SRM-AP All News
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- Guest Lecture on “DC-DC Converters: Operation, Modelling and Control for Solar and Wind Applications” December 27, 2021
The Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at SRM University-AP organized a guest lecture titled “DC-DC Converters: Operation, Modelling and Control for Solar and Wind Applications” on December 3, 2021, at 11.00 am IST as part of the Departmental Lecture Series.
An eminent resource person, Dr. Ravindranath Adda, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, IIT Guwahati, delivered the intriguing talk as the guest lecture. Many undergraduate students of EEE, research scholars and faculty members of SRM University-AP attended the riveting session.
In his lecture, Dr Adda discussed about the importance of DC-DC converters for solar PV and Wind power applications and emphasized the different non-isolated and isolated converter topologies. He also explained the output power variation of the solar PV or wind turbine as a function of weather conditions, and hence the requirement of DC-DC converters and storage systems to transfer the energy from non-conventional energy sources.
Finally, he discussed about the research scope of DC-DC converters, to increase gain, expedite efficiency, reduce the bulk, dynamic modelling, and large scale and small-scale modelling of DC-DC converters.
The lecture concluded with an energetic note with all the participants looking forward to putting to use all the knowledge and information that they had acquired because of it.
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- Invited talk at Workshop on Pulse Power Technology and Applications (WSPPTA-2021) December 24, 2021
Dr Somesh Vinayak Tewari delivered an invited talk on “High Power Closing Switches” on November 25, 2021, during the Workshop on Pulse Power Technology and Applications (WSPPTA-2021) held from November 25, 2021, to November 27, 2021, at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Facility, Visakhapatnam, sponsored by Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India in association with Power Beam Society of India.
The workshop served as a platform for pedagogical presentations, discussions on intricacies of pulsed power technology and mutual interactions among young researchers, engineers and students from academia and applied research laboratories and talks were delivered by scientists of BARC, IPR, DRDO, CEERI, professors from IIT, IISc and experts from industry.
Dr Tewari delivered a talk on “High Power Closing Switches”, highlighting the working principle, mechanism, and applications of vacuum switches like ignitron, thyratron, pseudo spark gap, gas-filled spark gap switches, liquid and solid dielectric switches, magnetic switches, and modern-day semiconductor switches.
After his talk, Dr Tewari was highly appreciated and felicitated by Dr D. C. Pande, Dr Raja Ramana Distinguished Fellow of DRDO. The proceedings were compiled in the form of book chapters and circulated to participants.
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- SRM University-AP takes part in Celebrating the Rivers of India December 23, 2021
The students, faculty, and other staff members of SRM University-AP spent a memorable evening on the banks of River Krishna as a part of Celebrating the Rivers of India.As a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, organises various programmes on the theme Celebrating the Rivers of India. This revitalising excursion organised by the Department of Student Affairs at SRM AP was held in honour of the fourth largest river at Manthena Satyanarayana Arogyalayam, Thullur, Vijayawada.
Dr Manthena Satyanarayana introduced the gathering to the practice of naturopathic medicine which is based on modern and traditional, scientific, and empirical methods. Dr Gangadhar, Ms Chaitanya and Dr Prema led a short rejuvenating yoga and meditation session for the participants.
The practitioners at the Arogyalayam were honoured with stoles and mementos as tokens of appreciation. Dr R Premkumar-Registrar, Directors of various departments, and Deans of schools were present on the occasion.
Arogyalayam Research Centre advocates protecting health by increasing the level of immunity and enhancing life-force (praana sakti) amidst very pleasing natural environs, with the help of experts and experienced personnel, under the overall supervision of Dr Manthena Satyanarayana.
“The waterfront and the refreshing greenery of nature heals our mind and soul in this stressful modern-day life”, said Prof V S Rao, Vice-chancellor, SRM University-AP. The event, organised for Celebrating the Rivers of India, gave the participants an opportunity to unwind, relish the view of boats gliding smoothly on the river, enjoy the lush bushes growing all around, and do yoga in the delightful breeze with serene atmosphere.
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- Dr Inbarasan Muniraj receives SERB-SRG-DST grant to improve low light imaging December 22, 2021
Imaging various three-dimensional (3D) objects under ultra-darkness is a fascinating process. However, our conventional cameras are not intelligent enough to capture the experience. Dr Inbarasan Muniraj, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, is all about changing that.Dr Inbarasan Muniraj’s project, “Sensing in the dark: An automated off-focused points detection and removal from the photons starved 3D volumetric dataset”, has received a SERB-SRG-DST of Rs. 20.8 lacs for a two-year duration.
