Research News

Alleviating healthcare challenges by augmenting efficacy of antibiotics

Dr Sutharsan Govindarajan, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, SRM University – AP, Andhra Pradesh received an outlay of Rs 55 lakhs by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)- Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India to advance the project “Mechanistic understanding of bacterial cytoskeleton inhibition by antibiotics and novel bacteriophage proteins”. The research grant is provided to support active researchers in undertaking research and development in the frontiers of Science and Engineering. Dr Sutharsan exclaims, “It is thrilling to see that my proposal has been accepted for funding. This is a huge recognition for the science that we do at SRM University – AP. Through this funding, I will be able to establish an independent molecular microbiology lab at the university.”

While the entire world is aggressively working to end the menace of COVID19, antimicrobial resistance has been a long-standing unsolved threat. This project is dedicated to interpreting the mechanism of inhibition of bacterial cytoskeleton by antibiotics, which has an immediate impact on the society as it strives to unravel the mystery of ‘how bacteria are able to outsmart antibiotics and survive’. In this project, Dr Sutharsan will be probing antibiotics to comprehend the response of bacteria to them. The scholar says, “Currently, antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest health care challenges of this century leading to serious clinical manifestations. In countries like India, the situation is alarming since nearly 58 thousand new-born babies are dying every year due to bacteria escaping the antibiotics.”

Dr Sutharsan informs, “Largely, solutions to antibiotic resistance problem is directed towards discovering new antibiotics and therapies. However, there are hundreds of existing antibiotics that could be made more effective to kill bacteria. But these antibiotics are not considered as compelling options in the market due to their poor efficiency or lack of understanding. In this project, we will investigate one such antibiotic and attempt to assess its response to the killing agent. By understanding how bacteria escape the antibiotic action, we hope to find effective strategies to combat them.”

The laboratory of phage-bacteria interaction will be established and led by Dr Sutharsan at SRM University-AP, where he will be relentlessly working on various aspects of bacteriology including antibiotic resistance, bacteriophage engineering, and therapy. Sharing his plans of advancing the work, Dr Sutharsan says “In the near future, we are planning to connect with the clinicians and explore the possibility of taking our research findings to actual patients – a bench to bedside model of research.”

“Startups and Government bodies must be complementing one another to steer space industry towards excellence”- Sri S Somanath, Director, VSSC

Research Day 2021 ceremony at SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh encompasses various endeavors aimed at appreciating and encouraging scholars to carry out extensive research works to enrich the society. Applauding the initiative, Dr P Sathyanarayanan, President, SRM AP stated “Research Day is when SRM University-AP commemorate the faculty and students for their outstanding research contributions. This university, though just a three-year-old one, has grown leaps and bounds in research and is now clearly the front runner among all the universities in the region.”

Prof V S Rao, Vice-Chancellor, SRM AP welcomed the Chief Guest Sri S Somanath, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, and other revered audience. Prof V S Rao highlighted, “Research day brings an excellent opportunity for the scientific community to showcase their accomplishments and impactful research works.”

Advancing the celebration, Prof D Narayana Rao, Pro Vice-Chancellor, SRM AP took the virtual podium to comment “Science and Technology is the driving force for the economic development of India. We need to encourage young scholars by providing a vibrant and conducive research environment. Expanding the frontiers of knowledge by triggering interest among students must be the priority of the institutions. Also, focus should be on translational research with societal applications through collaborative research to make our nation a global leader.”

During his motivating speech on “The Indian Space Enterprise Achievements & New Directions”, Dr S Somanath interpreted the complexities of Space Engineering by describing details pertaining to space infrastructure, and technology elements in rocket production involving the development of space vehicles capable of operating for years unattended in the space. He further informs, “The high cost and low volume production remains the challenge associated with Space Engineering.” He also stated that there are increasing demand and scope for satellite startups and the export potential is on the higher side for satellites in India.

Dr S Somanath proceeded to illuminate the audience on the changing horizons of the space industry, contributed by the emerging technologies such as integrating satellites, drones, and terrestrial imagery. In addition, he addressed the disruptive technologies that led to reusable rockets, space technology-driven drones, etc., enhancing the market substantially for the satellite production and reducing the market for the launching vehicles.

