Ankit Sharma, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, was one of four early career researchers selected worldwide for the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Foundation Grand Challenges Initiative with a fellowship of $5,000. 

Sharma is a research professional with over seven years of experience in fire science, with research focused on micro and partial gravity fires. Prior, he worked as fire engineer consultant at Arup in the United Kingdom and India, where he designed safe, sustainable solutions within the built environment.

He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering with specialization in high-rise building fires and storage tank fires from Indian Institute of Technology. Research contribution includes patents and peer-reviewed research articles published in leading international journals.

Sharma is passionate about fire safety research, with a goal of developing a fundamental understanding of fire and combustion mechanisms through innovation and experimental and computational tools. He is also interested in understanding how we can leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence in fire science and exploring new fire scenarios due to evolving energy and infrastructure demands, such as hydrogen and electric vehicle fires.