Category: podcasts

Conversation with Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty

Jeevan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur. 

⁠http://www.facweb.iitkgp.ac.in/~jeevanjyoti/⁠

He is an excellent teacher and mentor. He runs a very popular YouTube channel (>106k subscribers) that combines his pedagogy, mentorship and engineering: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@Prof_JC⁠

In this episode, we discussed about his motivation, teaching, research and his thoughts on education. There are also many interesting strands around these topics.

Listen as we humanize science.

References.

1.     “Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty.” n.d. Accessed July 26, 2024. ⁠http://www.facweb.iitkgp.ac.in/~jeevanjyoti/⁠.

2.   “‪Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty – ‪Google Scholar.” n.d. Accessed July 26, 2024. ⁠https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=C6Qb0s0AAAAJ&hl=en⁠.

3.     YouTube. Accessed July 26, 2024. ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9xXDSEwLeBmT3B9ihxnoeg⁠.

4.     Learn All about Engineering Physics and Physics from IIT Prof (Ft. Prof. Nirmalya Kajuri). ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMcXrZBRiOo⁠.

5.     jc, dir. 2021. IIT Prof Reacts to His Own Student’s Video (Tharun Speaks)! ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaejuA5ZpIs⁠.

Masterpiece: The Book of Optics by al-Haytham

#history of #science #optics #geometry

References :

Sabra, A. I. (1989). The Optics of Ibn alHaytham: Books IIII: On Direct Vision. London: The Warburg Institute.

Sabra, A. I. (2002). The Optics of Ibn alHaytham: Edition of the Arabic Text of Books IVVII. Kuwait: National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters.

Sabra, A. I. (2023). The Optics of Ibn alHaytham Books IV–V: On Reflection and Images Seen by Reflection (Revised ed.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

“Kitāb almanāẓir | work by Ibn alHaytham Britannica.” [Online]. Available: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kita…. [Accessed: 15Jul2024].

“Ibn alHaytham or Alhazen The Institute of Ismaili Studies.” [Online]. Available: https://www.iis.ac.uk/learningcentre/…. [Accessed: 15Jul2024].

Sadi Carnot – a brief biography

Sadi Carnot’s book : https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/2559_Therm_Stat_Mech/docs/Carnot%20Reflections%201897%20facsimile.pdf

Other references:

  1. Thomson, William. 1849. “XXXVI.—An Account of Carnot’s Theory of the Motive Power of Heat; with Numerical Results Deduced from Regnault’s Experiments on Steam.,” January. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0080456800022481.
  2. Klein, Martin J. 1974. “Carnot’s Contribution to Thermodynamics.” Physics Today 27 (8): 23–28. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3128802.
  3. Asimov, Isaac. 1982. Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology : The Lives and Achievements of 1510 Great Scientists from Ancient Times to the Present Chronologically Arranged. Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday. http://archive.org/details/asimovsbiographi00asim.
  4. Carnot, Sadi. 2005. Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire : And Other Papers on the Second Law of Thermodynamics by E. Clapeyron and R. Clausius. New York : Dover. http://archive.org/details/reflectionsonmot0000carn_a8p6.
  5. Dass, N. D. Hari. 2013. The Principles of Thermodynamics. 1st edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Conversation with Sreejith G.J.

Sreejith G J is a condensed matter theorist and an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. http://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~sreejith/index.html

He is interested in strongly correlated quantum physics, including fractional quantum Hall effects and some spin systems.

Interestingly, he started as a mechanical engineer and then moved to study the general theory of relativity and eventually became a condensed matter physicist. How did his interest evolve, and how did he become a physicist?

We address this and other interesting aspects of his career in this ’emergence series’.

Listen as we humanize science.

Conversation with Neeraja Dashaputre

Neeraja is an organic chemist who is deeply interested in education. She has been researching and exploring ways to make chemical education appealing and thought-provoking. How & Why does she do this?

Listen to this conversation under the ‘emergence’ series as we humanize science.

