Department of Physics set to work on bilateral project with IIT Bhilai
Dr. Satyajit Gupta (PI), IIT Bhilai, and Dr Sabyasachi Mukhopadhyay (Co-PI), Department of Physics, SRM University-AP has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the DST (Indo-Israel Joint Research Co-operation-IIJRC) sponsored project entitled “A HALIDE PEROVSKITE BASED PHOTOANODE FOR OXYGEN EVOLUTION REACTION USING A MOLECULAR DIODE IN A HYBRID NANOMETER SCALE PROTECTION LAYER”, Sanction Order NO. – DST/INT/ISR/P-28/2020(G). The project is a bilateral project and Foreign PI is Dr Eran Edri, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. This MoU will help Dr Mukhopadhyay to utilize the fund under this project as co-PI, and the facility of IIT Bhilai to complete the objective of the project.
The Objectives of the MoU are to promote effective application of resources through Indo-Israel Joint Research Co-operation-(IIJRC) sponsored project, promote mentorship and research guidance, and cooperate in educational/research areas of mutual interest. It also aims to promote international collaborations through International travel of Party, hosting International delegates, and through a student exchange programme between Indian Institute/Universities and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
The MoU will provide a platform to share and exchange Best Practices, and facilitate exchange programmes for students. Dr Satyajt Gupta and Dr Sabyasachi Mukhopadhyay will provide training and development for students working under this joint project.
- Published in Departmental News, News, Physics News
Serving with an attitude of gratitude
Human life is undergoing significant challenges since the outbreak of Covid-19. Despite the chaos of this difficult time, countless unsung heroes have come forward to pull the distressed out of their sufferings. Among them are Team Abhimanyu and Team Bheeshma, a group of IT graduates from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai. Neelesh Kumar, Prasanth Koyyalagunta, Prudhvi Vishwanadhula, Ruchika Pattjoshi, Vishnu Padmaraju, Parthu M, Irfan, Manoj Bhuma, Dinesh DT, Sai Sandeep, Vudutha Akhil, Akhil Thallada, and M Nikhil Kumar Reddy are young minds aged 24 to 26 pursuing higher studies abroad or employed at reputed MNCs in India. The Department of Student Affairs, SRM University-AP, appreciates their virtuous intentions and invites the teams on “Newsmakers” on June 12, 2021, at 11.00 am to share their incredible experiences on the path of serving humanity.
Team Abhimanyu-the Hope and Team Bheeshma-the Saviour were formed in May 2020 with a noble vision, “Attitude of Gratitude”, immediately after the Covid-19 outbreak in India. The main objective of the teams is to help the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in society. They distributed groceries to 335 families of private school teachers who had lost their jobs to Covid-19 in Tirupati, Vijayawada, Nellore, Visakhapatnam, Chandragiri, and Hyderabad. Not only did they provide groceries to government school students, but they also offered a large quantity of hand sanitizers, masks, vaporizers, and stationary items. The teams travelled across the districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana conducting food distribution drives and raising funds for medical treatments, especially for private school/college teachers. Local newspaper “Sakshi” and ETV Network have featured stories about the teams and they were awarded mementoes for community services. The teams plan projects for educating the underprivileged and looking after the elderly in near future. Team Abhimanyu and Team Beeshma are perfect examples of old heads on young shoulders who sail on philanthropic voyages in spite of the challenges.
All are invited to the event on June 12, 2021, at 11.00 am, and are encouraged to listen to the inspiring story of these empathetic young minds.
- Published in Events, Students Affairs Events
Interview handling skills by Mr Sushant Sharma
The Department of Corporate Relations and Career Services (CRCS) at SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh conducts a webinar on “Interview Handling Skills by Industry Expert” on June 12, 2021, Saturday at 5:30 pm. Mr. Sushant Sharma, Senior Talent Partner, GE Healthcare will give interview training to the students during the session.
Mr Sushant Sharma is a seasoned HR professional with 9 years of experience from organizations like WNS Global Services, Siemens, and HCL Technologies. He has first-hand knowledge in managing the hiring process for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region because of his association with GE Healthcare. Mr. Sushant Sharma holds a B.E. Degree in Electronics Engineering and a PGDM in Leadership Analytics. He has worked in Malaysia, recruiting from APAC region which includes countries like Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Hongkong. Prior to joining GE Healthcare, he worked for WNS Global Services as Group HR Manager, where he was the head of the Bangalore region for the Research and Analytics vertical. His specialties include Lateral and Leadership Hiring, Stakeholder Management, Vendor Management, Strategic Hiring, and Campus Hiring. He has been granted numerous esteemed honours, like the best recruiter’s leadership award. Sushant Sharma is also a visiting faculty at prestigious business schools such as IIM Nagpur, IIT Bombay, TAPMI, NMIMS, Goa Institute of Management, and many others. He is a coach and guide to many new businesses in Bangalore, like Upgrad, edWisor Academy, to name a few.
