The study focuses on the aggregation kinematics in the quadratic convective magneto-hydrodynamics of ethylene glycol-titania ([Formula: see text]) nanofluid flowing through an inclined flat plate. The modified Krieger-Dougherty and Maxwell-Bruggeman models are used for the effective viscosity and thermal conductivity to account for the aggregation aspect. The effects of an exponential space-dependent heat source and thermal radiation are incorporated. The impact of pertinent parameters on the heat transfer coefficient is explored by using the Response Surface Methodology and Sensitivity Analysis. The effects of several parameters on the skin friction and heat transfer coefficient at the plate are displayed via surface graphs. The velocity and thermal profiles are compared for two physical scenarios: flow over a vertical plate and flow over an inclined plate. The nonlinear problem is solved using the Runge–Kutta-based shooting technique. It was found that the velocity profile significantly decreased as the inclination of the plate increased on the other hand the temperature profile improved. The heat transfer coefficient decreased due to the increase in the Hartmann number. The exponential heat source has a decreasing effect on the heat flux and the angle of inclination is more sensitive to the heat transfer coefficient than other variables. Further, when radiation is incremented, the sensitivity of the heat flux toward the inclination angle augments at the rate 0.5094% and the sensitivity toward the exponential heat source augments at the rate 0.0925%. In addition, 41.1388% decrement in wall shear stress is observed when the plate inclination is incremented from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text].