A coulter counter is a device that measures changes in impedance when a particle passes through an orifice placed between two electrodes. The impedance change is proportional to particle volume. The particle size can also be measured via light scattering. Here, the intensity of scatter from a particle is proportional to the square of its size. The goal of this project is to build an integrated flow cell that can integrate both these measurements. The project would involve both simulations and experiments. 

Antibiotic resistance often arises not from single mutations, but from specific combinations of mutations that together change how proteins and genes function. This project will study how such mutation combinations shape the evolution of essential bacterial proteins and gene regulatory DNA. Using existing experimental data and new analyses, the student will examine how mutations interact to enable or block resistance, focusing on enzymes involved in drug response and bacterial promoter regions that control gene expression.

Circular economy promotes strategies such as reduce, reuse, and recycling are being proposed to address the unsustainable use of material resources. These practices are expected to reduce the requirement of virgin resources and also reduce the generation of waste. The circular economy adoption strategy needs to be designed for specific products and sectors. This work will perform a fundamental analysis of the adoption of the circular economy and its implications on overall sustainability. System dynamics will be used as a tool for this purpose.

Biomass is being explored in India as a sustainable alternative for the production of energy and chemicals. The fuel demands are being met through sugar, grains, and agricultural residue, while power and chemicals demands are expected to be met by agricultural residue. The sustainability of biomass as a resource, however, needs to be ascertained.

In order to achieve the net-zero target by 2070, India needs to aggressively plan the reduction of CO2 emissions from sectors such as power, refining, steel, and cement. Transition planning for reducing carbon emissions is required. This project will focus on developing an optimization-based strategy for planning this reduction over the next 2-3 decades. The work will involve developing an optimization model for carbon capture, transport, storage, and utilization options. The cost and emission-related details related to these activities will be considered.

Antibiotic resistance often arises not from single mutations, but from specific combinations of mutations that together change how proteins and genes function. This project will study how such mutation combinations shape the evolution of essential bacterial proteins and gene regulatory DNA. Using existing experimental data and new analyses, the student will examine how mutations interact to enable or block resistance, focusing on enzymes involved in drug response and bacterial promoter regions that control gene expression.

The by-products generated during the processing of vegetable oils such as sunflower and soybean contain vitamin E along with other compounds. The goal of this project is to study a few routes for the extraction of vitamin E of high purity, and develop conceptual process flow diagrams for the routes. Later, the most feasible route is to be studied in detail. Supercritical CO2 is one of the agents to be considered for extraction of vitamin E. The project involves theoretical studies of the routes and then doing necessary experimental work.

Here, molecular dynamics simulations are performed using open source software package GROMACS to investigate the use of phase change materials for capture of carbon dioxide.

(Computational)

We will perform MD simulations to study the stability of HOFs in different environments and for different applications such as gas storage and separation; molecular recognition, etc. (DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SC02628D).

(Computational)

Here, molecular dynamics simulations are performed using open source software package GROMACS to study the microscopic mechanisms involved in the nucleation and growth of hydrophobic guest molecule aggregates and the solid hydrate phase. Analyses of the trajectories generated will involve determination of critical nucleus size, growth rates, temperature of supercooling and type of seed.

(Computational)