A one-on-one session with Mr Sushant Sharma on skills related to job interviews will help students see interviews from the recruiter’s point of view. All students are invited to join the session which will prepare them to face job interviews with confidence.
- Published in CR&CS, CR&CS Events, Events
Viruses and Humans: In Conversation with Prof Durga Rao
An online panel discussion on the topic “Viruses and Humans: living together in health and disease” will be held on June 12, 2021, at 5.00 pm, under the auspices of SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh. Prof C Durga Rao, a leading scientist in the field of Virology in India, will chair the session and elucidate on the history of humans and viruses being cohabitants. He is also the Associate Dean-Sciences, and School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (SLASS), SRM University-AP.
Dr Rao, whose major research areas include Molecular Virology, Recombinant DNA technology, Vaccines and Diagnostics had been a professor and INSA Senior Scientist at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Recently, he was interviewed by Eenadu newspaper on ‘Corona Virus and its Mutations’ and he encapsulated various methods to tackle the inevitable third wave of Covid-19. Dr Imran Pancha, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology Sciences, SRM- AP, and Revathi Balakrishnan, Assistant Director, Student Affairs, SRM-AP will join Dr Rao in the panel and discuss the benign viruses and the pathogenic viruses that influence the immune system of the human body.
All are cordially invited to this engrossing panel discussion.
To join the discussion:
https://srmap.zoom.us/j/97482617299?pwd=OWR1dHNZS0N6SUtTemltUTdlT1lkQT09
Passcode: 022817
- Published in Biology Events, Events
Environment Conservation is Responsibility
As part of World Environment Day celebrations, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, plants diverse plant and tree saplings in the campus to pledge commitment as a Generation of Restoration. Prof V S Rao, Vice Chancellor, inaugurating the initiative said that deforestation causes crisis of oxygen and changes in climate by irrevocably destabilizing human life on earth. “Educational and governmental institutions in both villages and cities should take part in conserving the greenery of Earth”, he added. Dr Sivakumar, Deputy Dean, Mr Venkatachalam, Director – Campus Life, Mr Venugopal, Media and PRO and other officials in the University were present on the occasion adhering all the Covid-19 protocols. The Student Affairs Department also conducted an online quiz competition as part of World Environment Day awareness programmes
World Environment Day is observed annually to fundamentally raise awareness among people about the importance of ecosystem preservation. This year’s theme is ‘Reimagine. Recreate. Restore.’
- Published in News
Dr Lakhveer Singh expounds alternate energy sources
“The Role of Conductive Nanoparticles in Anaerobic Digestion: Mechanism, Current Status, and Future Perspectives” published in the Chemosphere Journal discusses in detail the application of conductive nanoparticles to enhance the AD process efficiency and the interaction between microbes in anaerobic conditions for electron transfer with the help of CNPs. Application of a variety of conductive nanomaterials as an additive is discussed with their potential biogas production and treatment enhancement in the anaerobic digestion process. The Impact factor of the journal is 5.77.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130601
The said research project has been carried out under the scheme of “Mentoring of Engineering Teacher by an INAE Fellow”, financially supported by the Indian National Academy of Engineering. The work goes forward in close collaboration with Pulsed Power & Electromagnetic Division, Beam Technology Development Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)-Vishakhapatnam.
The future projects of Dr Tewari involve working on simulations related to the compact IEC for study, analysis, optimization of different parameters of an IEC system and related experimentation in collaboration with BARC.
- Published in Uncategorized
Dr Lakhveer Singh expounds alternate energy sources
A scientific research paper has been published by Dr Lakhveer Singh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, SRM University-AP.
“The Role of Conductive Nanoparticles in Anaerobic Digestion: Mechanism, Current Status, and Future Perspectives”, published in the Chemosphere Journal, discusses in detail the application of conductive nanoparticles to enhance the AD process efficiency and the interaction between microbes in anaerobic conditions for electron transfer with the help of CNPs. Application of a variety of conductive nanomaterials as an additive is discussed with their potential biogas production and treatment enhancement in the anaerobic digestion process. The Impact factor of the journal is 5.77.
Dr Singh is an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery – Springer (I.F. 2.60) and a Guest Editor for Bioresource Technology Reports- Elsevier. His future research targets to reduce the component costs and test the proposed design using real waste streams, as well as continue to increase the reactor volume.
Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130601
- Published in ENVS News, News, Research News
Physics student files patent
Ms Sreelekha Bhuvaneswari, a BSc physics final year student, in SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh, filed a patent for her work titled “A fibre material with moisture retention capacity with thermal tolerance and a method for manufacture” under the guidance of Dr Sabyasachi Mukhopadhyay, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, SRM University-AP.
