International conference on technologies for smart green connected society
SRM University-AP is one of the University partners in organising The First International Conference on Technologies for Smart Green Connected Society (ICTSGS-1), 29-30 November 2021, in virtual mode along with The Electrochemical Society, USA; United Nations FAO, Italy and Yamagata University, Japan.
The conference Chairs will be Professors Hidemitsu Furukawa and Ajit Khosla from Yamagata University. Dr Sujith Kalluri, Assistant Professor in Electronics and Communication Engineering and Coordinator of SRM – Amara Raja Center for Energy Storage Devices, SRM University-AP will be the Conference Co-chair.
The meeting agenda is dedicated to the cause of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is committed to taking the bold and transformative changes that are required to move the world toward a more sustainable and resilient future. The purpose of this transdisciplinary/interdisciplinary conference is to engage and bring awareness at the grassroots level such as students, scientists, academia and industry. Therefore, engaging the community to develop technologies to achieve and accelerate Ecosystem restoration and SDGs.
To know more, visit the conference website:https://www.ictsgs.com/
- Published in Conferences, Departmental Events, ECE, Events
International Conclave on the Role of Technology for the Sustainable Agricultural Growth for Future Generations
An International Conclave on the “Transition towards sustainability of Agriculture: Role of Technology in Agriculture Supply Chain” is being organised by the Department of Economics, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh on June 3-4 from 9 am. Renowned economists and experts across the world will be joining the conclave to share their thoughts and perspectives on the much-needed topic of this time. Faculty and Scholars are invited to submit the abstracts of their research papers on or before May 25, 2021. Prof Vijay Paul Sharma, Chairman, Commission for Agriculture Costs and Price (CACP) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, Govt of India, will grace the conclave with his presence as the Chief Guest.
The agriculture and food sectors are facing multiple challenges. With the global population projected to grow from 7.6 billion in 2018 (UN DESA, 2019) to over 9.6 billion in 2050, there will be a significant increase in the demand for food (UN DESA, 2017). At the same time, the availability of natural resources such as fresh water and productive arable land is becoming increasingly constrained. Production is not the only concern; although agricultural output is currently enough to feed the world, 821 million people still suffer from hunger (FAO, 2018). Processes such as the rapid rate of urbanisation also have important implications for food production patterns and consumption. The agri-food sector remains critical for livelihoods and employment. There are more than 570 million smallholder farms worldwide (Lowder et al., 2016), and agriculture and food productions account for 28% of the entire global workforce (ILOSTAT, 2019).
Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal of a ‘world with zero hunger’ by 2030 will require more productive, efficient, sustainable, inclusive, transparent and resilient food systems. This will require an urgent transformation of the current agri-food system. Digital innovations and technologies may be part of the solution. The so-called ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ (Industry 4.0) observes several sectors to be transformed rapidly by ‘disruptive’ digital technologies such as Blockchain, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Immersed Reality. In the agriculture and food sectors, the spread of mobile technologies, remote-sensing services and distributed computing are already improving smallholders’ access to information, inputs, market, finance and training. Digital technologies are creating new opportunities to integrate smallholders into a digitally-driven agri-food system. In this two-day Internation Conclave, reputed experts will shed some light by sharing their wisdom with others on the recent challenges and the scope associated with it. Needless to say, food will always be an integral part of the basic need of humans. In these discussions, the path towards ensuring enough food supply for future generations will be searched.
The Department of Economics, under the School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at SRM University-AP, is a vibrant unit for teaching fundamental courses (core & electives) in Economics along with allied courses for students across the disciplines. In addition to the Foundation Courses and optional Minors across the departments, the department ensures that the education imparted is truly multidisciplinary with an excellent programme structure that can cater to the growing market demand for professional economists and policy researchers. At Present, the department offers B.Sc. (Hons.) and PhD in Economics and will soon offer a postgraduate programme with specialisations in Econometrics, Finance, Trade and Development in coming years.
