Dr. Garimella joined Rice University as an Assistant Professor in 2026. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2021 from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2026 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 2025, he was a visiting researcher at the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. He is the recipient of the University of Illinois Mechanical Science and Engineering (MechSE) Distinguished Fellowship and the MechSE Teaching Fellowship. Dr. Garimella's teaching and research are in both the fundamentals and applications of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. His research group seeks to apply scientific insights in these disciplines to achieve multiscale enhancements in thermal and energy devices and systems, additionally investigating the role that novel design and fabrication technologies, such as additive and subtractive manufacturing, can play in achieving these enhancements. Key applications include active and tunable thermal systems, advanced thermal management approaches, scalable energy storage technologies, and building energy systems.