Current Progress in Engineering Sciences : Select Papers of RIC 2024, Volume 1

This book features selected proceedings of the Ninth Research & Industrial Conclave (RIC 2024), held from August 9 to 11, 2024, under the theme “Integration’24.” It includes papers spanning a wide range of disciplines, including Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, Computer, and Chemical Engineering. In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, the integration of diverse engineering domains is more important than ever, as traditional disciplinary boundaries continue to blur. The contributions in this volume emphasize the significance of sustainability and interdisciplinary research. This book serves as a valuable reference for students, researchers, and industry professionals seeking to stay informed about the latest advancements and trends in engineering and technology.

Dr. Uday Shanker Dixit is presently Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Head of Center for Indian Knowledge System at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati.  He received B.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering from erstwhile University of Roorkee (now IITRoorkee) in 1987, M.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1993, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1998. He has worked in two industries— HMT, Pinjore and INDOMAG Steel Technology, New Delhi, where his main responsibility was designing various machines. Dr. Dixit joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IITGuwahati, in 1998, where he is currently a Professor. He was also the Officiating Director of Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar from February 2014 to May 2015. Dr. Dixit is actively engaged in the research in various areas of design and manufacturing since last three decades. Most of his research work is focused on Modelling of Manufacturing Processes and involves finite element analysis and soft computing. He has also contributed in design optimization. He has extensively used finite element and soft computing tools for the design and manufacture of mechatronic systems. He has authored several papers and books. Presently he is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Institution of Engineers (India), Series C, Regional Editor Asia of the International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems and Associate Editor of the Journal of Micromanufacturing. He has guided several doctoral and masters’ students. Dr. Dixit has investigated a number of sponsored projects and developed several courses. He is a Fellow of Indian Welding Society, National Advisory Committee member of International & All India Manufacturing, Technology and Design Conference. He was a Board Member of IIT Kanpur from 2018 to 2021. He is a reviewer of several journals and has organized several conferences. He has executed several socially relevant projects, such as technology development to upgrade the skills of brass metal artisans of Hajo, Guwahati and development of machine for making plates out of areca nut. 

Dr. Nipjyoti Bharadwaj is currently an Assistant Professor in the area of Transportation Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. Before joining IIT Guwahati, he worked as an NRC research associate at Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Centre, USA. He earned his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. He received his B.E. and M.Tech degrees in civil engineering from Assam Engineering College, Guwahati, India, and the S.V. National Institute of Technology, Surat, India. His research interests include traffic operation, modeling, safety, naturalistic driving, driving simulator, ITS, and simulation. Dr. Bharadwaj has published over 20 research papers in international and national journals as well as conference proceedings.

Dr. Sumit Kumar is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. He obtained his Ph.D in Petroleum Engineering from IIT(ISM) Dhanbad in 2020, B.Tech in Petroleum Engineering with M.Tech in Petroleum Management (Dual Degree) from IIT(ISM) Dhanbad in 2015. His key research areas include Flow through porous media, Modelling and Simulation, Adsorption and Pyrolysis, CO2 sequestration, Shale gas research, Enhanced oil recovery, Reservoir flow simulation and Rock mechanics. He has taught several courses including Reservoir Engineering, Reservoir Simulation, Production Engineering, Well Testing, Enhanced Oil recovery, Engineering Economics and Energy Management.

Dr. Debabrata Sikdar is an Associate Professor at the Dept. of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. He received dual degrees in B.E. (Hons.) Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering and M.Sc. (Hons.) Physics in 2008, master degree M.E. Communication Engineering in 2012 from BITS, Pilani, India, and then Ph.D. in 2015 from Monash University, Australia. He worked with General Electric from 2008 to 2010. After PhD, he joined Imperial College London, as a postdoctoral Research Associate in 2015. His research interests include nanophotonic and plasmonic devices, metamaterials, modern display technologies. He has pioneered many novel techniques in theory, modeling and simulation of light interaction with guided and scattering media at the nanoscale, proposed new tuneable metadevices, and published several research articles and patents. He is the recipient of several prestigious scholarships and awards such as Victoria India Doctoral Scholarship, Douglas Lampard Electrical Engineering Research Prize & Medal (by Monash University), Marie Curie Individual Fellowship (by European Commission). Recently, the esteemed Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter – IOP Science recognized him as an EMERGING LEADER 2023 for his remarkable contribution in the areas of Nanophotonics & Metamaterials.