Call for Papers:
Faculty and Scholars are invited to submit the abstracts to be presented at the conclave “Transition towards sustainability of Agriculture: Role of Technology in Agriculture Supply Chain” on or before May 25, 2021. The abstract must go through the review, and if accepted by the reviewers, the abstract acceptance notification will be sent. There is no registration fee to participate in the conclave. The event will take place entirely in virtual mode. Please submit the abstracts to ghanshyamkumar.p@srmap.edu.in on or before May 25, 2021. Abstracts should not be more than 250 words, and it must include the purpose of the study, methodology, findings and policy recommendations.
Themes:
Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:
- Sustainable agricultural, farming, and post-harvesting strategies
- Multicriteria sustainability performance measures in the food context
- Closed-loop ecosystems for by-product valorisation
- Improving traceability and transparency of food operations
- Strategic approaches for waste management
- Sustainable cold chain design and management
- Digital twins in food processing, storage, and distribution
Distinguished Speakers:
- Prof Vijay Paul Sharma, Chairman, Commission for Agriculture Costs and Price (CACP)Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, Govt of India
- Prof Ashok K Mishra, Professor, W P Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, USA
- Prof R S Deshpande, Honorary Visiting Professor, Ex-Director, ISEC, Bangalore, India
- Prof P S Birthal, National Professor, ICAR-National Institute of Agriculture Economics and Policy Research, PUSA, New Delhi, India
- Dr Anjani Kumar, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), South Asia Office, New Delhi, India
- Dr Devesh Roy, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), South Asia Office, New Delhi, India
- Prof Sukhpal Singh, Professor of Economics, IIM Ahmedabad, India
- Prof Gopal Naik, Professor of Economics, IIM Bangalore, India
- Prof Prem Vashisth, Professor Emeritus, School of Business Studies, Sharda University, Noida, India
- Prof Seema Bathla, Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
- Prof C S C Shekhar, Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, India
- Prof S S Kamlakar, Director, Agriculture Economics Research Centre, Anand, Gujrat, India
- Prof Brajesh Jha Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, India
- Dr Asif Reza Anik Associate Professor Department of Agricultural Economics Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) Salna, Gazipur-1706 Bangladesh
- Dr Thiagu Ranganathan, Associate Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
- Dr Sarthak Gaurav Assistant professor, Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, IIT, Mumbai, India
- Dr Amarnath Tripathi, Associate Professor, Department of Economics and International Business School of Business Studies, Sharda University, Noida, India
- Dr Elumalai Kannnan, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India
- Dr Jabir Ali, Associate Professor, IIM Jammu, Jammu, India
- Prof S P Singh, Professor of Economics, IIT Roorkee, India
Registration Link: https://srmap.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LhUJ0qKwQbeZpXj02y7CXQ
Brochure: Click here to view the detailed brochure
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Industry Academia Summit 2020
Interactive session with industrial inventors
Inauguration of the first Industry Academia Summit at SRM University AP, Andhra Pradesh was graced by the presence of eminent personalities- Smt. R.K. Roja, MLA, and Chairperson of APIIC, Sri Vijay Naidu Galla, Chairman-CII Andhra Pradesh, and Sri S Vijay Anand, CEO, Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. representing the Government, Industry, and Academia along with Prof. D Narayana Rao, Pro VC, Dr. D Gunasekaran, Registrar, Dr. GS Vinod Kumar, Convener. This summit is organized in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which provides a platform to bridge the gap between industrial needs and academic research.
The inaugural ceremony began with lamp lighting by distinguished guests. Dr. Narayana Rao welcomed the guests and introduced SRM University, AP as a multidisciplinary research intensive institute. He says, “The students have international exposure and experience through internships, semester abroad programs in partnership with MIT and UC Berkeley. Our university worked on projects such as hardening of gold alloy and 3D printing on gold jewellery in association with Tanishq. Also, SRM Amara Raja Centre of Excellence will be established in SRM AP for developing energy storage devices. SRM AP is also working at the flagship project of developing hydrogen infused railway engines in partnership with the Indian Railways.”

