The advent of the industrial revolution increased the dependency of humans on fossil fuels which led to an increase in environmental degradation. While alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and hydro seem to be good options, their uncertainty in delivering the power made Dr Sujith Kalluri, Assistant Professor in the Electronics and Communication Engineering Department and his PhD scholar Chanakya Karra at SRM University-AP prefer batteries as a viable option. “Application-driven Industrial-scale Manufacturing of Li/Na-ion Battery Cathodes” is a paper published by Dr Sujith Kalluri and Mr Chanakya Karra in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society having an Impact Factor of 3.721 as part of their project to develop zero-emission energy methods.

Through this article as a platform, the authors focus on three aspects of energy storage devices that are essential while the world is catapulted to upgrade itself from fossil fuels to electric vehicles. From a battery level perspective, they have discussed the dependence of the battery industry on lithium-ion technology and its repercussions. As a solution, they suggest the distribution of the dependency on sodium-ion technology owing to its adaptability and wide availability. From the cathode level perspective, the paper suggests co-precipitation through the CSTR as a customized solution to address the setbacks in the synthesis process and additive manufacturing as a preferred solution to cater for the desired electrode design specifications that would comply with the needs of future generations and the industry. Till the battery energy storage system paves the way for Na to take over, we can reckon on SC-NCM cathode material to serve the needs.

Read the full paper here: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1945-7111/abfab6/pdf

More about the Battery research project of SRM University-AP:https://srmap.edu.in/seas/electronics-and-communication-engineering/research-areas/battery-research/

The Department of Electronics and Communication at SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, is overjoyed to announce its students’ success in pursuing higher education. Six students from the maiden batch have performed brilliantly and been accepted to prestigious universities in the United States. These students are offered the opportunity to pursue a master’s degree in their chosen fields. Four of the six pupils have been accepted to New York University, and the remaining two are admitted to The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States of America.

Saifuddin Ahmed, Akhil Aluri, Rohit Sai K, and Abirami Ravishankar have been awarded a handsome annual scholarship from New York University. The host university offered a grant of $10,000, $8000, $8000, and $11000, respectively. Among the four students, Saifuddin, Akhil, Rohit and Abirami, the first three opted for a master’s in Management of Technology and Abirami enrolled in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Agnishwar Paul is selected by Georgia Tech University while B Yogananda took admission in the Master’s-Research Programme at The University of Wisconsin-Madison. Yogananda has received an offer for Teaching Assistantship from University of Wisconsin, Madison and as a part of it, he will also be receiving a Monthly Stipend and full Tuition Fee Wavier.

Students indicated that the in-depth knowledge that they gained during their B. Tech studies made them very confident while applying for higher studies. Agniswar said, “The curriculum that is followed in the university is up-to-date and at par with reputed global universities. It helped me a lot to catch up with the expectations of my preferred university.” Saifuddin added, “I was a bit doubtful at first whether to pursue higher studies after graduation. But the sincere guidance of Dr Sunil Chinnadurai and Higher Connect Club invoked the hunger in me to seek more knowledge.”

Higher Connect Club (HCC) is the university’s dedicated wing to connect all ECE students interested in pursuing Higher Education after they graduate from SRM University – AP. This club is focused on clarifying all the doubts that usually arise in a student’s mind when pursuing higher education and provides required support with all the resources required, guiding in the best possible way.

“My professors helped me to come up with the right strategy to score well in GRE. All of our teachers have international exposures. It helped a lot during our preparations for higher studies,” said Yogananda. Apart from strong grades in undergraduate courses, selection rounds of interviews needed proficiency in work experience and extracurricular activities. “The experience we gained during the Semester Abroad Programme and Capstone Projects added value to the resume, which helped us tremendously to prove our merit,” asserted Abirami.

The Department of ECE is pleased with students’ accomplishments and encourages future batches to emulate them, bringing honour to SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh. Prof Siva Sankar Yellampalli, Head of the Department, said, “We are proud of our students. The first batch is about to graduate. We feel saddened to bid them goodbye, but at the same time, it makes me extremely happy to know that they are going to pursue their chosen paths. My best wishes are always with them.”

