Electron

Wave

SCEE News-Letter

Volume-4 | Issue-2

Editor: Dr. Shubhajit Roy Chowdhury

Co-Editors: Dr. Manas Thakur & Dr. Srinivasu Bodapati

School of Computing and Electrical Engineering

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MANDI

2

NEWS CONTENT

It gives me a lot of pleasure to introduce before you volume-4

No- 2 of Electron Wave, the SCEE Newsletter. With the

passage of time, our school has grown to a size of 46 no. of

faculty members, with a diverse areas of focus including signal

processing, communication, control systems, power electronics

and drives, VLSI and microelectronics, embedded systems and IOT, human computer

interaction, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer networks, graphics to

name a few. I am pleased to introduce the new faculty members who joined IIT

Mandi over the past 5 months. Our director Prof. Timothy A. Gonsalves has kindly

consented to give an interview sharing his views about the development of the

institute and scaling its heights down the line.

Sincerely,

Shubhajit Roy Chowdhury

Message from the Editor:-

1. Message from the Editor- Dr. S. Roy Chowdhury

2. Face to face with Dr. Timothy A. Gonsalves

3. Awards, Recognitions, Publications and Patents

4. Distinguished lectures, Seminars and Workshops

5. Student Achievements and Statistics

6. Research Projects

7. Our Staff - New Faculty Details

6.

3

FACE TO FACE WITH THE DIRECTOR

Q- Who are you and what do you do?

A- I am Timothy Gonsalves, Professor, SCEE and Director,

IIT Mandi. My academic work is in computer networks and

applying computer networks and software technologies to

improve the lives of Indians, particularly in rural areas.

Q- You have taught in USA as well as in India how do you find the students in US

versus Indian students?

A- The students in the US are usually more self-motivated because they themselves

pay for their education. Many of them take loans and after graduation they repay the

loan. So when they register for a course, they make sure to get benefit from the

course. The students here need a bit more of external motivation. Many of them, when

get motivation, they do very well. In terms of overall capability, the students here and

in USA are similar. So, motivation is the main difference.

Q- Sir you have taught at IIT Madras for 20 years and at IIT Mandi for 10

years now, how much difference do you find between the two places with respect

to academics and research?

A- At IIT Madras, the students are those who typically topped in JEE or GATE, and

those here have lower ranks. The best students here are as good as the best students

in IIT Madras. In terms of motivation, I often find that students here are better

motivated that's because having lower ranks they have to prove themselves. Also, some

specifically chose IIT Mandi in order to get their preferred branch here. In IIT

Madras, because they have higher ranks some students feel that they don't have to

prove themselves, so they don’t work so hard.

Professor Timothy A. Gonsalves, the current director of IIT Mandi, happens to be a

charismatic teacher, a successful entrepreneur and a well-known administrator. Beginning

his teaching career at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Boston, he has spent more

than 20 years at the department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Mandi.

This time the Electron Wave is face to face with Prof. Timothy Gonsalves

4

Q- Sir, you have cofounded many start-ups. Did that experience help you in

opening a start-up institute named IIT Mandi?

A- Very definitely yes. In a start-up, there are no well-defined roles, and we have to

do anything and everything. In a start-up, you have to keep adapting and try some

ideas. Some work and some don’t work. So that experience certainly helped.

Q- Sir, given that it is institute with lot of external interference and outreach

activities, why did you choose to establish IIT Mandi at such a remote village?

A- This decision was actually made before I joined, by the Government of Himachal

Pradesh and the Central Government. I think, one reason for this is because for an IIT

500 acres of land are required and in Himachal Pradesh, it is very difficult to find 500

acres of contiguous plain Government-owned land. In flat areas like Sundernagar and

Kangra, there is very little land available, that’s why they chose Kamand. In

retrospect, I think it’s a good decision. It has given IIT Mandi a very peaceful campus,

and is a unique attraction, which many people find beneficial. You can see the result is

the very good academics that is being done here by faculty, students and researchers.

Q- Sir, as a professor, how would you like to prioritize your responsibilities

between academics, research and administration?

A- Well, I would add one more to that and that is product or technology development

for use by society. My priorities are primarily teaching, and product development.

