SRM-AP All News
ALL News
- Top 5% most cited author: Royal Society of Chemistry November 23, 2021
SRM University-AP could not be more proud to announce that Dr S Mannathan, Head of Department of Chemistry has made it to the top 5% in the list of the Most Cited Authors by the Royal Society of Chemistry. It is inspiring to have a faculty member in our midst whose work has helped and facilitated the research of so many others.
Dr Mannathan obtained his doctorate from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. His research interests primarily lie in Metal-catalyzed organic transformation reactions, Multicomponent reactions, and Asymmetric synthesis. His research followed by scientists all over the world leading him to become one of the top 5% authors in terms of citations
In the field of Transition Metal Complexes as Catalysts in Organic Reactions, he particularly leans towards ‘Nickel-and cobalt-catalyzed three-component coupling and reductive coupling reactions’, and ‘Palladium-catalyzed reductive arylation’. Similarly, in Asymmetric Synthesis, he favours research into ‘Asymmetric reductive Heck reaction for the synthesis of chiral indanones’, and ‘Synthesis of bicyclic tertiary alcohols and its related asymmetric version via reductive [3+2] cycloaddition reaction by using chiral cobalt complexes.’
About the top 5% most cited paper:
In this work, he reported the synthesis and application of a Zn-Bp-BTC MOF (Bp – 4,4′-bipyridine; BTC – 1,3,5-benzene tricarboxylic acid; MOF – metal organic framework) as a heterogeneous catalyst for mediating organic reactions. Initial reaction conditions were optimized for the Knoevenagel condensation reaction using Zn-Bp-BTC as a heterogeneous catalyst. Various factors such as the effect of solvent, temperature and catalyst loading were evaluated. Although the reaction proceeded at room temperature using methanol as the solvent, 60 °C offered the best yield in a shorter duration. Under optimized reaction conditions, a wide range of α,β-unsaturated dicyano compounds were prepared from the corresponding carbonyl precursor and malononitrile, the active methylene counterpart. A systematic investigation was also carried out to assess the role of the ligand and metal salt in the Knoevenagel condensation reaction. It was found that the Zn-Bp-BTC MOF catalyzed the reaction efficiently in comparison to its analogue Zn-BTC MOF and precursor Zn(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O. Finally, catalytic recycling and stability studies showed that the catalyst is able to mediate the reaction for up to five consecutive cycles without undergoing any significant chemical or morphological changes. Further, the catalyst was tested for its efficacy in a multicomponent reaction (MCR). An MCR with the Zn-Bp-BTC MOF as the catalyst afforded good yields and there was no reaction in the absence of the catalyst. Similarly, the catalyst was tested for its efficiency in benzimidazole synthesis.
Dr Mannathan did this research in collaboration with Dr. Kathiresan Murugavel, Scientist, Electro Organic Division, CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (Govt of India), Karaikudi.
Continue reading → - Detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity from fundus photographs November 19, 2021
A research paper titled “Detection of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) severity from fundus photographs: An Ensemble Approach using weighted average”, has been published by Dr Mahesh Kumar Morampudi, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, in the Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering.
Diabetic Retinopathy is a common diabetic disease that affects the retina and can result in blindness if not treated initially. Deep learning (DL) based models are proposed to detect the blood abnormalities in the retinal tissue due to diabetes mellitus obtained from fundus camera. The drawback of these models is the lack of performance. To address this, we propose to automate the process of detection of the severity of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) using ensembles of pre-trained models, thus exploring the power of transfer learning in the field of automated diagnosis. Deep learning models perform well when the model is trained on a large amount of data. In this regard, we also put forth data augmentation and preprocessing techniques to generate synthetic images and to improve image quality. Extensive experimental results on publicly available databases illustrate that the proposed ensemble model achieves fair accuracy when compared to existing models. Thus, the proposed model shows good scope for deployment in real-time diagnosis.
