Interdisciplinary Engineering Sciences: Concepts and Applications to Materials Science with Ashutosh Kumar Dubey, Amartya Mukhopadhyay and Bikramjit Basu
2 July 2020

For more than a decade, the authors have been carrying out research on various aspects related to Materials Science and Engineering, such as biomaterials, electrochemical energy storage and advanced structural ceramics. We realized that research is built-up on in-depth understanding of the underlying principles, an ability to think beyond the ‘text book’ and having an appreciation of the eventual utility of the technology for society, in general. Indeed, as researchers, it makes us very happy when our research output benefits society, which can happen only when the outcomes get successfully translated to applications. Over the years, we have also realized that translation of basic scientific principles to engineering research/development and, eventually, towards applications, necessitates targeted collaborative ventures with researchers or groups having expertise on different domains of basic science, engineering and technology; even beyond universities and research laboratories.

As Science and Engineering students, we have utilised many texts that deal primarily with the fundamental aspects of Science and Engineering and address some of the relevant technologies. We were on the lookout for a comprehensive text which covers the core principles of basic sciences, followed by their application towards engineering sciences and an in-depth discussion on technological developments and challenging aspects encountered during interdisciplinary research. However, during our tenures as students and also at the start of our research careers, such a text was not available. It is even more important in recent times to avail of such a text due to the enormous thrust towards trying to get research developments translated into important technologies at a fairly rapid pace.

Figure 1. The flow from basic principles towards technology development, leading to societal benefits; also highlighting the need for integrated approach at all the stages of development.

 

In the above context, this unique book fills the void by demonstrating how scientific principles/concepts can be translated towards engineering applications in the form of technology development. It focuses primarily on technological applications which are very pertinent to present day societal needs, including healthcare and electrochemical energy storage, and often we see that development of such technologies requires multidisciplinary approaches – those found at the intersection of traditional disciplines. Per application, the approach we have used is discussion of the relevant basic scientific and engineering principles, followed by description of translating these principles into technological developments, and the associated challenges at various steps. The eventual benefits to society have also been discussed.

The book also includes a chapter which discusses aspects and challenges of interdisciplinary and translational research, and the need for collaborative efforts between experts in different areas. This book is the culmination of decades of experience of the authors in leading successful interdisciplinary and translational research programs, and educating on technologies intended for various applications. With the help of various examples, this book is intended to inspire the next generation of researchers to develop new and interesting ideas leading to breakthrough technologies, since it describes the journey of Frontier Science and Engineering technology development and translation through examples, in a manner which goes beyond the existing convention.

Published date: June 2020

Details of the text can be found on the book’s webpage.

 

Co-Authors’ biosketch

Ashutosh Kumar Dubey

Dr. Ashutosh Kumar Dubey is currently an Assistant Professor and Ramanujan Fellow in the Department of Ceramic Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, UP, India. He earned his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, UP, India in 2012. He was JSPS Fellow at Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan during 2012-14. His research interests include Piezoelectric biomaterials, Piezoelectrically toughened materials, Functionally graded materials, Nanoporous bio-ceramics and Analytical computation. As recognition for his research work, he received various prestigious awards/fellowships such as the Young Scientist Award by Indian Science Congress Association (2011-2012) as well as by Indian Ceramic Society (2015), Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) Fellowship for Foreign Researchers (2012-14) and Ramanujan Fellowship by Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India (2015-20), MAHE Award (2018) by Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India.

More details at: https://www.iitbhu.ac.in/dept/cer/people/akdubeycer

Amartya Mukhopadhyay

Presently, Associate Professor at the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, IIT Bombay, Amartya Mukhopadhyay completed his Doctoral in Materials research from the University of Oxford, UK, in 2009 and performed his post-doctoral Research at Brown University, USA, for a couple of years. Prior to that, he had completed his under-graduation from REC (presently, NIT) Durgapur in 2003 and Masters’ from IIT Kanpur in 2006; both in the area of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. He had also worked as a graduate engineer in ESSAR Steel Plant, Hazira, for a year (2003-2004).

His primary areas of research include ‘Materials for Electrochemical energy storage’ and ‘Engineering Ceramics’. Among his major recognitions so far, he has been awarded the ‘IIT Bombay Research Dissemination Award 2018′, INAE Young Engineer Award 2016’, ‘ASM-IIM North America Visiting Lectureship 2016’, ‘IIT Bombay Young Investigator Award 2014’, ‘Dr. R. L. Thakur Memorial Award’ (as Young Scientist) by the ‘Indian Ceramic Society‘ in 2013 and has also been recognized by the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) journals as one of the ‘2019 Emerging Investigators’.

More details at: https://sites.google.com/site/amartya28nov/home or https://htemlabiitb.wixsite.com/htem