Dr Muniraj describes his project as such,
“Assume that there is no external light, e.g., a dark room, when you capture an image using a camera (mobile or DSLR). Often, the captured images will look dark, and it is too difficult tointerpret anything from the picture. However, algorithms have been developed to make use of the low scattered photons from a scene to estimate the equivalent normal intensity image. We use one such technique to generate photons-counted images for a 3D object and perform a 3D image reconstruction. One of the major problems in 3D reconstruction is off-focused points which look blurry and redundant. Therefore, in this project, we aim to employ a deep learning technique to smartly recognise and remove the off-focused points from a reconstructed 3D scene under photons starved conditions.”
Dr Inbarasan Muniraj is the sole investigator of this project. According to him, there are much more extensive social implications associated with this project. To note, this technique can be extended for various applications such as night vision, security, and biomedical imaging etc.
- BSc Biology student to intern at Harvard Medical School December 21, 2021
Rallapalli Bhavana Durga, a budding researcher from BSc Biology at SRM University-AP, earns an international internship at Harvard Medical School. The six-month internship will focus on bioengineering, cancer, and other biomedical research. The days at Harvard Medical School will impart an understanding of the development of cancer in an in-vitro model fabricated by the bioengineering approach.The Office of International Relations and Higher Studies guided Ms Bhavana throughout the application process. Every eligible student who applies for study abroad programmes is given orientation and motivation to bridge the attainment gap. They share information about various research/internships/projects with interested students. Ms Bhavana qualified the eligibility criteria for Harvard Medical School, which focuses on Tissue engineering and other Biomedical engineering fields. After completing the screening, she received a welcome e-mail for the internship at Dr Shiladitya Sengupta & Haelin Jang’s lab in Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. During the internship period, she will be involved in i) research-related activities involving the hands-on discovery of new biological pathways in cancer metastasis and (ii) writing for publications.
“I have received a lot of support from my professors and Dr Swetha Pasupuleti, Associate Director, International Relations”, says Ms Bhavana. “From the beginning, all my professors have been very encouraging, and their suggestions and criticisms were constructive. Dr Swetha has been very supportive and reassuring during the application process, taking away my inhibitions. I feel excited about my internship”, she added.
To tackle barriers to postgraduate education, SRM University-AP has designed ambitious programmes that improve the admission of students to global institutions. International Relations and Higher Studies department ensure that all students and faculty on campus are supported and assisted in gaining access to resources in order to achieve the vision and mission of SRM University-AP in becoming a multidisciplinary global university.
Continue reading → - Dr Anil K. Suresh receives DBT grant for detoxifying sewage dyes at pilot scale December 17, 2021
SRM University-AP is pleased to announce that Dr Anil K. Suresh, Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, has been awarded a DBT grant for his project entitled “Pilot-scale ultra-efficient fixative sewage dye-degradation by our ‘3D-megacatalyst’ generated using intact eggshell waste”.About the Project:
Catalysis is widely used in various industrial and pharmaceutical processes to fasters the production of the desired end products. The use of inert matrices or frameworks is emerging as a “supported catalysts” arena with the potential for efficient reuse and recovery of the catalyst. We have recently generated a wide area supported catalyst utilising intact eggshell bio-waste, and the process is autogenic, facile, cost-efficient and entirely biodegradable. This supported megacatalyst can be effortlessly removed from the reaction by hand.
The current DBT-funding through Accelerated Translational Grant for Commercialization (ATGC) program is to support the technological reediness of our project for its commercialisation as a measure of Technology Readiness Level (TRL), an estimation technologies maturity and readiness for its utilisation in the commercial market. By demonstrating proof-of-concept laboratory studies, we are currently at TRL-6, and through this project, we will demonstrate pilot-scale studies for reaching the TRL-9 (Market/Operational level).
The main objectives of the proposal are:
1. Demonstrating large-volume degradations of sewage dyes at 500 L to 1000 Litres volume capacities in custom-built batch reactors.
2. Gram-scale hydrogenation of nitroarenes for the production of ~500 grams of pharmaceutical derivatives.
Social Implications of the project by Dr Anil K. Suresh:
Thousands of litres of harmful textile, paper sewage dyes that are corrosive and toxic to the environment and are unintendedly released can now be degraded into detoxified colourless by-products and water by using our “Au@megacatalyst”.