The project, with the patent application number 202141023375, develops a methodology to design a fabric cloth that would replace the use of air conditioners. This cloth design is inspired by Saharan silver ants which regulate their body temperatures in the scorching desert heat and also from the cooling properties of clay. This research would significantly scale down the usage of AC and other cooling devices in warm places, thus reducing the use of electricity and emission of greenhouse gases to the environment. As this cloth would be environment friendly with long durability and cost-efficiency, Sreelekha hopes that this research would bridge the socioeconomic divide of haves and have-nots between communities.
“I am grateful to Dr Sabyasachi sir for his constant help and guidance along the way. There were several failed models, but he believed in the concept and that inspired me to go forward with the project,” said Ms Bhuvaneswari. “The facilities at the University made the process seamless; once the proposal was made, the procedure was automated. I thank the officials of SRM University-AP for believing in my proposal and helping me get through the procedures smoothly. If it were not for the facilities available at my university, I could not have finished the design,” She added.
- Published in News, Physics News, Research News, Students Achievements
An invited lecture on technologies for connected vehicles
An invited lecture, “Technologies for Connected Vehicles”, will be organized by the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE), SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, on June 19, 2021, at 11.00 am. In this online session, Dr Ramani Kalpathi, guest faculty at BITS Pilani, will give an introduction to intravehicle networks with a focus on CAN, LIN, Flexray, MOST, Ethernet, and Bluetooth networks introducing the frame formats, sample hardware implementation, and SAE formats.
Dr Ramani Kalpathi is the founder of Powersoft Systems and The ARM Academy. He earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, USA, and M.S in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras. The use of Wifi and IoT technologies and their presence for ubiquitous networks with typical samples of synchronous messages will be presented for connected technologies during the lecture. Implementation of Electic vehicles and the need for continuous data monitoring for autonomous vehicles may also be discussed for the purpose of diagnostics and reliability.
All interested B.Tech, M.Tech, and PhD students from any university are welcome to join the lecture upon registration.
Registration Link: https://srmap.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bbU84N2NT7mVx7qRK0DbFw
Know more about Prof Jena: https://physics.vcu.edu/jenasgroup/
- Published in Uncategorized
Microalgal biomass heralds sustainable biofuel production
Dr Imran Pancha, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, has recently published a paper titled “Deep eutectic solvents and Ionic liquid assisted hydrolysis of microalgal biomass: A promising approach towards sustainable biofuel production” in the celebrated Journal of Molecular Liquids (2021): 116264 (Impact Factor-5.065). The study was conducted in association with Akshay Kulshrestha, Sandhya Mishra, and Arvind Kumar from CSIR-CSMCRI
Microalgae is recently considered one of the promising biomasses for the production of renewable energy such as biodiesel and bioethanol. Microalgae are tiny photosynthetic organisms that utilise atmospheric CO2, water and sunlight to produce carbohydrates and lipids, which can be converted into renewable fuels. Compared to higher plants, microalgae is a good platform for bioethanol production as they do not contain any lignin in their cell composition, which makes pre-treatment for biomass hydrolysis easy. In the present study, Dr Pancha and his team explored the use of green solvents ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) for microalgal hydrolysis. They observed that among the eight tested ionic liquids, ethyl ammonium nitrate (EAN) resulted in the highest saccharification yield of 95.5%. Whereas, among hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents, menthol: lactic acid (Me: LA) exhibited the highest saccharification yield of 85.7% and also did not require any additional high temperature or other pre-treatments for biomass hydrolysis, indicating as the potential solvent system for microalgal biomass hydrolysis. Overall, the present study results indicated that the identified IL and DES could be used as a green and sustainable alternative for the pre-treatment of microalgal biomass for bioethanol production.
Due to limited fossil fuel reserve as well as environmental issues like high greenhouse gas emission and other environmental problems, finding green and sustainable energy resource is of prime importance for today’s world. To solve this problem, microalgae are among the best resources for producing renewable resources due to it’s high growth rate and photosynthetic ability. Microalgae also have the ability to obtain nutrients from various wastewater, so they also do not require fresh water for cultivation. However, commercial-scale production of microalgae-based biofuels faces various problems such as cultivation cost, downstream processing for biofuel production etc. In this regard, in the present work, Dr Pancha demonstrated the use of ILs and DESs for pre-treatment of microalgal biomass for reducing sugar production, which can be further utilised to produce bioethanol.
Dr Pancha and his research group are further devoted to understanding the molecular mechanism behind the accumulation of energy reserved compounds in the microalgae and developing a sustainable biorefinery process to extract biofuels and other industrially relevant compounds from single microalgal biomass.
Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2021.116264
- Published in Biology News, News, Research News