Sivanesh Palanivel (PhD 2016)

Position: Senior Manager, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Tesla
Hometown: Tamil Nadu, India
Previous School: National Institute of Technology, Raipur, India

At UNT, I learned to break down complex problems and reason from first principles—skills that have shaped every step of my career. Under Dr. Rajiv Mishra, I developed a systems-thinking mindset and the ability to drive solutions from concept to implementation.

Today, I lead a team of materials and manufacturing engineers at Tesla. We’ve developed innovations like gigacastings and new induction motor materials that are helping to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

The foundation I gained from the Materials Science and Engineering Department taught me how to think critically, collaborate effectively and lead transformational projects at scale. Those lessons still guide me today.

To young engineers, my advice is simple: embrace discomfort, take ownership and seek feedback early and often.