About

Peering into the future at the dawn of a new decade, the most pressing problems facing humanity can perhaps be best summarized by two grand challenges—climate change, and reducing meeting the basic needs of people world-wide without adversely affecting the environment and the income/wealth inequity. In other words, the over-riding aim of our research is to reverse the positive trends in the Keeling curve and the Gini coefficient. At a minimum, we want to flatten these curves. Complex and daunting as these might be, we have a set of powerful converging and emerging technologies—big data, nanotechnology, information technology, cellular and molecular biology, and additive manufacturing, to name a few, at our disposal to meet these challenges. Emerging materials at the nano and atomic scales form one of the most exciting platforms to tackle these problems. They possess unique physical, chemical, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties, enabling scientists and engineers to explore and develop disruptive innovative (Black Swan) and transformative solutions in medicine, self-healing structures, imaging, computing, energy storage and harvesting, water conservation, and purification, to name a few. Among these, graphene—the so-called wonder material—has attracted the attention of a vast body of researchers. However, its high cost has limited its use mostly in academia and research laboratories.

Our current research is built around the above-mentioned multi-purpose, multi-physics material—coal-derived graphene. Further description of our current projects is on the Research page. An integral part of our research is global collaboration. It is our firm belief that the major problems facing humanity are interdisciplinary and global in nature. In recognition of this, an integral part of our research effort is developing and leveraging collaborative global networks. To this end, we have established strong relationships with Virginia Tech, USA.

CEEMS was established under an agreement made and signed May 29, 2019, by and between Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA and Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala (Punjab), India. CEEMS (or originally Center of Excellence in Frontier Materials, CEFM) as a joint research center in Patiala on the broad area of Emerging/Frontier Materials and enrolled faculty, post-doctoral fellows and PhD students to work on the subject. Prof. Roop Lal Mahajan is the inaugural Thapar Chair Professor , and Prof. Rajeev Mehta has been appointed as Coordinator CEEMS.

Our Chairperson

Dr. Roop L. Mahajan (VT)

Dr. Roop L. Mahajan is the Lewis E. Hester Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech (VT) and Global Ambassador for VT’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS), of which he served as the first permanent executive director from 2006-2016. He concurrently also holds Thapar Chair Professor for Emerging Materials. His prior experience includes 15 years (1976-1991) at AT&T Bell Laboratories as Member Technical Staff/Research Leader/Bell Labs Fellow, and fifteen years at the University of Colorado, Boulder (1991-2006) as Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of an NSF Industry University Cooperative Center, and Interim Dean of the College of Engineering.

Mahajan is a prolific and outstanding researcher with a stellar record and reputation in both traditional academic pursuits and industrial research. He is co-author of an advanced text/reference book on Buoyancy Induced Flows and Transport and has to his credit over 200 archival publications, several review articles and book chapters, over 180 invited talks and paper presentations at national and international conferences and a number of patents and invention disclosures.

Mahajan’s research can be best summarized by the following three characteristics: (i) high quality; (ii) a seamless transition from basic to applied research, and (iii) interdisciplinary. His greatest strength is as a forward-looking bold thinker, with the pulse on the latest trends in technology. He has proven to have an unerring instinct on new upcoming technologies and how to get there first, and the courage and confidence to pursue and implement his vision.

His current areas of research are in Carbonaceous Nanomaterials, Thermal Sciences, Biomedical Devices, Robust Sustainability and Humanistic Engineering. His significant contributions in these fields and passion for excellence has won him accolades from academics and practicing engineers alike, and has resulted in many awards and honors including the prestigious Bell Labs Fellow and several ASME awards including the Heat Transfer Memorial Award, Ralph Coats Roe Medal Award, and Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award. He is also the recipient of the 75th Anniversary Medal of the ASME Heat Transfer Division, Virginia Tech’s Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence in International Research and Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh’s Distinguished Alumni Award. He is an ASME Fellow and Fellow of Punjab Academy of Sciences.

Mahajan is an inspirational and effective teacher inside and outside of the classroom. He is visionary in his approach to curriculum and has been a strong advocate of integrating the societal and ethical aspects of technologies in engineering curriculum. He sets high standards of excellence for his students and motivates them to reach for the top.

Mahajan is a leader par excellence. At all the three major institutions he has worked over the past 40 years (Bell labs, CU-Boulder and Virginia Tech), he founded or redirected existing organizations with a clear vision to be among the top three in the nation. He is an internationalist and humanist at heart who is deeply aware of the true calling of his profession to “harness the basic principles of science and engineering to do something useful for society”. Through his own research spanning a period of four decades, he has demonstrated the abiding power of this principle by taking his innovations from the laboratory to the larger society in a seamless manner.