Basic research and administration are lower priorities. Of course, as a Director,

administration takes higher priority. But I still make sure that I give enough time to

teaching.

Q- How do you like to ace IIT Mandi 10 years and 20 years, hence from now?

A- Well, 10 years from now, IIT Mandi should be best in India in something and 20

years from now it should be the best in the world in something. What those areas are,

will depend on the passion of the faculty and students. There are some areas where we

have strength like Machine Learning, Condensed Matter Physics, Advanced Materials,

BioX. Even in Humanities, as you know, Manu Devadevan has won the Infosys Prize. So,

in one of these or some such areas, we will become the best in India and also the best

in the world.

5

Q- Sir, you have chaired the committee of introducing supernumerary quota for

women in B. Tech admission. While this endeavor will definitely change the

demographics of IIT campuses, do you think that it will change the outlook of

Indian society towards upbringing of women, in general, and in women’s education,

in particular?

A- It has already changed the demographics in IITs. Earlier, in B.Tech, we would

typically have 5 to 8 girls, now we have 50 or so. Also, if you see the students around in

campus, in the events, or so, you will see certainly a difference. Recently, a team of

2nd year BTech students won the first prize in the 4th National ACM-W Hackathon. So,

second year students from here have done better than presumably fourth year

students from other institutions and these are all women students.

As far as change in Indian society is concerned, I think the changes will come once

parents and school girls see that there’s a good chance of getting into IIT. Then they

will put more effort into JEE advanced coaching and gradually do better there and get

into IITs. Secondly, as more women graduate from B.Tech in IIT, some go on to become

leaders in corporate companies, and some will do PhDs and become good faculty in

universities in India. They will become good role models at the higher levels, which

today is lacking and certainly schoolgirls will be motivated to go in for engineering. So,

I think, there will be long term changes.

Q- Sir, lastly please give a word of advice to faculty and students of IIT Mandi.

A- You decide on a passion, decide how you want to change the world, and then work

towards that, single mindedly. There will be obstacles, don't worry about them.

Sometimes you will find that the passion is something that is not achievable for some

reason even after a lot of effort. Then be willing to change your passion. But, have a

passion, and work on it.

6

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

Dr. Tushar Jain was appointed as program Chair in International Conference on

Differential Equations and Control Problems: Modelling, Analysis and Computations

(ICDECP19), IIT Mandi, 17-19 June, 2019.

Dr. Shubhajit Roy Chowdhury was appointed as Associate Editor of IEEE Journal of

Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine by IEEE in July 2019.

Dr. Narsa Reddy was appointed as associate editor of IEEE Access Journal by IEEE

in November 2019.

25 Journals

PUBLICATIONS AND PATENTS

20 Conferences

2 Patents

2 Books

7

Shashank Kumar (University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany).

Title: Silicon photomultipliers and neutron detection. December 2nd.

Dr. Aleksey Buzmakov (National Research University: Higher School of

Economics).

Title: Estimation of Individual Treatment Effect Estimation in Randomized

Trials. October 31st

Dr. Abhishek Sharma (PhD, IIT Bombay).

Title: Integrated Quantum transport formalism for spintronics and beyond.

October 22nd.

Dr. Mayank Pandey (MNNIT, Allahabad).

Title: Software defined networks: The road ahead. September 16th.

Anurag Pandey and Ajay Kumar (HCL Technologies).

Title: Computer vision and NLP from an industry point of view. September 16th

Dr. Sudhir Pathak (Research Associate at University of Pittsburgh).

Title: High Definition Fiber Tracking. August 27th.

DISTINGUISHED LECTURES

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

The faculty members of Multimedia, Analytics, Networks and Systems

(MANAS) Lab, School of Computing and Electrical Engineering organised a 5

day workshop on Applied Deep Learning at IIT Mandi during the period July 1-

July 5, 2019.

The Control Society hosted a 5 day workshop on learning and control (WLC

2019) during July 22 – July 26, 2019. Eminent speakers like Pramod P.

Khargonekar from University of California at Irvine, M. Vidyasagar from IIT

Hyderabad, Dr. Sanjay P. Bhatt from TCS, and Dr. Viswanadha Reddy Puduru

visited the workshop and delivered their lectures.