Consequently, Dr S Somanath accentuated that the government bodies such as ISRO, IN-SPAC, and NSIL should remodel its direction of operation. He suggests, “Government of India should be opening the space sector and assist the new participants by sharing technological expertise. Startups and government bodies must be complementing one another to steer this industry towards excellence.”

Progressing with the celebration, eminent scientific works and contributions of various faculty, research scholars, and undergraduate students were rewarded. As part of the research day programme, the students and faculty were urged to submit abstracts of their research. Among 176 submissions from students and 40 from the faculty community of SRM AP, 20 were awarded with gold medals while 6 were presented with silver medals. Further, a special issue of abstracts was unveiled during the Research Day celebration that comprised of all the submitted abstracts for public consumption.

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Research Day Celebration 2021 SRM University-AP

Dr Satya Pramod Jammy, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh developed the open-source SBLI framework dedicated to enable computing high-resolution fluid flow simulations in the supersonic regime using high-end desktop systems with GPUs. It enables users to set up the problem to be solved at a high-level with the details similar to what one sees in any textbook and the tool will automatically generate a low-level code that can run on CPUs and GPUs using the OPS library.

Dr Satya Pramod Jammy explains, “It is hosted on GitHub and is available to download free of charge under GNU GPL license (https://opensbli.github.io). I lead the development of OpenSBLI over the last four years as a part of my research. The basic organization of the classes and architecture of the tool is designed along with the automatic code generation. The tool has been transformed over the years starting with a basic version to demonstrate its ability to its current version (V2.0), that is capable of generating codes for around 27 different numerical schemes by changing one line of the setup script. A new version of the framework is under testing and a release is planned in March 2021.”

Advancing the framework, Dr Satya Pramod Jammy informed that the capabilities of the tool are being upgraded constantly. Among other renowned scientists, Dr Gary Coleman, Senior Research Scientist, Computational AeroSciences Branch, NASA Langley Research Center has been using the tool for his scientific research pursuits. Appreciating Dr Satya Pramod Jammy, Dr Coleman said, “I have found the OpenSBLI framework to be an extremely valuable tool in my recent research into the physics and modelling of high-speed wall-bounded turbulent flows. Its combination of efficiency, fidelity, and flexibility has allowed me to perform a thorough case study using local computational resources to produce a vast amount of high-quality data, which I expect will be of great utility to the research community. I am grateful to you for your role in developing this excellent resource.”

SRM University-AP has been honoured with the gracious presence of the Hon’ble Minister of Education Dr Adimulapu Suresh on November 17, 2020, when he came to inaugurate the sub Post Office at the SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh Campus. He visited the campus and, witnessed its infrastructure, and discussed the future plans and goals of SRMAP with Prof V S Rao, Vice-Chancellor. In his welcome address, Prof V S Rao, Vice-Chancellor expressed his gratitude to the Minister for finding some time to visit SRMAP. With a well-documented presentation, he narrated how SRMAP has embarked upon the vessel of excellence and innovation within a meagre span of just two years. The three-year-old university has already published almost 300 papers in reputed journals, has 27 projects with an outlay of 14 crores and 17 patents.

Minister of Education with SRM FacultyIn his message, the august guest of the day, Dr Suresh expressed his joy to see a university achieving such great heights within two years in the realms of research and education. While presenting the offer letters to the placed students, he was enraptured to see that SRMAP provides such quality education that not only students from engineering, but also the students from other general degree courses were able to bag desired packages from reputed companies like Deloitte etc. According to Dr Suresh, Hon’ble Minister, the greatest predicament of the country is not unemployment but unemployability as most educational institutions fail to deliver a proper and complete education that can satisfy the demands of the present world and make the students job-ready. He was delighted to know that SRMAP, since its inception, always strived to make curriculums industry-oriented, put particular emphasis on the placement training to make students interview-ready, encouraged the students for research since their undergraduate studies, helped them to grow and know the world with the Semester Abroad Programme. Among the maiden batch of SRM University-AP, 40% of students have bagged job offers with packages of 10 lakhs per annum or higher, with the highest offered salary of 29.5 lakhs per annum. The Minister of Education was greatly satisfied with SRM University’s vision and progress so far and wished for further marvels to be created.