Every year multiple people are diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects several organs of the human body namely the eyes, kidneys, heart etc. Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a situation induced by diabetes in which severe loss happens to the retinal blood vessels that can ultimately lead to blindness. Regular diabetic retinopathy screening is hence needed for detecting it in advance. In the present situation, a trained clinician or an ophthalmologist is required to identify diabetic retinopathy (DR) by the existence of lesions related to the vascular abnormalities induced by the disease. The ophthalmologist needs to evaluate and examine digital colour fundus images of the retina. So, it is a very tedious and sluggish process. He/She needs more time to diagnose DR. The diagnosis of the disease by any manual means seems to be tiresome and usually results in errors. To overcome this limitation, we propose a model to automate the process of detection of the severity of DR using ensembles of pre-trained models, thus exploring the power of transfer learning in the field of automated diagnosis.
The research group believes that the study helps ophthalmologists to identify diabetic retinopathy at its early stage accurately, as a result, the chance of losing the vision due to diabetic retinopathy can be reduced. The work is done in collaboration with Dr Mulagala Sandhya, Assistant professor, NIT-Warangal. In the future, Dr Mahesh Kumar plans to work on a project related to Privacy-preserving Biometric Authentication.
Continue reading → - Coveted Marquee offers up to ₹42.5 LPA chase our students November 19, 2021
Purab Agarwal, Chaitanya Krishna Pasula, Srinivas Kalyan, Udayagiri Sathvik, Myneni Venkata Satyasai, Gunturu Abhijith from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Vellampalli Medha V Subramahnya Aditya and Sai Jnaneswar Juvvisetty from the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering are excited about their placement with Marquee offers up to ₹42.5 LPA. These students from the most sought Engineering branches of SRM University-AP burned the midnight oil and have achieved the best!
Our placement team has thoroughly trained the students both in terms of technical expertise and soft skills, as the recruiters shortlist the best young talent who are passionate, devoted to learning, and bubbling with fresh and creative ideas. The talent and motivation of students, together with the intensive instruction they have received since the beginning of their BTech programme, have enabled them to excel in the recruitment drive. The CR&CS department feels that this is just the start of the placement season and that many more outstanding students are eager to demonstrate their abilities to obtain fantastic job offers from top-tier employers.
“I have gained a lot of knowledge from faculty members. All the questions asked in the interview were related to the curriculum of SRM AP”, says Udayagiri in enthusiasm. “The support extended by the placement department as training before the placement and during the placement was also very helpful to crack this interview. The sources or materials that were provided to me before the interview were very helpful to me to crack the interview”, he added.
Know more about our placement legacy at: https://srmap.edu.in/about/crcs/
Continue reading → - BA History to MS Computer Science: The interdisciplinary journey abroad November 17, 2021
‘Fostering curiosity and nurturing inquisitiveness’ These have been the goals of the Department of History at SRM University-AP to which Deva Harshalai Nimmagadda, Class of 2021 of Bachelor of Arts in History, belongs.
The entire department and especially his beloved mentor, Dr Maanvender Singh, could not be more proud of him for securing a coveted position in the MS Program in Computer Science at Pace University, New York. Deva found a home for his desire to understand the past and progress towards future in SRM University-AP’s multidisciplinary courses which enabled him to learn more about cutting edge technology and innovative approach to history. This experience was instrumental in helping him achieve his place.
“During my course of studying BA History in SRM University-AP, I have realized that history will not equip you with the skills in only one field, but it also opens you up to diverse fields.” Deva said, “Thanks to the curriculum in SRM University-AP which enabled me to explore various fields like economics, Journalism, Data Science etc. Studying history will demand immense research work and it will refine your analytical skills and these are the skills you need to live in a Tech world. I would like to thank all my faculty for equipping me with such skills even during the pandemic. Today interestingly History major in my profile attracts various employers and projects as they believe in the analytical skill of a history major.”
