By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 22 Mar: Lt Dr AK Priya, Professor from KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology (KPRIET), Coimbatore, has joined as a Visiting Professor with the team of Dr M Muruganandam, Principal Scientist and Head, Research Prioritisation, Monitoring, & Evaluation and Knowledge Management Unit, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR-IISWC). Dr Priya has been sponsored for four months during March-June 2023 under the Young Scientist Fellowship Scheme (YSFS) of the Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology, Chennai.
Dr M Madhu, Director, IISWC, stated during an interaction that the association will be mutually beneficial for the Institute and her organisation.
Dr Priya as an environmental engineer brings rich experience on diverse fields including IoT and mobile-app based design and development of agribot, automated dispensers linked with hybrid power-solar and electric power, nano-size adsorbents to clean up wastewater, biomass production and management, edible plastics synthesis from algae and biomass for production of environment friendly packing materials, potable water filters to reduce or remove TDS and microbial pathogens and such others. She has about 20 patents granted or published besides many competitive grants and awards to her credit. The present professional association with Dr Muruganandam and his team will bring augmented benefit and advance professional competence.
Dr Muruganandam revealed that she will have an opportunity to learn about concepts and approaches of resource conservation, agriculture production and environment management through various professional engagements including training on field and methodological tools and techniques on SWC & watershed management, water quality, rivers and aquatic ecosystems management, bioremediation and emerging technologies for food and livelihood securities. He added that the association will be used for sharing knowledge through seminars and symposia and bring out quality knowledge products on a wide range of topics of science and technology for the benefit of society and professional advancements.
Professional interaction with scientists and technical officers of the Institute and field exposure to various models and systems developed by the Institute are scheduled during her stay. The opportunities available with various local institutions and organisations will also be explored and programmed as a part of the association.
