Rice University Archives

Rabindranath Garai

Dr. Rabindranath Garai is Research Associate at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, where he works on the fabrication of semi-transparent PSCs for building integration. He obtained his B.Sc. degree in 2014 from Midnapore College, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore and his M.Sc. degree in 2016 from the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. He then earned his Ph.D. in 2022 under the supervision of Dr. Parameswar K. Iyer at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. His research work focuses on the investigation of multifunctional molecules for efficient and durable polymer and perovskite solar cells (PSCs).

Dr. Garai has published several research articles in recognized international journals and filed three patents in solar cell technology. He also received the “Chemical Science Best Poster Presentation Prize” at ChemSci2021: Leaders in the Field Symposium organized by the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) Bangalore in association with the Chemical Science journal. His other scientific recognitions include the Award of Sakura Science Program-2019 held at Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan.

Dr. Garai is pursuing his Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellowship at the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department, Rice University. He is working under the mentorship of Dr. Aditya D. Mohite, who is recognized as one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of perovskite-based solar cell devices. Dr. Garai’s project aims to develop high-performance and durable PSCs through structural phase and interface engineering.

Ashish Tiwari

Ashish Tiwari is currently a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at IIT Gandhinagar. He obtained his MTech in electrical engineering from IIT Gandhinagar in 2020. He is the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) 2020-2024. His research interest lies at the intersection of computer vision, computer graphics, and deep learning with a primary focus on inferring the 3D world from image(s) through photometric methods such as photometric stereo, Shape from Polarization (SfP), and photo-polarimetric stereo. He was awarded the Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship (QIF) 2023-2024 for his project proposal, “Photometric Stereo for Refractive Objects.” He was a part of the core organizing team of ICVGIP 2022, held at IIT Gandhinagar. He was also a part of the Google Research Week 2023.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at Rice University, Houston, TX, Ashish is investigating a scene’s geometry, material, and lighting through a sparse set of images captured through hand-held acquisition devices such as smartphones. Ashish enjoys teaching and has delivered plenty of invited talks on his research on photometric stereo. He likes singing, sketching, playing outdoor sports, especially cricket, and long-hour endurance runs. He also enjoys interacting with people from different regions and cultures and involves himself in community services.

Altaf Pasha

Mr. Altaf Pasha is a PhD scholar at the Centre for Nano & Material Sciences (CNMS), Jain University, Bangalore. His research is focused on developing solar photovoltaic materials and devices with a commitment to solve global energy crisis and contribute to India’s renewable energy target. He is working towards making perovskite solar cells a viable technology by focusing on efficiency, stability, and scaling. His research has been published in reputed peer-reviewed international journals and international conference proceedings.

Prior to joining Jain, he received his BSc (Physics) from SSMRV College and MSc (Physics) from National College Jayanagar. After his MSc, he worked as a research scholar at Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), Germany on a collaborative project with major photovoltaics industry partners. He later joined Photo and Electrocatalysis Research Group at Jain to focus on fabrication of new generation solar cells.

He has also worked as a part-time (four semesters) assistant professor at Department of Postgraduate Studies & Research in Physics at the National College and has guided a few students in projects leading to multiple publications.

In his Fulbright fellowship, Mr. Altaf is studying phase segregation mechanism in mixed halide perovskites, to fabricate photostable tandem solar cells, with a view to futuristic renewable energy technologies.

Mr. Altaf is an avid STEM communicator. He serves as a part-time curator in BV Jagadeesh Science Centre, he has delivered public lectures and moderated debates on important public policies. He is also a Kannada theatre artist and enjoys interconnecting arts with science.

Gagan Kumar Sharma

Mr. Gagan Kumar Sharma is working as a Ph.D. candidate under the DST-INSPIRE Fellowship program at the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand. He is conducting research with Professor Davinder Kaur on 2D nanomaterial based composites for lead-free energy storage devices (supercapacitors). Mr. Sharma holds a bachelor’s degree (Honours) in physics from the University of Delhi. He is also a second-rank holder in his master’s in physics from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur. During his HSC/Intermediate, he emerged as a third district topper, and the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India has awarded him the INSPIRE Scholarship for UG & PG studies.

Mr. Sharma has published his research work in various peer-reviewed international journals, including Applied Physics Letters. He has presented his research findings at numerous international conferences, including AEM-2022 held at the Imperial College London. He is a recipient of the Best Poster Presentation Award for two conferences. He is also a sportsperson and loves to travel to new places.

As a Fulbright-Kalam Climate fellow, Mr. Sharma is working on the next generation lead-free and environmentally friendly energy storage technology. One of the primary goals of his research on green energy is to benefit every section of human civilization. He expects that the collaborative work will provide a tactic for commercialization at low manufacturing costs and prevent environmental imbalance. He is further optimizing several nanohybrid materials for better capacitive properties, which may solve the current energy crisis of the world. He also plans to explore various metallic foil/mesh/foam as a flexible current collector for bendable supercapacitors.

Shruti Suriyakumar

Dr. Shruti Suriyakumar did her post-graduation at Lady Doak College, Madurai, where she majored in physics and joined CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi for her Ph.D. Her doctoral thesis on developing nanostructured composite cathodes, permselective separators, and ionic liquid-based hybrid electrolytes for lithium-sulfur batteries was conferred the Best Thesis award in Physical Sciences from the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), New Delhi.

Dr. Suriyakumar later received the National Post Doctoral Fellowship at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM). Her research was focused on developing sulphide-based solid electrolytes for sodium batteries. As a project scientist at IISER TVM, she has contributed to developing solid electrolytes for lithium and sodium batteries and has been involved in designing electrodes and electrolytes for next-generation battery chemistries.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellow, Dr. Suriyakumar’s research at Rice University, Houston, TX is focusing on electrode-electrolyte interface engineering for solid-state batteries. The project involves the rational design of 2D materials, introducing them as interlayers/ coatings between the solid-solid point of contact and regulating the lithium-ion flux, thereby improving the cycling stability and performance of all-solid-state lithium batteries.