Energy Storage and Conservation

Akhila Kumar Sahu, Senior Scientist, serving Central Electrochemical Research Institute - Madras Unit, CSIR Madras Complex, Chennai since 2008. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of Madras, India in 2009. He was a Senior Research Fellow at National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, during the period 2002-2005. In 2005, he joined Central Electrochemical Research Institute as a Senior Research Fellow and became Research Associate in the same institute during 2006-2008 and devoted his research work to the ?eld of Materials Sciences and Fuel Cell Technologies. He worked as a Post Doctoral Researcher, at DGIST, Daegu, South Korea, for 1 year during 2012-2013. Presently, he has about 77 research publications in peer-reviewed journals, 3 international patents, and 1 book chapter to his credit. His present research activities include the development of composite membranes for PEMFCs operation at elevated temperature and reduced relative humidity, newmembrane materials for mitigating methanol cross-over in DMFCs, Synthesis of nano-porous/mesoporous carbon materials for fuel cell electrodes, Pt-based, non-precious and non-metallic electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), etc.

Bhim Charan Meikap, Professor& Head Department of Chemical Engineering serving the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur since 2004. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 2001. In 2004, he joined the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), in Bangkok, Thailand as Visiting Assistant Professor. He also worked as an Assistant Professor National Institute of Technology since 1997. He was also the Chairman, of GATE/JAM 2015, Vice-Chairman, of GATE/JAM 2014 & 2013His recent work on CO2 adoption has been widely appreciated. He has received Excellence Award from NBCFDC, Ministry of Social Justice, Govt. of India awarded to IIT Kharagpur for demonstrating successfullythe CSR project and recipient of the National Design Award in Environmental Engineering by Institution of Engineers (India), NDRF (2015). Presently, he has about 187 research publications in peer-reviewed journals, 3 international patents, and 6 book chapters to his credit. His present research activities include Pollution Control, Wet scrubbing of air pollutants, Mass Cultivation Of Microalgae for the Production of High-Value Biofuel Fraction, and Production of Microporous Activated Carbon From Palm Shell By Microwaves For Removal Of Hazardous Gases And Liquid Pollutants to name a few.

Vamsi Krishna Kudapa, Sr. Assistant Professor, working in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, UPES, Dehradun Since 2013. Before UPES, he worked as an Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Petroleum Engineering, at Sri Aditya Engineering College, Andhra Pradesh. He pursued his Ph.D. in Oil & Gas - Modeling and Simulation from UPES, Dehradun in 2018. Inhis 10 years of experience labs like the Drilling Fluids & Cementation Lab and Petroleum Product, Testing Lab was developed. In addition, a unique prototype model "Digital Oil Field" was developed at UPES in 2015, which is a combination of a Gas lift and oil-spill control mechanism apparatus. Presently, he has 16 Publications, 2 Patents, and 2 Book Chapters to his credit. He is presently working on solar energy applications in Agriculture, nanoparticle applications in drilling fluids and cementation, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Modeling, and simulation of Unconventional gas reservoirs.