Prof Singh, who is very fond of Deva Harshalai, spoke very highly about his student, “Deva always cultivated the best attributes a historian could possibly possess- the endless and untiring urge to quest for reason and answers, and the unique and insightful perspective to provide the most logical and comprehensive solution.” He added, “With these qualities in one’s possession one can achieve any ambition should they put their mind and efforts to it.”
“The right skill was cultivated in me, and the right attitude took root.” Deva said to inspire his juniors, “I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to call SRM University-AP my alma mater. I am who I am today because of it. I would advise all my juniors to commit to their education seriously and SRM University-AP will give you the experience and encouragement to obtain your dream career.” Deva would like to take advantage of this world capital and invest himself in research and development in the fields of Artificial Intelligence in future.
Continue reading → - Team Sunshine celebrate Children’s day in magnificence November 16, 2021
Children’s Day celebrations were held at Nirukonda and Nauluru government schools from Friday to Monday under the auspices of the Student Affairs department at SRM University-AP. The programme named SRM Sunshine, organised various games and competitions for students from classes one to ten and distributed prizes to winners. The essay writing, drawing, running, skipping and musical chair competitions focused on children and their enjoyment contributing to their cognitive development.
Students of SRM University-AP mingled with the children involving them in various games. The tiny tots of Preschool and Pre-primary celebrated the day with much joy and enthusiasm. The celebrations began on Friday, followed by a variety of fun-filled activities and games planned by the Sunshine team. Children were given chocolates and gifts like crayons, pencils etc. as a token of appreciation. The event was attended by Ms Revathi Balakrishnan, Assistant Director – Student Affairs; Dr Abdul Mohimin, Assistant Director – Physical Education and Mr Narendra Babu, Manager – Student Affairs.
Every year on November 14 India celebrates Children’s Day, the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. The day is also known as Bal Diwas. He adored children and once said that children are the country’s future and that they should be loved. Children also adored him and referred to him as ‘Chacha Nehru.’
Continue reading → - Obtaining encrypted images with new Reversible Data Hiding scheme November 16, 2021
SRM University-AP is pleased to announce that Dr V M Manikandan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, along with his research scholar Shaiju Panchikkil, published a paper titled, “A convolutional neural network model based reversible data hiding scheme in encrypted images with block-wise Arnold transform” in Optik Journal, Elsevier Publications.
The proposed scheme can be used for embedding electronic patient reports (EPR) in the medical image itself while transmitting, and at the receiver side the reports can be extracted along with the lossless recovery of the medical images.
About the Research:
Data hiding or information hiding is a well-explored way to secure some secret data by concealing it in a digital cover medium. The reversible data hiding (RDH) is a recent advancement in the field of data hiding in which the cover medium can be restored during the extraction of hidden messages at the receiver side. The RDH schemes are widely used in medical image transmission and cloud computing. Recently, research in the field of RDH in encrypted images got much attention to improve the efficiency parameters such as embedding rate and bit error rate without compromising the lossless recovery of the images. In this research paper, we propose a new RDH scheme in encrypted images which utilizes the Arnold scrambling technique for data hiding. A convolutional neural network (CNN) model is trained and used to extract the hidden message along with the recovery of the original image. The experimental study and result analysis of the proposed scheme are carried out on the USC-SIPI image dataset managed by the University of Southern California.
Dr Manikandan collaborated with Prof. Yu-Dong Zhang, Professor in School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Leicester, UK collaborated for this research work. In the future, Dr Manikandan’s research will be more focussed on coming up with new reversible data hiding schemes in encrypted images with better embedding rate and bit error.
Continue reading → - Stabilizing Li-S batteries: energy storage solution for the future November 10, 2021
As technology gets revolutionized, we face the need to have more- more efficient energy storage solutions with decreased strain on the environment to meet our need. SRM University-AP happy to let everyone know that our Dr Ranjit Thapa, Professor of Physics along with his PhD scholar, Mr Deepak S Gavali has published a paper titled, “Understanding the role of lithium bonds in doped graphene nanoribbons as cathode hosts for Li-S batteries: A first-principles study” in ‘International Journal of Energy Research’, having an Impact Factor of 5.164.