8

APPLIED DEEP LEARNING WORKSHOP

9

5 DAY - WCL WORKSHOP

10

A team of 2nd year CSE students (Mehak Jain, Ruchika Sharan and Nishita)

have secured Second rank all over India in the 4th ACM-W National Hackathon.

Another team from 2nd year (Karan Doshi and Tushar Goyal) secured First

position in Machine Learning Hackathon at PECFest, Chandigarh.

Daksh Thapar won Second prize in the Institute of Development and Research

of Banking Technologies (IDRBT) doctoral colloquium in 2019.

He received 50k INR for his presentation on gait based biometrics.

He is guided by Aditya Nigam and co-guided by Chetan Arora – IITD

Mr. Adil Usman, PhD Scholar received IEEE IAS Outstanding Student Branch

Chapter Chair 2018 in Oct. 2019

Mr. Rajesh Pindoriya, PhD Scholar received IEEE IAS Continued Outstanding

Performance Student Branch Chapter 2018 in Oct. 2019

Ms. Jhalak Chaudhary, Mr. Utkarsh Jain and Mr. Neeraj Sharma, 2nd year UG

students, received 2nd Prize in IEEE IAS Web Designing Contest 2018, Oct.

2019

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

11

STUDENT STATISTICS

20 No. of MS Students

76 No. of Ph.D Students

520 No. of B.Tech Students

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Dr. Narsa Reddy Tummuru:

Next Generation Dynamic Capacitive and Inductive Power Transfer Topologies in

Green e-Transportation Systems,

Funded by: SERB,

Duration: 2019-2022

Status: Recommended

Advanced coordinated control and projection of intelligent dc micro grids under

India-Bulgaria Joint Research Projects,

Funded by: DST

Duration: 2019-2021 (As a Co-PI)

Status: Recommended

Dr. Amit Kumar Singha:

Modelling, Analysis, Design, and Control of a High-Frequency DC-DC Converter

for Internet of Things Applications

Funded by: DTS

Duration: 2019-2023

Research Grant: 35 Lakhs

Role: Principal Investigator

246 No. of M.Tech Students

12

OUR NEW FACULTY MEMBERS

Dr. Manas Thakur

Dr. Manas Thakur joined IIT Mandi in July 2019. He has done his Ph.D. and

M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Madras, with his thesis

titled “Precise and Efficient Analysis of Java Programs” being awarded one

of the Institute Research Awards for the year. His research interests include program

analysis, compiler design, programming languages, and parallel computing. Apart from enjoying

teaching as a passion, Manas writes poems, practises Yoga, and claims that if not in computer

science he would have been a historian.

Dr. Srinivasu Bodapati

Dr. B. Srinivasu recently joined the School of Computing and Electrical

Engineering as Assistant Professor. He received his PhD in Electrical

Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras with his

thesis titled “Design of Arithmetic circuits in Carbon Nanotube Technology”. He has worked as

research fellow in Nanyang Technological University Singapore from Feb, 2017 to July, 2019.

His research interests include digital design in emerging device technologies, designing

arithmetic circuits, hardware security, design of Physical Unclonable Functions, Cryptography

hardware and FPGA-based designs.

Dr. Himanshu Misra

Dr. Himanshu Misra recently joined the School of Computing and Electrical

Engineering as Assistant Professor. He received his PhD in Electrical

Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. His research

interests include- Doubly fed induction Generator, Electrical Machines, Electric Drives,

Special Electrical Machines, Electric vehicle, Renewable Energy, Power converters, DC power

generation from rotating electric machines.

13

Dr. Amit Kumar Singha

Amit Kumar Singha received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering

from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India in 2017.

He worked in Fluor Daniel India Pvt. Ltd. as an Associate Design Engineer.

He was a Visiting Power Electronics Researcher in Tagore Technology, Kolkata. Presently, he is

an Assistant Professor in the School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, IIT Mandi. His

research interests include modeling, analysis, design, and control of DC-DC converters.

Dr. Pratim Kundu

Dr. Pratim Kundu received his B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from

West Bengal University of Technology, India in 2009, the M.S. and Ph.D.

degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, India in 2013 and 2018

respectively. He worked as a postdoctoral scholar at Washington State University, USA. He

joined IIT Mandi as an Assistant Professor on October, 2019. His current research area is

the application of smart grid data for enhanced monitoring, control and protection of power

systems.

