Global honour for IIT-Madras Professor

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Madras has added yet another feather to its cap.  A senior faculty at the Institute, Prof. R. I. Sujith has been elected as an International Member of the United States National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He was elected in recognition of his contributions to engineering “for applications of dynamical systems theory to the understanding and control of instabilities in engineering systems.”

He is one of the 18 international members who have been newly elected to NAE. He is currently the D. Srinivasan Chair Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering and the Head of the Centre of Excellence for studying Critical Transitions in Complex Systems at the Institute.

Prof. Sujith is the second Indian to be elected to the Aerospace Section of the National Academy of Engineering after Dr. B. N Suresh, who was the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, from 2003-07. He also became the second IIT Madras professor who has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, after Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala.

Academy membership honours those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature" and to "the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

Speaking about the election, Prof. Sujith, “I was pleasantly surprised to get this news. I wish to thank all my teachers, students and collaborators, IIT Madras administration, the scientific community and my family that have supported me during my career.” Election to the US National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

Congratulating Prof. Sujith on this recognition, Prof. Raghunathan Rengaswamy, Dean (Global Engagement), IIT Madras, said, “This is a fantastic recognition for Prof. Sujith and really speaks to the kind of work that he has been able to do from IIT Madras. The Institute has also recently awarded his group a Center of Excellence (CoE) in Critical Transitions in Complex Systems and we expect world-class work from Prof. Sujith's group to continue to emerge from this CoE.”

Prof. Sujith has been honoured with many esteemed awards earlier. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Institute of Acoustics and Vibration (IIAV) and a Fellow of the Combustion Institute. Also he is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and the Indian Academy of Sciences, and has been conferred the title of “TUM ambassador” of the Technical University of Munich. He is also a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship and the Hans Fischer Senior Fellowship of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) of the Technical University of Munich. He has won the Young Engineer Award of the Indian National Academy of Engineering. He has been awarded the Swarnajayanti Fellowship and the J. C. Bose Fellowship by the Department of Science & Technology.

Prof. Sujith received his undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Madras in 1988. He then graduated with an M. S. degree in 1990 and a Ph. D. in 1994, from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA. He has over 390 technical publications (including 207 refereed journal publications), 14 patents and has written a book on Thermoacoustic Instability. Prof. Sujith was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Spray and Combustion Dynamics from 2009-2015, and is currently a member of the editorial advisory board of Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science. Prof. Sujith currently works on the application of dynamical systems and complex systems theory to study and mitigate thermoacoustic instability.

NHRC pushes for better care for eye injuries

In an important development in the area of eye care, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), headed by Mr. Justice Arun Mishra, has issued an advisory to the Union Government, States and Union Territories to take steps to prevent and minimise the impact of eye injuries and to ensure appropriate standardised treatment and rehabilitation of victims. 

Eye injuries are estimated to account for about five percent of irreversible or permanent blindness. Major contributors of eye injury are road accidents (34%), sports (29%) and occupations (21%). However, it is also a preventable cause of blindness.

The advisory follows an Open House Discussion hosted by NHRC on September 21 here to deliberate on how to “prevent , minimise and mitigate Ocular Trauma”. Eminent experts from India and abroad participated. It comes just ahead of the annual World Sight Day on October 13. The day is celebrated on the second Thursday of October. This year’s theme is love your eyes. 

The Commission, among several important recommendations, has stressed the need to identify the industries having high potential of eye injuries and other industrial accidents and make it mandatory for all such industries employing fifty workers and more to purchase personal accident cover of minimum Rs. 15 lakh for each worker and to establish a special fund to provide financial assistance to the victims. 

The Advisory has focused on five key areas for action by the Centre, States and UT Administrations - creation of a database on eye injuries; their prevention and minimization; treatment; and development of integrated ophthalmic trauma units and rehabilitation of victims.

Some of the other important recommendations are: establishment of an online web-based portal to record details of each case of ocular trauma;  making every single case of eye injury notifiable across the country with appropriate  rule/ regulation/ guidelines; and involvement of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) workers and school teachers to identify the victims, counsel them to avail treatment and upload details of such victims on the online portal. 

The advisory also calls for ban on fire-crackers,  and toys having sharp edges with a potential to cause eye injuries; examination of laws providing for mandatory use of eye safety gear by workers engaged in activities having potential to cause eye injuries; promotion of clean fuel and well ventilated kitchen to prevent eye damage to persons engaged in cooking at homes, restaurants and community kitchens. 

Besides, it stresses creation of a post of ophthalmologist in each community health centre and increasing the number of posts of ophthalmologists in district hospitals, medical colleges, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and other specialty health care centres; and sponsoring of research to facilitate development of low cost eye care technologies. 

Sunder/NHRC/EYE/12/10/2022

A new centre of excellence to address cybersecurity issues in power transmission systems 

New Delhi, October 06: Cybersecurity in transmission and grid operations in the power sector is critical in today’s digital era. Development of robust defences against cybersecurity is of paramount importance in maintaining reliable power supply. Continuous and collaborative research involving academia and industry for development of cyber resilient systems as well as capacity building is the need of the hour towards creating a safe and secure grid. 

Recognising this, Power Grid Corporation of India (POWERGRID), which is the largest transmission utility of the country, has joined hands with the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the the Foundation for Science, Innovation and Development (FSID) at IISc to set up a think tank. 

Named POWERGRID Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity in Power Transmission and Grid Operation, the facility will be a nodal centre where cybersecurity experts from academia, national R&D labs, and the industry will work together to address cybersecurity concerns related to power grids. 

Mr K Sreekant, CMD of POWERGRID said, “ POWERGRID is committed to provide funding to the extent of Rs 119.02 crores over the next 10 years and also depute its industry experts to this centre to bolster research in this area.” 

 

“At IISc, our objective is to work with the industry to deliver cutting-edge research that can solve imminent problems for the industry. We are thankful for the support from POWERGRID to establish this Centre of Excellence in an area that is of critical interest to the entire nation,” said Prof Govindan Rangarajan, Director, IISc. 

Study paves way for better treatment for blood-related disorders

Lymph gland – the blood-forming organ of fruit fly larva

 Researchers at the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) - Mohali develop a new model that promises to help produce newer and better treatments for leukemia and other blood-related disorders.

Here is my report on this exciting work:

https://vigyanprasar.gov.in/isw/Study-to-help-develop-better-treatment-for-blood-related-disorders.html

A peep into pre-history

 

Researchers from the Geological Survey of India and IIT-Roorkee open another window into prehistory.  They have discovered two teeth of a Jurassic era Shark from the deserts of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. Here is a story from me on the interesting finding in Vigyan Prasar's India Science Wire. 

https://vigyanprasar.gov.in/isw/Jurassic-age-sharks-teeth-discovered-from-jaisalmer-basin.html