Won prestigious i-Hack Alpha with a cash prize of $2300

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering rejoices in the exhilarating success of Harsha and Mahesh, the winners at iHack Alpha Hackathon. iHack Alpha was an AI-Hackathon, where developers from all backgrounds were invited to solve real-world problems with innovative AI solutions powered by sentient.io AI and Data platform. Unlike the usual hackathons, it was conducted over three weeks, starting from December 2, 2020, and finished on December 27, 2020, and participants were supposed to present a full-fledged application. Four themes were given to participants to work on in the hackathon- 1) Use of AI in retail 2) Use of AI in Customer service 3) Use of AI in media 4) Use of AI in Accessibility.

Harsha and Mahesh chose to work on the use of AI in the Accessibility theme, where they were asked to build an AI – solution using the sentient.io services. The whole hackathon was divided into three phases 1.) Ideation Phase 2) Build Phase 3) Finals.
Around 1083 teams participated across countries such as India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Harsha and Mahesh found their inspiration in the story of Helen Keller and decided to build an app with ease of accessibility for the blind and deaf persons. As Annie Sullivan used to help Helen in her communication, Harsha and Mahesh thought, why can’t they create an app which can be installed on the mobile phone and will do the same! The duo turned this crazy idea into reality by developing Artificial Voice- a communication app for the blind and deaf. Artificial Voice is a bidirectional communication app for the deaf and blind to send and receive messages with the help of AI-based technology such as Automatic Speech recognition, Text to speech converter, Audio format converter.

The whole Hackathon was broadcasted online. Harsha and Mahesh’s presentation on Artificial Voice received high praise and acclaims from the judges, and the Team SRMAP(aka Team Square) secured first place in the prestigious i-Hack Alpha hackathon with a grand cash prize of $2300. Harsha is currently pursuing his 3rd year B. Tech Studies whereas Mahesh is in the 2nd year of his undergraduate studies at the Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering. “This success at i-Hack Alpha hackathon has boosted our confidence. We are working on better versions of the app and some other projects that can contribute to society,” said Harsha.

Nothing brings more pleasure than seeing our students being recognised in the best educational institutions abroad. Ms Abirami Ravishankar has secured a seat in King’s College London for their full-time Master’s Programme in Telecommunications and Internet Technology. She is in the final year of B. Tech in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering. The duration of the Master’s programme is one year, and she will be joining her programme in September 2021.

King’s College, London is well known throughout the world for its eminence. It is one of the top institutes with high QS ranking. Abirami informed that the admission process in such a reputed institute is very rigorous and challenging. King’s College, London accepts only 10% of all the applications each year. “The sheer credit goes to my professors who briefed me on the admission process and guided to crack it. Thanks to the incredible learning experience at SRMAP, I was able to achieve a thorough understanding in my subjects, which helped me immensely during my application days. King’s College, London minutely judges the applicant’s overall knowledge and depth before offering them admission. However, for me, it was no tough job because of my excellent grooming here at SRMAP. I sincerely thank all my professors for all their efforts in making me a good engineer, and now I wish to avail this opportunity to prosper and make a difference to the world in the coming days,” says Abirami, deeply overwhelmed.

“We are very happy for Abirami for her enrolment in the Master’s programme at King’s College, London. We, the faculty of SRMAP, always strive to provide best guidance and support to our students. Abirami is a meritorious student who aspires to do something for herself as well as for the community. We wish her all the best for her future. She can always count on our support whenever she needs it,” said Prof Siva Sankar Yellampalli, who has closely witnessed Abirami throughout the years of her undergraduate studies. Prof Yellampalli is also the Professor and Head in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering.

SRM University AP-Andhra Pradesh has collaborated with the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) -Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)’s outreach programme. As part of the association, the students of SRM AP have the excellent opportunity to register for annual courses as well as live and interactive programmes being organized by IIRS-ISRO.

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, SRM AP, have participated and successfully completed the programmes offered IIRS-ISRO. Lehitha Paturi, Bharadwaj Kadiyala, and Sai Yasaswini Metla have been awarded the certificate from the IIRS-ISRO on completing the online course on “Satellite Photogrammetry and its Application”. Also, Annapragada Sai Mounika has been certified for taking up the course on “Application of Geoinformatics in Ecological Studies”. Further, Tamatam Sravani Ratna has been accredited for undertaking both the aforementioned programmes organized by IIRS-ISRO.

SRM AP encourages the students to proactively avail the interactive distance learning courses and webinars that will enable them to achieve their career goals in aerospace and geospatial technologies and make a mark globally.