Dr Suresh inaugurating the sub post-officeThe Minister later met with the DEANS and HODs and the reputed Ramalingaswami Fellow, DST-Inspire Fellow and faculty members who are rigorously working on several projects. The Minister was pleased to see the focus on research. He said, “The Govt of Andhra Pradesh is against of commercialization of education, but we are not against private educational institutes. It is very encouraging to see how SRM University, following the footsteps of the government, has embedded complete and inclusive education that supports equity, equality, and affordability. Industry-Academia interaction is a weak point in our pedagogical system, but it is good to see that SRM University is moulding students in a proper way to make them market-ready. The advancement of the Education sector is the dream of our Chief Minister, and many pedagogical and educational reforms are being done in order to the standardization of the Education Sector. The Management of SRM University-AP has opted for a student-centric education that follows the mandates of National Education Policy-2020.”

Dr Imran Pancha from the Department of Biological Sciences, SRM university – AP is recognised in Biotechnology among the top 2% scientists/researchers across the world By Stanford University Researchers. Recently an article has been published in PLOS Biology by Stanford University Researchers on the highly cited researchers in 22 different fields and their subfields. In the Biotechnology field, 1,074 scientists/faculty members were identified, and Dr Imran Pancha is one amongst them. From India, only 77 scientists/faculty members could achieve this honour, and Dr Imran Pancha is one among them. This is an admirable achievement for a young faculty from a nascent University to be in the top 2% scientists of the world. Dr P Sathyanarayanan, the President of SRM University-AP honoured Dr Pancha for bringing this scientific laurel to the university.

Overall, of the top 160,000 scientists from different fields of Science & Technology, India hosts 2,313 scientists/faculty members. This list comprises of the prominent and illustrious scientists from India.

Dr Imran Pancha is a young researcher working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences in SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh. He has obtained his doctoral degree from CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute-Bhavnagar after graduating from Bhavnagar University. He has also worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Japanese Society for Promotion of Science, Japan before joining SRM University-AP.

Dr Pancha’s primary research focus is to produce renewable energy from microalgae. His team is trying to develop integrated microalgal bio-refinery to produce high-value compounds like phycobiliproteins, carotenoids along with biofuel and bio-fertilisers from microalgae. Apart from this, he is also interested to understand algal-bacterial interaction, particularly isolate and characterise the microalgae associated bacteria and finding their role in growth enhancement and inhibition in microalgae.

Dr Goutam Kumar Dalapati, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, published a research paper “Improvement on Photoresponse Properties of Self-Powered ITO/InP Schottky Junction Photodetector by Interfacial ZnO Passivation” in the reputed Journal of Electronic Materials, Springer. Photodetection has emerged as the key technology in contemporary science because of their wide range of applications in daily life and in industry, including astronomy, surveillance, environmental monitoring, machine vision, and cameras in smart phones. Commercial photodiodes should meet the criteria of high charge carrier mobility, small exciton binding energy, and higher stability. This intrigued Dr Goutam to indulge in the study of photodetector which is essential to improve several electrical parameters such as low power consumption, and higher sensitivity.

In this research, Dr Goutam developed a high-performance photodetector using Indium phosphide/indium tin oxide (InP/ITO) semiconductor metal junction. He explains, “Photodetection in semiconductors follows the principle of generating electron-hole pairs under incident light higher than or equal to its bandgap. In Schottky type photodiode, at thermal equilibrium, the Fermi levels of the metal and the semiconductor are equalized, and a transfer of electronic charge occurs from the semiconductor to the metal. Moreover, these charge transport properties can be simply tailored by compositional engineering, which provides plenty of space to modulate the performance metrics of the photodetectors. During my research, the atomic layer deposition of zinc oxide (ZnO) on the InP surface was found to increase the valence band offset for current conduction in the photodiode. Photoresponse properties were believed to improve through effective hole blocking by the ZnO interface layer which further prevents the surface recombination of photo-induced generated electron-hole pair. Through my research, I deciphered that the ITO/ZnO/InP photodiode exhibited a maximum photoresponsivity of 44.2 mAW−1 under a 520 nm laser irradiation with an illumination power of 1 μW at the zero bias voltage.”

