Meet Our India Fulbrighters Archive - Page 8 of 53

Haulianlal Guite

Mr. Haulianlal Guite is an IAS officer of the Indian government, currently serving as the Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Control in the Government of Rajasthan. In this assignment, he is tasked to ensure public health/hygiene within Rajasthan by regulating the manufacture, sale and distribution of drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and all food products. He has extensive governance experience over the last 13 years in sectors that include rural/urban development, healthcare services, law and order, and e-governance initiatives at the rural, municipal and state government levels in Rajasthan and Manipur.

Haulianlal graduated in Philosophy, completed a master’s in Sociology, and recently submitted his doctoral dissertation to MNIT, Jaipur, India, in Political Science. He has also published a philosophical non-fiction work titled Confessions of a Dying Mind.

During this fellowship Haulianlal will be studying the workings of U.S. local governments, imbibing the best practices and examining their replicability in India. He will also be engaging with other academic interests at the interface of policymaking and theorizing, particularly in the area of religion-state relations, and the place of civil liberties in the age of social media and AI.

Mamu Hage

Ms. Mamu Hage is the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of West Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh. She is a 2017 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer. Her previous stints have included being Collector and District Magistrate of North Goa District with additional charge as MD & CEO of Panaji Smart City Corporation. As District Magistrate and Collector in various districts and states she has conducted two Legislative Assembly Elections and Parliamentary Elections, ensured implementation of key Government schemes and initiated several developmental projects.

During her stint in West Siang, Mamu focused on district developmental goals such as Clean Aalo Initiative and urban transformation through a range of measures. She has been instrumental in securing various awards and accolades for the district in urban innovation, health and wellness and election management.

Mamu is the first Apatani Tribe IAS officer and only the second from Arunachal Pradesh to be selected as a Humphrey Fellow under the Fulbright Scholarship.

Mamu is also a swimming enthusiast. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, and a master’s in Applied Psychology from South Campus, Delhi University. As a Humphrey Fellow, Mamu is studying urban sanitation, urban roads and mobility, and how to make cities smart.

Shakshi Bhardwaj

Ms Shakshi Bhardwaj is a PhD candidate in the Department of Polymer and Process Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand. Her research focuses on developing multifunctional hydrophobic cellulose nanofiber aerogels integrated with phase change materials for thermal energy storage and insulation. This work aims to contribute to sustainable solutions in the building and automotive sectors.

Shakshi earned her BSc in Chemistry from the University of Delhi in 2017, followed by an MSc in Organic Chemistry from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 2019. In 2022, she began her doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Pradip Kumar Maji and was awarded the prestigious Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF). She has bagged several awards at national and international conferences for excellence in research presentations.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Shakshi is conducting collaborative research at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her work focuses on cellulose-based materials for thermal insulation and thermal management applications. She is engaged in literature review, scientific writing, and hands-on learning of advanced material characterization techniques with full support from the host research group. The collaborative research is expected to contribute to sustainable material innovations relevant to both India and the United States.

Beyond her academic pursuits, Shakshi is passionate about promoting eco-friendly technologies and hopes to bridge fundamental research with real-world applications in sustainable infrastructure.

Anubhav Preet Kaur

Dr. Anubhav Preet Kaur is a postdoctoral researcher at Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana. She completed her PhD at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali where she worked on human-environment interface during Early to Middle Pleistocene (2.58-0.4 Ma) in northern India. She was also a predoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Dr. Kaur has received numerous prestigious international grants throughout her doctoral and postdoctoral career from the Leakey Foundation, Paleontological Society, Royal Anthropological Institute, Lithic Studies Society, Society for American Archaeology and the Palaeontological Association. Additionally, she was a recipient of the John C. Graff International Paleontology Award given by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Her research endeavors have garnered recognition on national and international platforms.

During her Fulbright-Kalam Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Arizona, Dr. Kaur is working on reconstructing prehistoric climate variability to understand evolution of human adaptability and resilience in the context of South Asian paleoclimate variability throughout the Late Cenozoic period (~3 million years) and current rapid climate change crisis.

Parth Dharmendrabhai Shah

Dr. Parth D. Shah is a Research Associate at the University of Haifa, Israel. He earned his BS-MS degrees in Chemical Sciences from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali and later pursued his PhD at the Department of Marine Geosciences, University of Haifa, Israel. His doctoral work focused on paleoclimate reconstruction in the southern Arabian Desert, with a special focus on understanding the impact of climate change on various ecosystem components.

Dr. Shah is the recipient of various prestigious scholarships, including the PBC scholarship from the Council for Higher Education, Israel, for his doctoral studies. During his PhD, he was also awarded the IAS 2023 Postgraduate Grant and NSF-funded Visiting Graduate Student Program (VGSP) at the University of Minnesota. Additionally, he received the INSPIRE fellowship from the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, during his BS-MS at IISER Mohali.

As a Fulbright-Kalam Postdoc Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Shah is focusing on reconstructing high-resolution climate variability in the Western Himalayas using lacustrine sediments from Tso Kar Lake. By employing a multi-proxy approach including geochemical, sedimentological, and isotopic analysis, his work aims to understand the connections between monsoon dynamics, atmospheric circulation, and regional hydrology during the Holocene. This work will provide vital insights into the drivers of past climatic shifts, their impact on human societies, and their relevance to addressing modern challenges in climate adaptation and mitigation.