Pharmaceutically important precursors such as 4-aminophenol, propargyl amines can be produced in milligrams of quantities by using “Au@megacatalyst”, which otherwise are expensive and hard to synthesise. And most importantly, such precursors are currently being procured from China and other countries that can be avoided, and indigenous make-in-India can be conceptualised using our catalyst.
Dr Anil K. Suresh would be the principal investigator of this project, with a total outlay of Rs. 31 lacs over two years.
- CSE student wins Best Paper award and cash prize in International conference December 14, 2021
Padmaja Buggaveeti, an outstanding student from 3rd-year Computer Science Engineering at SRM University-AP, has won Best Paper (Third Prize) and a cash prize of Rs 10000 /- (Ten thousand rupees only) at the 4th ISEA Virtual International Conference on Security and Privacy 2021. Ms Padmaja, under the mentorship of her guide Dr V M Manikandan, presented a paper titled “A Novel Prediction Error Histogram Shifting-based Reversible Data Hiding Scheme for Medical Image Transmission” at the International Conference on Security and Privacy, sponsored by Information Security and Education Awareness Project Phase-II (ISEA-II) and organised by IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India from October 27-30, 2021.Abstract: In this paper, Ms Padmaja proposed a new prediction error histogram shifting-based reversible data hiding scheme that ensures a high embedding rate and lossless image recovery. The pixels in the images are categorised into two different classes: white pixels and black pixels based on a checkerboard pattern. To predict the black pixel value for finding the prediction, they used the average of three pixels out of 4-neighbourhood pixels, which are very close to the central pixel value. The prediction error histogram is considered for further data hiding through the histogram shifting approach. An efficient overflow handling technique is used for this. The proposed algorithms were implemented using Matlab-2020, and the experimental study of the proposed scheme is carried out on the standard medical images and natural images.
International Conference on Security and Privacy is a premier conference focused on information security and privacy. This year’s conference was sponsored by Information security and Education Awareness Project Phase-II (ISEA-II) and organised by IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India, from October 27-30, 2021.
Prize Details: Best Paper (Third Prize) and a cash prize of Rs. 10000 /- (Ten thousand rupees only).
Let’s hear what Ms Padmaja says about her achievement!
I thank Dr V M Manikandan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, for his valuable guidance in this research work. Winning the best paper award and cash prize in a reputed conference, ISEA-ISAP, has strikingly boosted my confidence to do research. I am grateful to all the faculty members of the CSE Department for their kind support and encouragement throughout my study at SRM University-AP.
Continue reading → - Cyber security enthusiast wins $1200 in Microsoft Bug Bounty Program December 10, 2021
Taking your knowledge and solving real-world problems is the true intention of education. SRM University-AP is delighted to see Pavan Kumar Chinta achieve this aspiration and obtain $1200 Bounty from Microsoft Bug Bounty Program on November 13, 2021. The
Bounty of $1200 was presented to Pavan by Mr Jason Pessemier, Microsoft Security Program Manager.Pavan Kumar Chinta has keen enthusiasm with Cyber Security as specialization in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Microsoft is not the only company that Pavan has managed to impress.
He has also reported Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) a high severity bug , in Mercedes Benz portal, and Groww by finding Broken Authentication and Security Misconfiguration. He was acknowledged by both the organisations and received swags from Groww.
Pavan has spared no space in his investigation of bugs. He was acknowledged by NCIIPC (A unit of NTRO), the Government of India, for discovering Sensitive Information Disclosure like PNR, Name, Mobile Number, etc., of the passengers in IRCTC’s authorised partner. He has also reported bug issues to GeeksforGeeks and Google.
Pavan expressed “Prof. T Ragunathan, (Associate Dean (Engineering) – School of Engineering and Sciences), guided me and encouraged to study the University’s Cyber Security structures as well. With constant guidance from Dr Priyanka, Assistant Professor, Computer Science Engineering, I was able to work with pentesting tools and develop reconnaissance methodologies. This lockdown helped me to discover and build myself. His short-term goal is to secure MAMAA (Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet).
This is an excellent start for a 3rd-year student. We hope to see the series of security risk investigations that began here to stay with him, and that he goes on to make tremendous achievements and makes the internet a safer space.