For the successful implementation of the proposed ITO/ZnO/InP photodiode in the manufacturing levels, significant efforts are essential. Dr Goutam acknowledges that device to device variability must be addressed which arise from the deposition condition of the ZnO layer by atomic layer deposition. Surface defects reduction and selection of charge collecting electrodes must be optimized to improve the performance of the photodetector. Thus, Dr Goutam will dedicate his future research work to study patterned 2D graphene-based electrode to improve the performance. Also, n-type 2D MoS2 and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) passivation will be studied by him on the III-V semiconductor surface for better photoresponsivity.

Dr Lakhveer Singh, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh published an article titled “Remediation strategies for mitigation of phthalate pollution: Challenges and future perspectives” in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, with an Impact Factor of 9.03. In recent times, there has been an escalating concern over the risk of phthalate exposure leading to adverse effects on human health and the environment. Dr Lakhveer acknowledged the necessity of understanding the current status of phthalate pollution, their sources, exposure routes, and health impacts, along with understanding the remediation technologies for mitigating such issues.

In this collaborative work between Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and SRM AP, Dr Lakhveer enumerates the major phthalates in use today, shares insights on the ever-increasing data on health burdens posed by phthalates and simultaneously, highlights the recent advancements in research to alleviate phthalate contamination from the environment. Tracing their environmental fate, he addresses the growing health hazard concerns imposed by phthalates, along with focusing on understanding the different physical, chemical, and biological treatment of phthalates that are currently being used.

Dr Lakhveer explains, “Depending on the degree and nature of contamination, PAEs can be eliminated from different environmental matrices via various available processes such as adsorption, coagulation-flocculation, microbial biodegradation, phytoremediation, photocatalysis, and advanced oxidation processes. However, the efficiency of all these processes depends on various factors including inherent Physico-chemical nature of phthalates, environmental factors, and technological sufficiency.” Thus, advancing his research work in the future, Dr Lakhveer will opt for a holistic approach to develop novel processes for the remediation.

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, Ms. V.G.Vasavi Dutt and Mr. Syed Akhil, have published a comprehensive mini review titled “Surface Passivation Strategies for Improving Photoluminescence and Stability of Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals” in the Journal “ChemNanoMat” (Wiley-VCH) with an Impact Factor of 3.4.

Cesium lead halide (CsPbX 3) perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) is emerging as an intriguing subject for the optoelectronics for its excellent optical properties and exceptional colour tunability. However, applicability of the materials become a major challenge due to their degenerative property. Consequently, researchers focus on developing various approaches to enhance the photoluminescence properties and stability of CsPbX 3 perovskite NCs. In the paper, Dr Mishras’s group reviews some of the promising approaches such as post‐synthetic modification, ligand exchange, and insitu addition.

Further, the strategies summarized in this paper will enable the production of high-quality nanocrystals having the potential to be used as active material in LED devices. In the future, Dr Mishra and his group plans on utilizing some of these surface passivation techniques to develop prototype LED devices using high quality nanocrystals.

Read the full paper: Please Click Here

Utilizing photosynthetic microalgae to produce renewable biofuel

Dr Imran Y Pancha, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh has received an outstanding total outlay of Rs.27 lakhs from the DST, Government of India, to work on “Chemical modulator based microalgal biorefinery for the production of biofuels and bioproducts”. Dr Imran was fascinated by the potential of microalgae to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) as well as its ability to accumulate a high amount of energy reserved molecules such as lipids/starch in the cells. Through his research, Dr Imran will be understanding the mechanism behind this and also, exploit microalgae for biofuel production.

Due to the development of industrialization and modernization, global energy demand is continuously increasing. Given that the fossil fuel energy reserve is limited, and its utilization causes various serious environmental issues such as global warming and the accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere, renewable energy obtained from various biomass is a potential alternative to reduce atmospheric GHGs and the dependency on fossil-based fuel. Microalgae is one of the promising resources among various biomass since it has a high growth rate and photosynthetic ability in comparison to other terrestrial crop plants. Microalgae also accumulate a high amount of lipids and carbohydrates in the cell. Moreover, these microalgae can be cultivated in wastewater or seawater, which avoids the food versus fuel debate.