Mahajan received a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, India. His education has throughout been marked by distinction and superior academic performance.

Our Coordinator

Dr. Rajeev Mehta (TIET)

Dr. Rajeev Mehta is a Professor of Chemical Engineering, at Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, India. Dr. Mehta was appointed in 2000 to Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology as an Assistant Professor (Reader) in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Here he brought rich research experience in the area of polymers from an earlier stint of about three years at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, USA as a scientist, and a 11⁄2 years stint at SRI, Delhi, India. Also, the research training received at Virginia Tech, USA during his Master’s thesis work also broadened his horizons.

While abroad in US, Dr. Mehta did very useful work with regard to development of graphitic foams and almost defect free thin films for non-linear optical properties determination, for the US Air Force. Back in India, he developed polyether oil, which has major use in nuclear reactors. At TIET, Dr. Mehta forayed into many new research areas including synthesis, processing of thermosets, and modeling and simulation, in Polymers. He is regarded as an authority in the area of polymer nanocomposites after having worked with nanocomposites of Polylactic acid, Polyurethanes, Epoxy fibre reinforced composites, microwave in-situ processing, etc. His work on the microwave synthesis of Polylactic acid and its nanocomposites has been acknowledged world over. He has also worked in the area of chemical sequestration of carbon dioxide into high value polycarbonates. Working in a very different area, he developed the technology to incorporate the low dielectric strength polymers into cellulose insulating paper, used in transformers.

In two of the projects, his research has a major implication for the Indian Navy and Army. Working on the project - Processing and characterization of fiber reinforced polymer nanocomposites and their degradation in marine environments, he developed the technology to incorporate nano-filers in the traditional FRP giving products with much reduced ingress of sea water. Also, working on the project - Studies on STF – nanoclay based composites for personal armour systems, he developed a technology which has major implications for the Indian Army, in the area of better protection armour against fast projectiles. However, this technology is still far from the desired results and future projects will utilize the findings of this work in developing better products.

His contributions in the area of polymers has been recognized by many awards including a award given for the “Best Innovative Young Researcher” at the 4th International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN 2017) at SRM University. This award had been constituted for the first time in the conference, which is the fourth one in this series of the conferences at SRM, and is in addition to the traditional poster and oral presentations awards. Another prestigious award was conferred upon by PlastIndia Foundation, an apex plastics organization of India. Dr. Mehta and his co- worker won the gold trophy in the PlastIndia 2018 held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, for the category: Best Research in Polymer Sciences, Technology and Engineering. Specifically, the award has been given for our work on “Glass fiber reinforced epoxy-silyated clay nanocomposites”, having implications for the Indian navy.

Earlier in 2015, his research work, in the category of Research in the Field of Polymer Science & Technology for the Innovation in “Chemical Fixation of Carbon dioxide and Propylene Oxide to Poly (Propylene Carbonate) and Cyclic Carbonate” was selected as Joint Runners up (from 47 entries from all over the country) for 5th National Award for Technology Innovation in Petrochemicals & Downstream Plastics Processing Industry, given by Ministry of Fertilizers and Chemicals. Represented the university to successfully bag the 3rd FICCI Higher Education Excellence award in the category of Enabling Research, in 2016. ?

He has completed seven research projects – another five projects are ongoing, and has 71 peer-reviewed international publications and four encyclopedia chapters to his credit. He has guided 13 PhD students and 27 M.Tech students. His current H index is 15, i10 index is 31, and the number of citations stands at about 1242, according to Google Scholar.

Our Vision & Mission

To be the premiere national hub for pioneering research and education in design, manufacture and application of emerging materials for a sustainable future.

CEEMS, (TIET)

To realize its vision, CEEMS will :

Marshal the creative talent at Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET) in the pursuit of interdisciplinary and collaborative research at the cutting edge of emerging materials

Lead materials-technology transformation by nurturing a proactive, responsive and nimble research culture, ultimately positioning TIET as an agent of discovery and problem solving in the technological and scientific global environment

Foster the exploration of opportunities for societal enhancement and preservation for future generations

Enhance the educational and research experience of graduate and post-graduate students in emerging materials

CEEMS, (TIET)

Goals :

Increase the reputation of TIET in scholarship and transformative research.

Attract, Develop, and Retain Distinguished Faculty and Staff.

Increase the Quality and Number of Ph.D. Students and enhance the research experience of undergraduates.

Enhance the economic and social well-being of individuals, families, businesses, and communities, and engage students in outreach activities.

Establish a brand name identity for CEEMS and reach out to internal and external stakeholders.

Nurture diversity of thought, culture, gender, and ethnicity.

CEEMS, (TIET)