Continue reading → - Best paper presentation award in the PRISM conference December 9, 2021
Research at SRM University-AP is always geared to top the solutions that we have to our current problems. One of the most enduring issues in the field of management is crisis management. The PRISM conference has found one of our faculty member’s solution to be most beneficial and awarded him with the Best Paper Presentation Award. Dr Vimal Babu, Associate Professor-SEAMS, has come up with a response that will not only help leaders manage crisis situations with increasing efficiency but also make it possible for them to thrive in the face of adversities.About the paper:
The purpose of the present research is to understand how global pandemic forces shaped the leadership communication strategies of the managers working in the Information Technology (IT) industry in India, in turn, how their leadership communication strategies aided in achieving agile and authentic leadership communication in relation to their own employees. It studied the leadership communication strategies of managers which facilitated them to establish emotional connect with the employees working remotely during pandemic crisis.
Abstract:
An investigation of the major themes in leadership communication strategies during times of crisis is presented in this research. It applies thematic analysis (TA) as a qualitative method to investigate effective leadership communication strategies in crises to overcome employee-centric organisational issues. Major themes and sub-themes are linked together to grasp better understanding about qualitative data. As a result, a total of five major themes emerged. Findings reveal that HR managers must consider the impact on their employees’ well-being when making verbal communication and crafting messages for their teams during times of crisis. The research developed a conceptual framework for mapping out the major themes, viz. information consumption and news making; disinformation and narrative disruption; agile communication structures; striking the balance b/w humane and factual communication and leadership communication imperatives. The themes generated substantive theory featuring agile and authentic leadership communication for the managers. As organisational leaders, managers’ challenges and communication strategies during a crisis are discussed. Future research ideas are highlighted.
Social Implications:
As a result of this research, it is now possible to deal with crisis communication challenges of managers more effectively. To avoid reacting to disinformation, one must be able to recognise it when it appears in abundance in a short period of time and recognise it when it does not. Managers of the HR department are held in high regard by their employees, who look to them for guidance and support. An agile communication structure, such as clearly stated goals, lean approvals and clarity of purpose will have a big impact upon the designing of communication strategies initiated by organisational leaders, especially when the attempts are made to interact with the employees remotely. That being said, managers need to strike a balance between human and factual communication in order to develop trust, transparency, and cooperation with their employees.
Collaborators:
The present work has been successfully carried out with the contributions of the co-researchers of the research paper, viz. Dr. Anugamini Priya Srivastava, Symbiosis International University, Pune and Mr. Vipin Kumar, Project Management Professional, BT India.
Future:
The future research plans entail working in the area of employee sustainability, well-being and career development of the workforce along with crisis management.
Continue reading → - Dr Nimai Mishra on Impact of shell thickness on photostability studies of green-emitting “Giant” quantum dots December 8, 2021
SRM University-AP is pleased to announce that Dr Nimai Mishra, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, along with his research group comprising of students pursuing PhD under him, Mr Rahul Singh, Mr Syed Akhil, and Ms V.G.Vasavi Dutt, has published a research article titled “Shell thickness-dependent photostability studies of green-emitting “Giant” quantum dots” in the journal Nanoscale Advances (The Royal Society of Chemistry) with an impact factor of ~4.533.About the research:
Highly efficient green-emitting core/shell giant quantum dots have been synthesized through a facile “one-pot” gradient alloy approach. Furthermore, an additional ZnS shell was grown using the “Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction” (SILAR) method. Due to the faster reactivity of Cd and Se compared to an analogue of Zn and S precursors it is presumed that CdSe nuclei are initially formed as core and gradient alloy shells simultaneously encapsulate the core in an energy-gradient manner and eventually thick ZnS shells were formed. Using this gradient alloy approach, we have synthesized four different sized green-emitting giant core-shell quantum dots to study their shell thickness-dependent photostability under continuous UV irradiation, and temperature-dependent PL properties of nanocrystals. There was a minimum effect of the UV light exposure on the photostability after a certain thickness of the shell. The QDs diameter of ≥ 8.5 nm shows substantial improvement in photostability compared to QDs with a diameter ≤ 7.12 nm when continuously irradiated under the strong UV light (8 W/cm2, 365 nm) for 48 h. The effect of temperature on the photoluminescence intensities was studied with respect to shell thickness. There were no apparent changes in PL intensities observed for the QDs ≥ 8.5 nm, on the contrary, for example, QDs with < 8.5 nm in diameter (for ~7.12 nm) show a decrease in PL intensity at higher temperatures ̴90°C.
More importantly, these results highlight the synthesized green-emitting gradient alloy QDs with superior optical properties can be used for highly efficient green emitters and are potentially applicable for the fabrication of green LEDs.
Read the full paper: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/NA/D1NA00663K
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