AICTE’s ATAL Academy sponsored Faculty Development Programme on “Green Technology and Sustainability Engineering” was organized in online mode by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Coimbatore Campus) between July 5 and July 9, 2021. The Coordinator Dr. S. Thirumalini, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Mechanical Engineering organized the FDP jointly with the organizing secretaries Dr. R. Vaira Vignesh and Dr. M. Govindaraju, Department of Mechanical Engineering. The lectures were delivered by eminent experts in the areas covering Green Technology and Sustainability Engineering from India and abroad. A brief overview of the sessions is given below:

A total of 149 faculty members from all over India have attended and completed FDP successfully. The participants were able to understand the need for adopting green technology and sustainable engineering practices. The participants were able to appreciate the advanced technologies that are in practice for green technology and sustainable engineering. The FDP would enable early career researchers for devising new methodologies and technologies to achieve sustainability. All the sessions received a positive response from the participants. The FDP was concluded on 09-07-2021 at 04:00 PM. Dr. S. Thirumalini, Dr. R. Vaira Vignesh, and Dr. M. Govindaraju delivered the vote of thanks.

Dr. Sergio Caparada (Professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA) delivered the inaugural keynote address. He discussed the importance of Air quality Emissions inventory. He elaborated case studies on establishing PM emission factors for almond harvesting operations and dairy and beef cattle concentrated animal farm operations.

Dr. S. Thirumalini (Professor and Chairperson, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India) discussed the need for the development of sustainable biofuels. Also, she elaborated on the emission norms and standard facilities for analyzing the gaseous and particulate emissions and on low-temperature combustion methodology.

Dr. Ashwath Nanjappa (Associate Professor, School of Health, Medical, and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Australia) presented his extensive work on Australian plants. He discussed the native species that have the potential to produce biofuel (bioethanol – agave and biodiesel – beauty leaf tree) from marginal lands of Australia.

Dr. M. Govindaraju (Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India) introduced the metallurgical concepts of welding & brazing technology. He has discussed the science and technology of sheet brazing of automotive components and diffusion brazing of honeycomb structures, which were transferred to industries.

Mr. Manish Tak (Scientist – E, Centre for Laser Processing of Materials (CLPM), International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Government of India, Hyderabad, India) explicated the basics of the laser cladding process and directed energy deposition process. He presented the case study on the repair & refurbishment of engineering components using the directed energy deposition process.

Dr. M. V. Reddy (Senior Researcher, Institute of Research Hydro-Québec, Centre of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage, Hydro-Québec, Canada) discussed his research on materials for energy storage (cathodes, anodes, supercapacitors, and solid electrolytes), composite materials, solar cells, electro, and photocatalysis. He briefed the novel methods of synthesis and the evaluation of properties of materials and the development of in situ techniques.

Dr. Ravi N Bathe (Scientist – F and Head, Centre for Laser Processing of Materials (CLPM), International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Government of India, Hyderabad, India) presented the technical advantages for laser processing of materials. He briefed on ultrafast laser-material interaction and laser micromachining. Also, he described the effectiveness of laser surface texturing in reducing the friction coefficient in the engine components.

Dr. Sowmya Jyoti Ray (Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology – Patna, India) has shared his research expertise on nanoelectronics, spintronics, bioelectronics, and energy materials. Also, he shared his research work on 2D materials like graphene, phosphorene, etc., and their application potentials in various nano electronic and spintronic platforms.

Dr. R. Vaira Vignesh (Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India) discussed the need for developing sustainable engineering components through waste management. He elaborated on the science and technology of powder metallurgy processing of materials. He presented case studies on flyash-polymer composite paver block, flyash based wind turbine brake pad materials, and hybrid black toner based on his research work.

Dr. T. Ram Prabhu (Scientist, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Government of India, Bengaluru, India) discussed the recent advancements in additive manufacturing. Also, he focused on selective laser melting and electron-beam melting for the fabrication of high-temperature metallic materials.

Dr. G. Sivakumar (Scientist – F, Centre for Engineered Coatings, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Government of India, Hyderabad, India) discussed sustainable high-performance coating technologies. Also, he briefed on materials characterization and tribological performance studies.

Dr. V. Satheeshkumar (Assistant Professor, Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology – Trichy, India) discussed the recent developments in material joining and forming processes. He elaborated on the challenges in fabricating the monolithic sheet metal, adhesively bonded sheets, sandwich sheets, forming multilayered sheets through hybrid joining methods.

Dr. Shantanu Bhowmik (Professor & Head – Research and Projects, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India) presented his extensive research work on recycling plastic waste to plastic composite products with a focus on government policies (Clean India, Green India and Make in India Mission).

Dr. P. G. Saleeshya’s lecture focused on the area of operations strategy: agile manufacturing (especially agility in automotive industries), lean manufacturing in continuous manufacturing systems, responsive supply chains, and lean 6-sigma.

“The purpose of education is stated as transforming an ordinary person into an ideal person”, says Dr. Joshi C Haran, who delivered a talk on the vision of education. He defined the ideal person as the one who can confidently face each moment of his life. Facing each moment needs a deeper understanding of the moment which is the NOW because that is the only moment anyone lives. Hence, it was explained. He described that the person needs to have knowledge at the physical, mental, and spiritual level to act to reach the goal. His talk gave a clear understanding of the three levels. Also, he explained how it can finally be gained. The talk at the end also gave an approach to engineering education which would give them a better understanding.