Prof. Rohit N Karnik

The Microfluidics and Nanofluidics Research Laboratory led by Professor Karnik focuses on the study of microfluidic and nanofluidic transport phenomena and the design of fluidic devices with applications in healthcare, energy systems, and biochemical analysis.

Karnik, the Tata Professor in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering, was named the director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS), effective March 1, 2025. Karnik served as associate director of J-WAFS since 2023. J-WAFS is the only program at MIT focused exclusively on water and food research. Since 2015, the lab has made grants totaling approximately $25M to researchers across the Institute, including from all five schools and 40 departments, labs, and centers. It has supported 300 faculty, research staff, and students combined. Furthermore, the J-WAFS Solutions Program, which supports efforts to commercialize innovative water and food technologies, has spun out 12 companies and two open-sourced products.

As director, Karnik will help shape the research agenda and key priorities for J-WAFS and usher the program into its second decade.

Karnik originally joined MIT as a postdoc in the departments of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering in October 2006. In September 2007, he became an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, before being promoted to associate professor in 2012. His research group focuses on the physics of micro- and nanofluidic flows and applying that to the design of micro- and nanofluidic systems for applications in water, healthcare, energy, and the environment. Past projects include ones on membranes for water filtration and chemical separations, sensors for water, and water filters from waste wood. Karnik has served as associate department head and interim co-department head in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He also serves as faculty director of the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program in the School of Engineering.