Dr. Sreelakshmi Manjunath

Dr. Sreelakshmi Manjunath received her B.E. in Electrical and Electronics

Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India in

the year 2012, and her MS (Research) and Ph.D. degrees from Indian

Institute of Technology Madras, India in 2018. She was a postdoctoral research fellow at

Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA during Nov. 2018--Sept. 2019. Currently,

she holds a faculty position in the School of Computing and Electrical Engineering at Indian

Institute of Technology Mandi, HP, India. Her research interests are in control theory and

performance evaluation of communication networks.

14

Dr. Jinesh Machchhar

Dr. Jinesh Machchhar joined SCEE in November 2019. He works in the

area of geometric modeling and design. During his Ph.D. at IIT Bombay,

He explored numerical algorithms for curves and surfaces. The work during

his post-doc at the Technion was focused on robust, water-tight software implementations of

geometric algorithms. He finds the picturesque setting of IIT Mandi an apt place to further

such endeavors. He also enjoys trekking and model-making science.

Dr. Rameshwar Pratap

Dr. Rameshwar has joined the institute in July 2019. His research interest

falls in the areas of Algorithms in Data Science and Machine Learning. He

works towards developing algorithms that can handle large dimensionality

and volume of data. In particular, he is focusing on developing "extremely simple", practical

approximation algorithms for the problems related to dimensionality reduction, core-set

construction, clustering, and similarity search. He mainly uses techniques from randomized

hashing, random projection, matrix algebra, and sampling. Earlier, he was working with industry

research in the areas of algorithms in Data Science and Machine Learning at Wipro-AI

Research, Bangalore; Zenlabs, Zensar Technology, Pune; and TCS Innovation Labs, New Delhi.

Dr. Varunkumar Jayapaul

Dr. Varunkumar Jayapaul is from Thanjavur, he recently joined the School

of Computing and Electrical Engineering as Assistant Professor. He received

his Ph.D. degree in Algorithms and Data Structures. He specializes in

Algorithms and Data Structures

15

Dr. Moumita Das

Dr. Moumita Das recently joined in the School of Computing and Electrical

Engineering as Assistant Professor. She received her Ph.D. degree in Power

Electronics from IIT Bombay. Her thesis is on High Efficiency, High

Voltage Gain DC-DC Converter Configurations for Stand Alone and Grid Connected Solar PV

Applications. Her area of research interest includes Electric Vehicles: Power Converters and

Control, Storage Aspect; Application of Wide Band-gap Devices (SiC, GaN) in Power

Electronics; Use of Renewable Energy Sources for Charging of Electric Vehicles.

Dr. Adarsh Patel

Dr. Adarsh Patel recently joined in the School of Computing and

Electrical Engineering as Assistant Professor. He received his Ph.D. in

Statistical Signal Processing, Wireless Communications from IIT Kanpur .

His Ph.D. thesis, titled “Robust Spectrum Sensing for Multiple-Input Multiple-output (MIMO)

Cognitive Radio Networks”, has been awarded the Innovative Student Project Award 2017 by

the Indian National Academy of Engineering. In 2012 and 2017, he was awarded with TCS

Research fellowship and National-Postdoctoral fellowship (N-PDF) to conduct research at IIT

Kanpur for five years and IISc Bangalore for two years, respectively. His research interests

are in the area of next-generation 5G Wireless Networks, with special emphasis on various

technologies such as massive MIMO, Cognitive Radio and License Assisted Access, Cooperative

Communication, Molecular Communications, Sensor Networks, and others.

16

Indian Institute of Technology Mandi

Kamand Campus, VPO Kamand,

Distt. Mandi - 175005

Himachal Pradesh, India

Tel: +911905 - 267133

Email: sceeoffice[at]iitmandi.ac.in

Acknowledgements:

Ayush K. Tiwari (T19014)

Huzaifa S. Electricwala (T19015)

Parvez B. Khan (T19016)

Divya Yadav (T19017)

Dharaniraj S. V. (T19023)

Bhavana Arya (T19024)

Education is not the learning of facts,

but the training of the mind to think - Albert Einstein