Dr Imran explains, “Microalgae usually accumulate lipid under stress conditions such as nitrogen starvation, which results in lower biomass production, limiting the commercialization of algal biofuel. The present research’s primary objective is to uncouple growth and lipid production pathway in the microalgae using chemical modulators. Utilization of such chemicals is also effortless in large scale production compared to the standard starvation approach. The next aim is to develop a process to extract multiple products such as pigments, lipids, and carbohydrates from single microalgal biomass. The development of such a biorefinery approach will lower the overall cost of the process and make it more economical on a large scale. To conclude, the focus of the project will be on utilizing photosynthetic microalgae to produce renewable biofuel and other commercially important products in a biorefinery manner. Utilization of microalgae will not only help to produce green fuel but also help in reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) which creates several environmental issues.”

Using the SERB-SRG grant, microalgal cultivation facility will be established at SRM university-AP. The long-term goal of Dr Imran’s research group is to understand the molecular mechanism behind the accumulation of energy reserved molecules in the microalgae. Understanding such mechanisms will help to develop sustainable technology for the production of renewable biofuels from microalgae.

Connecting the dots between Mathematics and Physics of the hydrodynamic instability known as Viscous Fingering (VF)

DST, Government of India, sanctioned a total outlay of Rs.14.63 lakhs to Dr Tapan Kumar Hota, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, for pursuing research on “Mathematical analysis and Adjoint Based Stability for a Coupled Convection-Diffusion equation in Miscible Displacement”. Hydrodynamic Stability (Instability) is a study of an equilibrium point subject to small and/or medium disturbances. This assists in understanding several complicated natural phenomena such as fluid transition from laminar to turbulent, chemical mixing, formation of cloud, and others. The available stability analysis is unable to address the early-time evolution of the VF process. The early-time behaviour of the system helps us to choose the parameters that are responsible for the long-time behaviour of the coupled PDEs. To achieve the target, we need to address the linear stability of the system from the study of the singular-value-decomposition instead of traditional eigenvalue analysis. As the system is non-autonomous, the eigenvectors/eigenvalues may not be physically relevant. Further, it is required to confirm our linear stability analysis by mathematical analysis of the coupled non-linear PDEs.

‘The nonmonotonic viscosity profile when a high mobile fluid is displacing a less mobile fluid. There is a potentially unstable region, where the viscosity increases in the flow direction, followed in the downstream direction by a potentially stable region, where the viscosity decreases in the flow direction. The disturbance structure is computed using the singular-value decomposition of the propagator matrix. Reference: Hota & Mishra, Journal of Fluid Mech, Vol. 856, pp:552-579, 2018.’

Dr Tapan is keen on studying other branches of science to provide the correct mathematical approach to address the issues. His project will address one of the hydrodynamic instabilities known as viscous fingering (VF). It forms when a high mobile fluid displaces a low mobile fluid. It has enormous implications in the field of Chemical Engineering Science, Petroleum Engineering, Chromatography, and Oil Extraction process. He explains, “I will study this instability from a mathematician’s point of view, more precisely, to address the mathematical analysis of coupled partial differential equations (PDEs). The system that governs the VF is non-autonomous and there is no readily available stability analysis that can represent Physics, based on robust mathematical analysis. My aim is to connect the dots between mathematics and physics of the VF.”

Infrastructure and laboratory facilities are crucial to conduct research. Upon receiving approval from a prestigious organization like SERB (Science and Engineering Research Board), Govt. of India, Dr. Tapan is entitled to this unique opportunity to serve the scientific community. He divulges, “The award is not only a recognition to me but also to the SRM University, AP. The University will be more visible in the world of research and can attract more eminent scientists and researchers to make the University their second home.” Quoting Master Oogway, ‘Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery… Today is a gift, that’s why it is called present.’, Dr Tapan is eager to commence working on his project at the earliest, and looks forward to enjoying the process of accomplishing the task.