Prof. Narayana Rao also emphasizes on the necessity of this summit. He explains the significance of translating research for the improvement of the society’s lifestyle. He says, “Due to the advent of corona virus in China, the price of paracetamol tablets in India has increased 40% in the last three weeks. This is contributed by our pharmaceutical industry’s substantially dependency on the ingredients imported from China. Therefore, the government requires to initiate efforts to promote and nurture an environment for researchers where they can deliver cost effective solutions to such challenges.” He further says, “It is necessary that the corporates should start relying on and reaching out to the academicians and researchers in India, and not foreign nations. The timeframe of the research should be agreed upon to achieve the desired goals. It is also important for the industrialists to be aware of the expertise of the Indian researchers. There is a need of paradigm shift from foreign reliance to self-reliance. The collaborative model among industry and academia must evolve keeping pace with the dynamism of industry.” Professor Rao also coined the term Corporate Professor and requested the professionals from industries to teach the students and prepare them for the future. He also suggested that the academicians should work in the corporate houses to understand their requirements.
CII was founded in 1985 to encourage collaboration among industrialists who can march forward to self-sufficiency through exchange of knowledge and skills. “CII works as a catalyst to promote entrepreneurial talent pool emerging from the universities”, says Sri Vijay Naidu Galla. He further discusses the gap between knowledge creation and utilization, and also offers solutions to bridge the gap. “Post liberalization in 1991, more private universities have emerged as important players in education and significant women students are excelling at academics. India is targeting at $5trillion economy for which we require a 9-10% growth in GDP. He suggests that the government should facilitate the growth of institutions which can provide quality education by monitoring their performances and offering incentives in the form of specific assistance to the good performers. The industries should incur expenditure on supporting academic institutes that indulges in research work. Innovative ideas should be used to transform the traditional curriculum and align it to the industrial needs. The institutes should create a lifelong learning environment, imbibe values and ability to work as a team, and be able to empathize with the society and understand its needs.


Smt. R. K. Roja shared the initiatives taken by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to inspire the youth to indulge in research. She also discussed the vision of the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh in the next five years in this domain. She has also appreciated SRM-AP’s infrastructure and research initiatives. She believes, “The collaborative research between the industry and universities like SRM-AP will help the youth to do revolutionary work in nation’s progress”. Smt. R. K. Roja shared the initiatives taken by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to inspire the youth to indulge in research. She also discussed the vision of the Govt. of AP in the next five years in this domain. She has also appreciated SRM-AP’s infrastructure and research initiatives. She believes, “The collaborative research between the industry and universities like SRM-AP will help the youth to do revolutionary work in nation’s progress”. She further says, “Our youths already have the qualities that are needed for pathbreaking research. However, the necessary skill-sets that are required in Corporate environment is still missing. The government of AP has already implemented some policies to overcome this. Also, to help and support the industry in every way possible, Government of Andhra Pradesh’s Industry Policy is in place. Single Desk Policy has been introduced to make processes easier for the industry personnel.”
Sri Vijay Anand spoke of harnessing the potential of imaginative students. He says, “In India, infrastructure is not a bottleneck, it is already churning out half a million tech graduates a year. We are abundantly endowed with human capital.” He spoke of a Japanese term called “ikigai”, which identifies with a man who loves what he does, in which he is good at, and what he does provides solutions to society’s problems. He also spoke of emerging trends in the technological sphere such as AI, ML, Bioelectronics, and genome research. “Industry and academics, facilitated by the government needs to exploit the technology and find a common purpose so as to align to each other’s working methodologies”.

In order to uphold the spirit of collaboration between industry and academics, Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. and SRM AP signed MOU to develop Amara Raja Centre for Energy Storage Devices at SRM AP campus.