Central University of Tamil Nadu Archives

Sulochana Shekhar

Dr. Sulochana Shekhar is the Head of the Department of Geography, and the Dean of the School of Earth Sciences, at the Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN), Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu. Dr. Shekhar is the Registrar (in-charge) and has served as Coordinator of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) and Presiding Officer of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at CUTN. Her field of research is urban geography and geographic information system (GIS) mapping. Her expertise is in applying geospatial technology in urban mapping, monitoring and management. She has guided five PhD research scholars in this area. She has participated in geography and geospatial science conferences in India and abroad, she has published more than 50 articles in national and international journals and authored three books.

Home Institution: The Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN) was established in 2009. The vision of the institution is to pursue excellence in teaching and research in science and technology, humanities, law, languages, social sciences, performing arts and sports. In 2022, the university was ranked 85 by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), Indian Ministry of Education. The institution has 27 teaching and research departments spread across 12 schools with 165 faculty members and 4 centers for teaching and research at its Main Campus in Thiruvarur. These schools offer 57 degrees, as well as a few diploma and certificate courses. Currently, the total number of students enrolled is 2,267 and there are 152 research scholars on campus.

K.R.S. Preethi Meher

Dr. K.R.S. Preethi Meher is Assistant Professor at the Department of Materials Science, School of Technology, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu. She completed her Ph.D. at the Materials Research Center, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru in 2012.

Dr. Meher was the Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window WILLPower (EMECW) visiting research fellow in 2010 at the Laboratoire Structures, Properties and Modeling of Solids Laboratory (SPMS), UMR CNRS 8580, CentraleSupélec, Paris-Saclay University, France. She was also a CNRS postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratorie CRISMAT, Caen from 2013-2014 and later served as Research Associate at the Materials Science Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu. She has been awarded UGC-DAE-CSR Collaborative Research Scheme for 2022-2025 and is a life member of the Materials Research Society of India (MRSI).

Dr. Meher’s research laboratory at CUTN focuses on the development of new multifunctional materials and electroceramics for energy production, harvesting, and sensing applications. Currently, she works on synthesis, structural and property correlations in novel perovskite halide compositions for photovoltaics. She has published 25 peer-reviewed journal articles and presented several papers at international and national conferences and workshops apart from serving as an invited speaker at various Faculty development programs.

As a Fulbright-Kalam Climate scholar for Academic and Professional Excellence, Dr. Meher is studying novel layered perovskite halide compositions that exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties coupled with very good stability for an enhanced lifetime of the photovoltaic device.

Balasubramani Karuppusamy

Dr. Balasubramani Karuppusamy is an associate professor in the Department of Geography at the Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN). He did his Master’s and PhD from Madurai Kamaraj University. His doctoral thesis offers important insights into the potential of geospatial technologies in preparing sustainable agricultural development plans. Before joining CUTN in 2017, Dr. Balasubramani worked at Madurai Kamaraj University (2009-2011), and Bharathidasan University (2011-2017). He was also a visiting researcher at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology in 2019. His interdisciplinary research extensively uses geospatial technologies.

Dr. Balasubramani has received research grants from several bodies such as DST, SERB, ICMR, ICSSR and UGC. He has published over 50 research articles in reputed journals on remote sensing, earth science, and public health. He is a recipient of the Young Geographer award by the National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI) and the Young Scientist fellowship by TNSCST (Government of Tamil Nadu).

In his ten months as Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, Dr. Balasubramani will teach a course on the principles of remote sensing. Additionally, he will mentor student-led projects, and work with the sustainability group of the university on geospatial technologies in agriculture. He will also deliver a series of lectures in various departments of the university and other local institutions and interact with students on the effective utilization of geospatial techniques for sustainable agriculture.