Dr. Nikhil is a Principal Scientist at Aramco’s Research Development Center working on its Advanced Materials initiatives. Prior to joining Aramco in 2026, he was a Corporate Fellow in SABIC’s Corporate Technology and Innovation (T&I) division where he was responsible for their polymer-related activities that included incubating new platforms, working closely with Aramco on the Non-Metallics initiative, establishing strategic relationships with universities globally with a special emphasis in Saudi Arabia, and finally, mentoring the T&I talent pipeline. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Rice University’s Department of Material Science and Nano Engineering and Courtesy Professor in Mechanical Engineering at KAUST.  Finally, he serves on the Industry Advisory Board of Virginia Tech’s Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII) and Arizona State University’s Bio Design Center for Sustainable Macromolecular Materials and Manufacturing (SM3). 

Prior to SABIC, he spent 12 years at The Dow Chemical Company, creating and launching FORTEGRATM (rubber-toughened epoxy and epoxy vinylester) and VORAFORCETM (formulated epoxy and polyurethane based systems) for composite manufacturers. At SABIC, he helped establish the Advanced Composites Center of Excellence in Geleen, The Netherlands (2015-2018), and to develop continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic tapes (UDMAXTM) that resulted in “hybrid” composites through the development of the injection over-molding process. He has published 53 journal papers, co-authored some 93 conference presentations (including invited), Chapters in 4 books, and contributed to 50 patents (filed and granted).

Nikhil received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Material Science and Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1999, specializing in carbon fiber and composites.