References:

  1. “Dr. Neeraja Dashaputre / People – IISER Pune.” n.d. Accessed June 23, 2024. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/institute/people/non-teaching-staff/technical-services/360/dr-neeraja-dashaputre.
  2. “Neeraja (@NeerDash) / X.” 2024. X (Formerly Twitter). June 14, 2024. https://x.com/neerdash.
  3. IISER Pune, dir. 2018a. Caffein. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUteCeOMM4c.
  4. ———, dir. 2018b. Fluorescein. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4OPFOavVhA.
  5. “UTLP University Teaching and Learning Program.” n.d. Accessed June 23, 2024. https://tltc.umd.edu/instructors/instructor-ta-support/graduate-tas-instructors-and-undergraduate-assistants/UTLP.
  6. “Neeraja Dashaputre.” n.d. YouTube. Accessed June 23, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvjuyxC4BpSF1wJigbZtpAg.

Conversation with Pushkar Sohoni

Pushkar Sohoni is an architect, architectural and cultural historian, and associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pushkar_Sohoni&oldid=1217982761.

 He has been involved in various conservation projects and has written extensively on the history of architecture, numismatics, and material culture. Sohoni has also been a consultant for the Sahapedia project on culturally mapping the city of Pune and has contributed to several documentaries on the history of Ahmednagar.

In this episode, we explore his intellectual history with a lively conversation on various topics, including his research interests.

Listen as we humanize science.

References:

  1. “Pushkar Sohoni.” 2024. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pushkar_Sohoni&oldid=1217982761.
  2. “Pushkar Sohoni – IISER Pune.” n.d. Accessed June 17, 2024. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/humanities-and-social-sciences/people/faculty/regular-faculty/pushkar-sohoni/339.
  3. “Pushkar Sohoni – Associate Professor and Chair, Humanities and Social Sciences – Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune | LinkedIn.” n.d. Accessed June 17, 2024. https://in.linkedin.com/in/pushkar-sohoni-11754a13.
  4. “Pushkar Sohoni: Books, Biography, Latest Update.” n.d. Amazon.In. Accessed June 17, 2024. https://www.amazon.in/stores/author/B014L77ZCI.
  5. Sahapedia, dir. 2021. In Conversation with Pushkar Sohoni about the Educational and Research Institutes in Pune | In Pune. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhGg8Oo77Vw.
  6. “The Kingdom of Ahmednagar (Lecture 3) : Architectural History Presented by Pushkar Sohoni. – YouTube.” n.d. Accessed June 17, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhJ_m7vyxXE.

Conversation with Guruswamy Kumaraswamy

Guru is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay : https://sites.google.com/view/guru-group/group-members?authuser=0

In this episode, we explore his intellectual journey from Chembur, IIT Bombay, Caltech, NCL Pune and back to IIT Bombay. Guru explains how and why he is interested in soft matter and sustainability-related problems. He explains how one can evolve research questions that are attractive to academia and industries.

Listen as we humanize science.  

Guru and his team are dedicated to optimizing material utilization, designing materials that are more functional and easier to recycle and reuse. They explore the fascinating world of soft matter, which surrounds us in everyday life, from plastic bags to biological materials.

Guru’s research focuses on three key areas: sustainable materials and processes, designer functional materials, and circularity through recycling and reuse. His group is working on innovative solutions like flame retardant nanocomposites, high-functionality membranes, and value-added materials from waste plastics.

References:

  1. “Guru Kumaraswamy.” Accessed June 11, 2024. https://sites.google.com/view/guru-group/home.
  2. “Guru Kumaraswamy – Group Members.” n.d. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://sites.google.com/view/guru-group/group-members.
  3. “Guruswamy Kumaraswamy | Chemical Engineering.” n.d. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://www.che.iitb.ac.in/faculty/guruswamy-kumaraswamy.
  4. “‪Guruswamy Kumaraswamy – ‪Google Scholar.” n.d. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rRaAd4YAAAAJ&hl=en.
  5. “Guruswamy Kumaraswamy (@GuruKumaraswamy) / X.” 2024. X (Formerly Twitter). June 1, 2024. https://x.com/gurukumaraswamy.

Conversation with Venu Gopal Achanta

Gopal is an experimental physicist, a Professor at TIFR Mumbai and currently heads the National Physics Laboratory, Delhi. https://www.tifr.res.in/achanta/

He and his research group have made important contributions in plasmonics, metamaterials and metrology. His work on magneto-plasmonics, plasmonic quasicrystals, exciton dynamics and quantum nanophotonics has opened some avenues in the field.