About the Research:
Lithium sulphur (Li-S) batteries hold immense potential as energy storage devices of the future because of their high energy density (2600 Wh kg −1), lower cost and non-toxic nature as compared to the currently available lithium-ion batteries. However, the commercialization of Li-S batteries is hindered due to a number of challenges that include the polysulfide shuttle effect, viz, the dissolution of lithium polysulfide species (LiPS) in the cathode into the electrolyte and its diffusion to the anode and back. The shuttle effect results in poor Coulombic efficiency, low utilization of active materials, and degradation of electrode. Moreover, the insulating nature of the sulphur cathode is a key contributor to its low specific capacity. One way to circumvent these problems is by employing conducting cathode hosts as additives that would act as trapping agents for the LiPS, preventing their migration to the anode.
“Using first-principles calculations, we investigate a family of doped graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) for their suitability as cathode hosts in Lithium sulphur batteries. We probe the role played by the lone pairs of the dopants in confining the Lithium polysulfides (LiPS) in order to understand the mechanism of binding. Our results show that the Li-bond between the polysulfides and the doped GNRs is analogous to a hydrogen bond and also dipole-dipole interactions play a key role in anchoring the polysulfides. The charge lost by the sulphur atom of the polysulfide upon adsorption and shape of the lone pair basins and the value of ELF at the dopant position can provide a quick estimate of the strength of the bond. Significant contractions in the ELF profiles are also observed upon Li 2 S adsorption, further providing evidence for the H bond like nature of the Li-bond. Our results corroborate the fact that all acceptors suitable for hydrogen bond can be employed as suitable dopants for carbon-based cathode hosts in Li-S batteries.”
Dr Thapa and his PhD scholar conducted this research in collaboration with a Department of Physics and Research Centre, Lady Doak College, Madurai, 625002, Tamil Nadu, India. For their future research they are also working in the field of Li-ion battery. They are searching for new carbon allotrope structure which should have the ability to enhance the specific capacity and reduce the volume expansions as compared to the commercialized anode material.
Continue reading → - Assessment of corporate bodies in the light of corporate governance rating November 10, 2021
Assessing the grading and rating system in any corporation is important for the management and the stakeholders, and the more efficient they are the easier it becomes to plan future trajectories. SRM University-AP is happy to announce that Dr Lakshman Rao Ayyagari, Assistant Professor of Commerce has researched extensively on this issue and published a paper titled, “The ignored tool “corporate governance rating”: An overview of the corporate world in the emerging market” in “Journal of Governance and Regulation.
According to Dr Ayyagari, this research work is like a grading pattern, we adopt to rate and rank various organizations on various parameters, accordingly “Corporate Governance Rating” is a tool to assess firms’ performance, but not widely used in assessment, recommended for its use, keeping in mind the interests of various stakeholders.
About the research:
The interest of the Stakeholders is to see the growth of their entities, also they benchmark their entities through business performance metrics or tools like Return on Equity, Return on Assets, Earnings Per Share, Gross Profit Margin, Employee Productivity, Sales Turnover, ratings given by prominent credit rating agencies such as ICRA, CRISIL, Standard and Poor etc. In addition to this, internal governance mechanisms, board of directors’ characteristics, their independence, transparency, concentration, and presence of employees in the ownership structure also influence financial and stock market performance. However, assessing the performance of entities through some of these limited angles is not always possible. One more criterion for assessing the performance of entities is “Corporate Governance Rating”. However, it is not widely used as a tool to assess a firm’s performance in the emerging markets. The present research paper is intended to address the scenario of Corporate Governance Rating in the Corporate World to assess a firm’s performance. With the help of majorly secondary sources of data conducted a study from 2003 to 2021 based on the CRISIL’s rating pattern. The findings showed the significance of Corporate Governance Rating for its adoption and future research in the development of rating mechanisms in India as well as in emerging markets.
