Harini Gunda, a PhD student in Chemical Engineering, has been awarded the SRISTI-GYTI Award 2021, and Dr Chandan Kumar Jha, a PhD alumnus and currently a postdoctoral fellow in Electrical Engineering, has been awarded the BIRAC SITARE-GYTI Appreciation Award 2021.
About the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Awards
The Gandhian Young Technological Ingenuity (GYTI) Awards honour student innovation in all sectors of engineering, science, technology, and design by recognising solutions that are either highly affordable/frugal or push the technological edge for diverse social and industrial applications.
Every year, two categories of awards are announced: 1) SITAREGYTI, which is provided by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and 2) SRISTI-GYTI, which is given by SRISTI.
The award winners are chosen via a thorough assessment procedure by distinguished professors and scientists in their disciplines, who evaluate entries from across the country.
Why did Harini Gunda from IIT Gandhinagar receive the award?
Harini won this prize for her work on ‘Novel Boron Nano-additives for Improving the Performance of Solid Propellants.’
Prof Kabeer Jasuja (Dr Dinesh O Shah Chair Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering) and Prof Chinmay Ghoroi (B S Gelot Chair Professor, Chemical Engineering) at IIT Gandhinagar collaborated on this discovery as part of her PhD.
Because they improve the performance of solid propellants used in rocket propulsion systems, these novel boron-rich nanomaterials offer a possible single solution for several fuel additives utilised in space and defence applications.
Furthermore, this novel nano-additive uses only 1% of the total weight of typical fuel additives, compared to 30% for conventional fuel additives.
This might let a defence aircraft carry more payload or more satellites into space orbit.
Her synthesis approach is scalable and cost-effective, making it more appealing to potential customers. The team thinks that it will be 40 times cheaper to produce than traditional additives.
Harini Gunda stated of receiving the coveted SRISTI-GYTI Award 2021, “It is a wonderful honour and privilege for me to earn the distinguished SRISTI-GYTI Award 2021.”
“I am grateful to IITGN for providing a world-class research environment, and especially grateful to my adviser for allowing me to explore beyond the box,” she stated.
“Developing energy-efficient fuels for both defence and space applications is critical to meeting our nation’s goals and positioning ourselves among the top space-faring nations,” she added.
Why did Dr Chandan Kumar Jha from IIT Gandhinagar receive the award?
Chandan was honoured for his work on “An Intelligent Hand Rehabilitation and Assessment System for Stroke Patients.”
It’s a highly sensitive and dependable instrumented glove that combines fibre-optic sensor technology to help stroke victims efficiently do various hand exercises, allowing them to recover from their handicap more quickly.
Chandan developed this discovery in the Photonic Sensors Lab at IIT Gandhinagar during his PhD under the direction of Dr Arup Lal Chakraborty (Professor, Electrical Engineering).
Unlike other commercially available gloves, this device can measure finger joint angles with excellent accuracy and reproducibility, making it ideal for monitoring stroke patients’ hand mobility throughout rehabilitation.
Chandan has previously garnered numerous prizes for this valuable idea.
Dr. Chandan Kumar Jha expressed his gratitude by saying, “I am humbled and delighted to win this award for my work.”
“I’d want to express my gratitude to the BIRAC SITARE-GYTI Award committee, my mentors, and my IITGN team for all of their help and direction throughout the creation of this system.” “We hope to make a difference in the lives of stroke sufferers with our innovation,” he added.
