Pradeep Lancy Menezes

Background

Menezes was born on February 8, 1975, in Puttur, India, to Fredrick and Cecilia Menezes. He attended Mai De Deus Higher Primary School and St. Philomena's Boys' High School before entering higher education in science and materials-related fields.

Puttur is a town in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka whose educational and commercial connections link the surrounding rural region with Mangalore and other centers of higher learning. Menezes's early education in Puttur preceded his studies at St. Philomena's College and Mangalore University and his later research career in Bangalore and the United States.

Education

Menezes attended Mai De Deus Higher Primary School and St. Philomena's Boys' High School in Puttur. He later studied at St. Philomena's College, where he completed a Diploma in Computer Applications and a Bachelor of Science in 1995. St. Philomena's College formed part of the higher-education environment of the Puttur area and provided the foundation for his subsequent university studies.

At Mangalore University he completed a Master of Science in Materials Science in 1997. Mangalore University, established in Karnataka as a public university serving the coastal region, developed programs in science and materials-related disciplines that supported Menezes's early specialization.

He received a Master of Technology in Materials Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka in 1999 and a Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore in 2008. The National Institute of Technology Karnataka is a major Indian engineering institution at Surathkal, while the Indian Institute of Science is a leading research university whose work spans science, engineering, and advanced materials.

Career

Menezes began his professional career in Bangalore in software engineering and industrial consulting. He worked as a software engineer at Clariant Web Solutions from 1999 to 2001 and as a consultant for Puronics Systems from 2001 to 2007. During this period he also completed a diploma in e-commerce associated with Clariant.

His research career developed through the Indian Institute of Science, where he served as a project associate from 1999 to 2003, a graduate researcher from 2003 to 2007, and a research associate from 2007 to 2008. His doctoral work examined the role of surface texture in friction and transfer-layer formation, using experimental tribological methods. The Indian Institute of Science provided the research setting for his work in materials engineering, metal forming, surface behavior, and tribology.

After completing his doctorate, Menezes held a visiting-faculty appointment at Jain University in Bangalore in 2007. He then worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 and at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee from 2008 to 2015. At Wisconsin–Milwaukee he also served as an adjunct instructor and adjunct assistant professor, combining research with teaching in materials and industrial and manufacturing engineering.

Menezes joined the University of Nevada, Reno in 2015 and became an associate professor in its Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research addresses tribology, surface engineering, additive manufacturing, nanomaterials, composites, lubrication, materials testing, metal forming, and biomedical and dental tribology. His work has included environmentally friendly ionic-liquid lubricants, surface texturing, laser shock peening, self-lubricating composites, and advanced manufacturing processes.

In 2024, Menezes and Mano Misra received a $500,000 Nuclear Regulatory Commission grant for research on improving the resistance of spent-fuel storage canisters to chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking. The project combined advanced hybrid laser-arc welding with high-pressure cold-spray additive post-processing. Menezes has also participated in federally supported research on biodegradable ionic-liquid lubricants and advanced manufacturing.

His editorial work includes service as associate editor of Tribology Transactions and the Journal of Tribology. In 2025 he was selected as founding editor-in-chief of Tribology and Interface, an Elsevier journal devoted to friction, wear, lubrication, and related surface and interface science.

Achievements

• Menezes completed doctoral research on the role of surface texture in friction and transfer-layer formation, contributing to experimental understanding of tribological behavior in engineered surfaces.

• He has developed research programs on tribology, surface engineering, sustainable lubricants, additive manufacturing, self-lubricating composites, and materials processing.

• He was a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on federally funded research addressing biodegradable ionic-liquid lubricants and the resistance of spent-fuel storage canisters to stress corrosion cracking.

• His scholarly output includes more than eighty-five peer-reviewed journal publications, book chapters, books, and extensive professional reviewing and editorial service.

Works

• edited book

  • Micro- and Nano-scale Surface and Interface Engineering: Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications

    (Co-edited with Ajay Kumar, Parveen Kumar, and Ajit Behera...)

    2026
  • Tribology and Applications of Self-Lubricating Materials

    (Co-edited with Emad Omrani and Pradeep K. Rohatgi, the bo...)

    2018
  • Self-Lubricating Composites

    (Co-edited with Pradeep K. Rohatgi and Emad Omrani, this v...)

    2022
  • Tribology for Scientists and Engineers: From Basics to Advanced Concepts

    (Edited by Pradeep L. Menezes with Michael Nosonovsky, Sud...)

    2013

• journal article

  • Surface texturing to control friction and wear for energy efficiency and sustainability

    (This article examines surface texturing as a means of con...)

    2016

  • Influence of environmental friendly multiphase lubricants on the friction and transfer layer formation during sliding against textured surfaces

    (Co-authored with Arpith Siddaiah, Ashish K. Kasar, and Ar...)

    2019

  • Friction and wear behavior of environmentally friendly ionic liquids for sustainability of biolubricants

    (Co-authored with Carlton J. Reeves and Arpith Siddaiah, t...)

    2019

  • Role of surface texture and roughness parameters on friction and transfer film formation when UHMWPE sliding against steel

    (Co-authored with Satish V. Kailas, this study investigate...)

    2016

Religion

Menezes is a Christian and has been a lifelong member of the Christian Life Community. Christian Life Community is an international lay movement rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and in the Christian commitment to integrate faith, community, and service.

The movement developed from the Marian congregations and was recognized by the Holy See as a Catholic international organization in 1971. Its Ignatian tradition emphasizes discernment, prayer, apostolic service, and the application of Gospel values in daily professional and social life.

Views

Menezes's research reflects a practical philosophy of connecting fundamental materials science with engineering problems involving friction, wear, corrosion, energy use, and sustainability. His work on bio-based lubricants and self-lubricating materials treats environmental performance as an engineering objective alongside mechanical reliability.

His teaching and research also express an interdisciplinary view of engineering. Tribology, in his work, links surface science, materials processing, manufacturing, mechanical design, and the study of biological and biomedical interfaces.

Membership

Menezes has been a lifelong member of the Christian Life Community, an international lay Christian organization rooted in Ignatian spirituality. The community emphasizes discernment, shared spiritual life, and apostolic service.

• Lifelong member.

  Christian Life Community

Connections

Menezes is the son of Fredrick Menezes and Cecilia Menezes. He has maintained professional connections with researchers and engineers through the Indian Institute of Science, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Nevada, Reno.

Father:

Fredrick Menezes

Mother:

Cecilia Menezes

References

• University of Nevada, Reno faculty biography Documents Menezes's associate professorship, education, research interests, teaching, books, journal publications, and professional service.
• Mangalore University alumni profile Documents Menezes's postgraduate study at Mangalore University, his role as an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, and his recognition among highly cited scientists.
• M'lore: Pradeep Menezes Successfully Defends Doctoral Thesis Documents Menezes's doctoral thesis defense at the Indian Institute of Science, his education in Puttur and Mangalore, and his research in metal forming and tribology.
  2008
• Engineering faculty researching solutions for the safe storage of spent nuclear fuels Documents the $500,000 Nuclear Regulatory Commission grant led by Menezes and Mano Misra to improve the stress-corrosion-cracking resistance of spent-fuel storage canisters.
  2024
• Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Pradeep Menezes is appointed as associate editor of the Journal of Tribology Documents Menezes's appointment as associate editor of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Journal of Tribology and explains the journal's field.
  2024
• Puttur's Dr Pradeep Lancy Menezes appointed founding editor-in-chief of New Elsevier Journal Documents Menezes's appointment as founding editor-in-chief of Tribology and Interface and his position as an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
  2025