, image, and audio I/O
Implemented function calling tools for PNR lookup and flight status
Orchestrated multi-model routing with RAG over airline FAQs

View Project

AI Knowledge Worker (RAG System)

LangChain, FAISS/Chroma

Engineered RAG system to ingest and query documents using vector databases
Tuned retrieval performance with hybrid search and re-ranking
Exposed REST API and Streamlit UI with source citations

View Project

E-commerce Platform

Django, AWS, PayPal

Developed full-stack online store with user authentication
Integrated PayPal payments and AWS services (S3, RDS, Elastic Beanstalk)
Implemented responsive UI with email verification

View Project

Real-Time Chat Application

Django Channels, WebSockets

Built multi-user real-time chat platform using WebSockets
Designed scalable architecture with persistent message storage
Developed responsive TailwindCSS UI with live updates

View Project

Nonlinear Modeling and PID Control of a Quadrotor UAV

MATLAB/Simulink

Developed a nonlinear 6-DOF quadrotor dynamic model using Newton–Euler equations in MATLAB/Simulink.
Designed a hierarchical PID attitude and position control architecture with rotor-level control allocation.
Implemented 3D trajectory tracking and validated closed-loop performance UAV motion in simulation.

View Project

Flight Dynamics, Guidance, and Control of a Fixed-Wing UAV

Modelling, Simulation & Control

Deriving the 6-DOF nonlinear and linearized flight-dynamics models of a fixed-wing UAV for longitudinal and lateral-directional motion.
Designing a fixed-wing autopilot using trim conditions, linearization, and classical control methods.
Developing waypoint-based guidance and trajectory following for autonomous fixed-wing navigation.

View Project

Experience & Leadership

Research Intern - Electric Propulsion

Sphere Tech Innovations, Chennai | Sep 2023 - Apr 2024

Designed & fabricated a low-power Applied-Field Magneto Plasma Dynamic Thruster (W cathode, Cu anode, permanent-magnet applied field); full 3D/assembly in CATIA and fabricated the design.
Built an instrumented vacuum rig (rail-based load-cell thrust stand, Arduino control) and automated logging/plots in Python; peak thrust ≈ 0.30 N @ 40 V.
Ran parameter sweeps (current, 50–120 mT field, mass flow, ACR = 1.5/1.75); standardized test plans; integrated ZVS + flyback HV supply; compiled reports/figures and co-authored the conference paper.

Teaching Assistant - AI and Data Science

IIT Bombay | Prof. Prabhu Ramachandran | Jan'25 - May'25

Assisted in conducting exams & crib sessions for 100+ B.Tech students
Evaluated assignments and written exams

Teaching Assistant - Aircraft Design

IIT Bombay | Prof. Avijit Chatterjee | Jan'26 - Present

Assisting in conducting Quiz’s, exams & crib sessions and evaluating Answer Scripts for 100+ students.

Teaching Assistant - Aerodynamics Laboratory

IIT Bombay | Prof. Viren Menezes | Jul'25 - Nov’25

Guided 80+ B.Tech students during lab experiments on "Analysis of Unsteady Wave Motion in a Shock Tube"
Clarified concepts and evaluated lab reports

Interview Coordinator

IIT Bombay - Placement Cell | Oct 2024 - Dec 2024

Coordinated with team of 250+ members for interviews of 2300+ students
Assisted in conducting tests for 20+ firms and handling student queries

Student Companion - ISCP

IIT Bombay | Jul 2025 - Present

Selected as one among 330 mentors through competitive interview process
Mentored 4 first-year PG students in academic, social, and extracurricular areas

Technical Skills

Programming

Python, C++, SQL, Bash, LaTeX

Robotics & Control (Learning)

ROS 2, Gazebo, PX4, RViz, Control Systems (PID, State-Space), MATLAB, Simulink

ML Frameworks

PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, Keras

GenAI & NLP

LangChain, Transformers, Whisper, OpenAI API, Claude API, Gemini API, Llama

Data & Tools

NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Seaborn, Jupyter, Git, Linux, Docker

Vector DBs & RAG

FAISS, Chroma, Pinecone, Embedding models, Hybrid search

Cloud/DevOps

AWS (S3, RDS, SageMaker, Lambda), Render, CI/CD, MLflow

Web & UI

Django, FastAPI, Gradio, Streamlit, HTML/CSS/JavaScript, TailwindCSS

CAD & Aerospace

CATIA V5, XFLR5, SUAVE, Aircraft Sizing & Performance Analysis

Blog

Getting Started with RAG Systems

December 1, 2025

Exploring the fundamentals of Retrieval-Augmented Generation and how to build production-ready RAG systems...

Electric Aircraft: The Future of Aviation

November 15, 2025

A deep dive into hybrid electric propulsion systems and their impact on sustainable aviation...

Building Multimodal AI Agents

November 1, 2025

Learn how to create AI agents that can process text, images, and audio using modern LLMs...

Get In Touch

Feel free to reach out for collaborations, opportunities, or just a chat!