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Profs Pradhan, Mehta awarded GD Birla Award for Scientific Research
Professors Narayan Pradhan and Neelesh B Mehta were awarded the GD Birla Award for Scientific Research for their contributions in material sciences and wireless communication respectively. The awards were presented by civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who praised the scientists for their role in India's progress in science and technology. The GD Birla Award for Scientific Research recognizes high-calibre scientific research in India. Pradhan's work focuses on next-gen photovoltaic cells for solar energy generation, while Mehta's research is centered around wireless communication systems, including the possibilities of 6G.
Professor Narayan Pradhan from the Indian Association for the Cultivation Sciences, Jadavpur and Professor Neelesh B Mehta from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore received the prestigious GD Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2021 and 2022 respectively, for their exemplary contributions in the fields of material sciences and wireless communication.
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who conferred the awards on the scientists at Delhi’s Birla House on Wednesday, said that scientists such as Pradhan and Mehta are leading India’s progress in the field of science and technology.
“This award is named after a true son of India, a true nationalist, who understood the role of education and growth... India currently is in the frontier of science and research and our growth is led by accomplished scientists,” Scindia said during the ceremony.
The GD Birla Award for Scientific Research, which was instituted in 1991 by the KK Birla Foundation, aims to recognise high-calibre scientific research being carried out by Indian scientists across the country.
Shobhana Bhartia, president of the KK Birla Foundation and the Chairperson and Editorial Director of HT Media, congratulated the awardees for their contributions in the field of science. “We have continued with the tradition of organising this ceremony in a very personal way, in the home where my father lived. This award was very close to his father’s heart.”
For 2021, the award was conferred on Pradhan, now 50, a member of the faculty at the School of Material Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, whose work on next-gen photovoltaic cells has the potential to revolutionise solar energy generation.
“Our work essentially focuses on the efficient use of solar power. How less power can be used to generate more energy,” Pradhan said.
The 2022 recipient, Mehta, 48, from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has made significant contributions to the design, modelling, analysis, and optimisation of current and next-generation wireless communication systems, with a focus on green energy harvesting wireless networks, opportunistic selection, spectrum sharing, and new analytical tools for characterising the performance of 4G and 5G systems.
“We have been working in the area for nearly a decade and the focus of our research currently is to study the possibilities around 6G,” Mehta said.
