By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 11: Prof Pinakeswar Mahanta, Director of NIT Meghalaya and HAG Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been appointed as a member of TC20, the “Measurements of Energy and Related Quantities” technical committee of the prestigious International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO). This appointment was made at IMEKO’s General Council meeting in Hamburg, Germany.
In another significant achievement, Dr Dibyendu Adak, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was selected to join a technical committee under the Réunion Internationale des Laboratoires et Experts des Matériaux (RILEM), specifically the 294-MPA committee focusing on the mechanical properties of alkali-activated concrete. This committee monitors various aspects of the chemistry, reaction, and durability of alkali-activated materials — a field where RILEM has been a key player globally.
Moreover, NIT Meghalaya’s faculty has gained national recognition for their research impact with Dr Atanu Singha Roy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, being named among the top 2% of researchers worldwide in a survey conducted by Elsevier and Stanford University. His research group focuses on bioactive compounds, synthesis of biocompatible nanoparticles, and developing hydrogels for wound dressing and drug delivery applications. Dr Singha Roy joins Prof Mahanta and Prof Gayadhar Panda (Department of Electrical Engineering), who also appeared on this prestigious list in 2023.
Prof Mahanta’s research areas include heat transfer, renewable energy, biodiesel, biomass gasification, biogas technology, and refrigeration. Prof Panda’s work, centered on power quality assessment and distributed power generation using renewable energy sources, has contributed significantly to advancing electrical engineering practices.