Ananth Wuppukondur

Dr. Ananth Wuppukondur is currently Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad (MNNIT), Uttar Pradesh. His research interests are in Coastal and Hydraulic Engineering, focusing on understanding the physics of natural hazards in coastal and riverine environments and exploring nature-based solutions for protection under changing climate. Prior to joining MNNIT, he was a postdoctoral scholar in a NASA-funded research project at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.

Dr Wuppukondur holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Sri Venkateswara University, and a master’s degree in Hydraulic Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He later obtained his PhD from the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. His research contributions in restoring the Great Barrier Reef have been published in BBC’s Unlocking Science series.

During his term as a Fulbright-Kalam Fellow at MIT, Dr. Wuppukondur is quantifying the role of mangrove forests in coastal protection and establishing a knowledge network between India and USA for using mangroves as a nature-based solution to diminish the flooding associated with storm surges. Coastal communities in India and USA are adversely impacted by the increasing intensity and frequency of tropical cyclones due to climate change. The results of this work will improve assessment of coastal flood risk and help in disaster mitigation and management in both countries.

Vineet Pramod Joshi

Mr. Vineet Pramod Joshi is a clinician practicing ophthalmology at LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad and pursuing a PhD at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad. He is on the faculty at Shantilal Shanghvi Cornea Institute, LVPEI, practicing cornea cataract and refractive surgeries. His research centres on translational applications of biomaterials, hydrogels, corneal bioengineering, and 3D bioprinting. He investigates developing artificial 3D bioprinted cornea.

After his master’s (DNB ) in ophthalmology he completed a fellowship in cornea and anterior segment in LVPEI Hyderabad and joined the institute. Vineet is not just a clinician-scientist, he is also a technologist at LVPEI Center for Technology Innovation where he works on digital diagnostics, AI-driven vision assessment, and bioengineering solutions. He has been awarded for presenting his work at several national and international forums, and received international travel grants. He has several publications in peer-reviewed international journals.

In his battle against corneal blindness, under the mentorship of Dr. Falguni Pati at IIT Hyderabad and Dr. Sayan Basu, LVPEI, he began a PhD in biomedical engineering and biomaterials at IIT Hyderabad to explore developing novel bioink hydrogels and 3D bioprinting translational therapies. As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Vineet is investigating how to develop composite materials derived from natural and synthetic sources, exploring novel light-based 3D bioprinting technology in achieving transparency, biomechanical strength, suturability and biointegration similar to native cornea. His research will explore developing newer customized and personalized treatments options for patients.

Sushrita Acharjee

Ms. Sushrita Acharjee works as an Assistant Professor of English at the School of Liberal Arts and Culture Studies, Adamas University, Kolkata. She is a PhD candidate at the Department of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, from where she previously earned her MPhil degree. From 2020 to 2022, she was a UGC-JRF and a teaching assistant at the Department of English, Jadavpur University.

In 2024, Sushrita was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust Grant to conduct research in the UK for her doctoral thesis. She contributed to the BBC 3 radio documentary, Recording on the Nomad’s Trail, on Bengali ethnomusicologist Deben Bhattacharya. In 2021, she collaborated with History for Peace under Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata, India in preparing resources for and moderating a workshop, ‘Aesthetics of Resistance: Revisiting 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War through Various Art Forms’. She also served as a research fellow for Sahapedia-UNESCO on a project, Rituparno Ghosh: The First Queer Star of Bengal.

Sushrita has presented her research at various universities in the UK, Italy, and at Bangla Academy, Bangladesh, among others. She has contributed to publications by Bloomsbury and Routledge. Her research interests traverse sound cultures, war narratives, migration, oral cultures and other literary and performance studies.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Sushrita is investigating the possibility of songs and sounds leading to lesser-known histories of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. She is also training in ethnomusicology under experts, while exploring field research opportunities in the Bangladeshi immigrant communities in the USA.

Sreelakshmy Thekkekara

Ms. Sreelakshmy Thekkekara is a PhD candidate in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram. Her doctoral research focuses on the development of cathode materials for high-performance sodium-ion batteries. She is passionate about innovations in energy storage devices and is actively seeking new methods to improve battery materials and discover new systems with enhanced electrochemical performance.

Sreelakshmy holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Vimala College, Thrissur, and a master’s degree in physics from the Central University of Kerala. She is a Prime Minister’s Research Fellow and began her PhD at the School of Physics, IISER, in August 2022.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center, National Accelerator Laboratory, Sreelakshmy is conducting scientific research focused on the fundamental studies of earth-abundant materials for cathodes used in sodium-ion batteries. This research area is crucial to advance sodium-ion battery technology, which is considered a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries due to the abundance and lower cost of sodium compared to lithium. Her work will also involve understanding electrochemical processes and structural changes using various spectroscopy and imaging techniques, including electron, X-ray, and neutron methods. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, listening to music, and exploring new places to discover food and culture.