Our Team
At Applied Research Professionals, our team consists of seasoned experts in engineering and applied research. We bring a wealth of knowledge in transportation, infrastructure, and pavement engineering, working collaboratively to deliver innovative and practical solutions for our clients. Our commitment to excellence ensures impactful results for every project.
Dr Uma M Arepalli
Ph.D., P.E. (USA)
Founding Director
Dr Uma Maheswar Arepalli obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in pavement engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), MA, USA. He has work experience as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Minnesota Duluth and as an assistant engineer at the Bureau of Project Development, Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), ME, USA. He has over 10 years of professional experience in applied research in pavement engineering.
Dr Arepalli is a registered professional engineer in the state of Maine, USA, and an affiliated faculty member at the University of Maine, USA. Currently, he is working as a faculty at SRM University-AP, India.
Dr Arepalli has successfully completed several implementable research projects in diverse fields of pavement engineering such as materials, management, and design. His notable research projects include developing a method for HMA moisture sensitivity evaluation, local calibration of Pavement M-E design, layer coefficient update of AASHTO 1993 for MaineDOT, and cost/benefit analysis of the effectiveness of crack sealing techniques for Minnesota DOT.
Reflection on his time at MaineDOT:
“๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐๐๐, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ด ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ง๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด”
Mr Ravi K Tummalapenta
M.Tech [IIT Delhi] MS (USA)
Founding Co-Director
Mr Ravi Kumar Tummalapenta is a seasoned engineer with a diverse background in civil, environmental, and computer science, specializing in software engineering for large language models (LLMs). He earned an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and a graduate degree in Environmental Engineering from India, focusing on landfill risk management.
Mr Ravi furthered his studies at Colorado State University, where his research involved modeling the fate and transport of Selenium and Nitrate in the Lower Arkansas River Valley using a MODFLOW model for groundwater flow and UZF-RT3D for chemical cycling and reactive transport. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in AI and ML from Purdue University.
Professionally, Mr. Ravi serves as the senior vice president at a finance firm in USA, specializing in GenAI and ML engineering. He excels in implementing scalable and high-performance software solutions for LLMs using Azure OpenAI endpoints. Mr Ravi designs and deploys data-driven pipelines leveraging Azureโs infrastructure to ensure optimal performance, efficient API management, and the ability to handle large datasets and high-volume requests. His expertise ensures that LLM applications meet the high demands of modern financial and data-driven environments.
Ms. Cheritha Jonnalagadda
B.Tech – CIVIL
Founding Member
Ms. Cheritha is a dedicated civil engineer and a proud founding member of ARP. She earned her B. Tech degree from SRM University-AP, where she developed her abilities and strong passion for transportation engineering and gained the knowledge and skills required for this dynamic field.
Ms. Cherithaโs practical experience includes a paid internship on a sponsored research project from the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT). Through this project, she was able to learn more about the advanced pavement design methods used in the US, which enhanced her technical knowledge and practical understanding of real-world applications. She is a young, energetic team player who has been recognised for her adaptability and resilience to collaboration. Sheโll be able to build a culture of trust and excellence in her teams by leading with integrity and honesty.
She is a blend of academic excellence, practical experience, and outstanding leadership skills that make her an invaluable part of ARPโs team. Her dedication to accomplishment and passion for her field drive ARPโs mission to advance in this industry.