In this episode, we discuss his intellectual journey from Guntur, Mumbai, Japan and back to Mumbai, and on the way we explore how he got 2 PhDs and plenty of knowledge in semiconductor optics and plasmonics. We also discuss the importance of metrology in science and engineering and how it can impact the society.

A small segment in Telugu and some wonder memories of his student and postdoc days in India and Japan.

Listen as we humanize science.

References:

  1. “FOTON Laboratory.” n.d. Accessed May 26, 2024. https://www.tifr.res.in/achanta/.
  2. Achanta, Venu Gopal. 2015. “Plasmonic Quasicrystals.” Progress in Quantum Electronics 39 (January):1–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pquantelec.2014.12.002.
  3. 2020. “Surface Waves at Metal-Dielectric Interfaces: Material Science Perspective.” Reviews in Physics 5 (November):100041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revip.2020.100041.
  4. Akashvani AIR, dir. 2024. Science Talk II Prof Dr Venugopal Achanta, Director, CSIR – National Physical Laboratory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBW9HVPuVV0.
  5. Belotelov, V. I., I. A. Akimov, M. Pohl, V. A. Kotov, S. Kasture, A. S. Vengurlekar, Achanta Venu Gopal, D. R. Yakovlev, A. K. Zvezdin, and M. Bayer. 2011. “Enhanced Magneto-Optical Effects in Magnetoplasmonic Crystals.” Nature Nanotechnology 6 (6): 370–76. https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.54.
  6. “DCMPMS.” n.d. Accessed May 26, 2024. https://www.tifr.res.in/dcmpms/venugopal_achanta.php.
  7. “Metamaterials for Quantum Technologies by Venu Gopal Achanta – YouTube.” n.d. Accessed May 26, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7FEfz3hxMc.
  8. “Our Director – NPL.” n.d. Accessed May 26, 2024. https://www.nplindia.org/index.php/about-us/directors-message/.
  9. “Prof. Venu Gopal Achanta Elected as a Member of International Committee for Weight and Measures (CIPM).” n.d. Accessed May 26, 2024. https://www.pib.gov.in/www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1877736.
  10. Rab, Shanay, V. K. Jaiswal, D. D. Shivagan, Goutam Mandal, Ashutosh Agarwal, Sanjay Yadav, D. K. Aswal, and Venu Gopal Achanta. 2024. “An Update on the State of the Art of Metric System in India.” https://www.services.bis.gov.in/tmp/WCPGD16325508_01052024_1.pdf.
  11. Science Talk II Prof Dr Venugopal Achanta, Director, CSIR – National Physical Laboratory. n.d. Accessed May 26, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBW9HVPuVV0.
  12. “‪Venu Gopal Achanta – ‪Google Scholar.” n.d. Accessed May 26, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=ZgLTn-EAAAAJ&hl=en.

Conversation with Devapriya Chattopadhyay

Devapriya Chattopadhyay is a paleobiologist and marine ecologist who studies how marine organisms respond to their environment over ecological and evolutionary timescales. We explore her intellectual journey from Bengal, Mumbai, Michigan, Kolkata and Pune.

She is a professor in the Earth & Climate Science department at IISER Pune: http://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~devapriya/

Her research focuses on shelled molluscs, using a combination of fieldwork, laboratory experiments, and statistical modelling to investigate predator-prey dynamics, fossil records, and modern distributions along the Indian coast.

Listen as we humanize science.

Spotify:

Apple and Google podcast

References :

  1. “Home | Devapriya.” n.d. Accessed May 21, 2024. http://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~devapriya/.
  2. “‪Devapriya Chattopadhyay – ‪Google Scholar.” n.d. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=uYcuqt0AAAAJ&hl=en.
  3. “Devapriya Chattopadhyay – IISER Pune.” n.d. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/earth-and-climate-science/people/faculty/regular-faculty/devapriya-chattopadhyay/250.
  4. “Devapriya Chattopadhyay (@Devapriya_Chat) / X.” 2024. X (Formerly Twitter). May 10, 2024. https://x.com/Devapriya_Chat.
  5. IISER Pune Science Activity Centre, dir. 2022. Rocks Full of Life! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N11vzrQtcZs.
  6. NPTEL-NOC IITM, dir. 2023. Course Structure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQz3J1VMF1Q.
  7. “The Evolution of the Earth and Life – Course.” n.d. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in/noc23_ce54/preview.