This research can be recommended to regulatory bodies especially in India like SEBI for conducting thorough research in this area for a policy study and implementation.
Continue reading → - Dr Satheesh Ellipilli joins us as a Ramanujan Fellowship Faculty November 10, 2021
SRM University-AP is honoured to host Dr Satheesh Ellipilli as a DST- Ramanujan Fellowship Faculty and facilitate his research for the next five years.
Ramanujan Fellowship is one of the most prestigious scientific fellowships that is offered to the Indian scientists working abroad. This fellowship is offered by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) to encourage scientists of Indian origin to return and research in an Indian institute/University.
SERB offers the scientists Rs 1,35,000/- per month along with research grant of Rs 7,00,000/- per annum and Rs 60,000/- per annum for overhead charges.
Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher in The Ohio State University (Columbus, USA), Emory University (Atlanta, USA), and The University of Utah (Salt Lake City, USA).
Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli has extensive experience in the field of nucleic acid chemistry, particularly, focusing on utilization of RNA nanotechnology for cancer therapy using RNAi therapeutics in combination with small molecule drugs.
He has made numerous publications in some of the most renowned journals like Journal of Organic Chemistry, Journal of Controlled Release, Chemical Communications, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, and Chemical Review to name a few.
Having Dr Ellipilli with us for the duration of his fellowship is a golden learning opportunity and a pleasure to be the host institution for his work. We hope that our students and scholars develop stronger research ethics and acumen in his company.
Continue reading → - Design and implementation of frequency controller for wind energy-based hybrid power system November 10, 2021
Dr Tarkeshwar Mahto, Assistant Professor, in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering has published a paper titled “Design and Implementation of Frequency Controller for Wind Energy-Based Hybrid Power System Using Quasi-Oppositional Harmonic Search Algorithm” in the reputed research journal, Energies.
An innovative union of fuzzy controller and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller under the environment of fractional order (FO) calculus is described in the present study for an isolated hybrid power system (IHPS) in the context of load frequency control. The proposed controller is designated as FO-fuzzy PID (FO-F-PID) controller. The undertaken model of IHPS presented here involves different independent power-producing units, a wind energy-based generator, a diesel engine-based generator and a device for energy storage (such as a superconducting magnetic energy storage system). The selection of the system and controller gains was achieved through a unique quasi-oppositional harmony search (QOHS) algorithm. The QOHS algorithm is based on the basic harmony search (HS) algorithm, in which the combined concept of quasi-opposition initialization and HS algorithm fastens the profile of convergence for the algorithm. The competency and potency of the intended FO-F-PID controller were verified by comparing its performance with three different controllers (integer-order (IO)-fuzzy-PID (IO-F-PID) controller, FO-PID and IO-PID controller) in terms of deviation in frequency and power under distinct perturbations in load demand conditions. The obtained simulation results validate the cutting-edge functioning of the projected FO-F-PID controller over the IO-F-PID, FO-PID and IO-PID controllers under non-linear and linear functioning conditions. In addition, the intended FO-F-PID controller, considered a hybrid model, proved to be more robust against the mismatches in loading and the non-linearity in the form of rate constraint under the deviation in frequency and power front.
The research group believes that the study will boost the use of renewable energy utilization for fulfilling energy requirements in a more reliable and stable manner. In future, they plan to use the knowledge gained from the isolated systems to develop a Multi-Migrigrid system.
Collaborations:
- Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru 560054, India
- The Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore, The National University of Singapore, Singapore 138602, Singapore
- Clean and Resilient Energy Systems (CARES) Lab, Texas A&M University, Galveston, TX 77553, USA;
- Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia