Research

Instrumentation built to leave the lab

Thirty-four funded projects spanning agrionics, microwave-absorbing nanomaterials, and biomechanics — engineered with field deployment, not publication alone, as the goal.

Focus Areas

Where the work concentrates

Agrionics & Sensor Instrumentation

Sensor and electronics design for pre- and post-harvest technologies — moisture, disease, and crop-growth measurement systems built for field conditions.

Microwave-Absorbing Nanomaterials

Ferrite and nanocomposite materials engineered for X-band microwave absorption, developed with PhD scholars across multiple funded studies.

Prosthetics & Biomechanics

Mechanism design for low-cost prosthetic hands and human gait dynamics, bridging electronics with rehabilitation robotics.

Electrostatic Systems

Electrostatic spraying, disinfection, and dust-mitigation technologies taken from lab prototype through to licensed, commercialized products.

Funded Projects

Flagship projects as Principal Investigator & coordinator

Hand-Held Moisture Meter for Made Tea

₹28.78 Lakhs

Principal Investigator · DST, Govt. of India

Patch-antenna based moisture analysis for tea samples — electronics hardware, antenna design, embedded software, and lab-to-field prototyping.

Early Warning System for Plant Protection & Pest Control

₹314 Lakhs

Principal Investigator · 2014–2017 · CSIR SUPRA

Sensor interfacing, data logging and field-scale disease forecasting for medicinal crops, with field trials run in collaboration with agricultural universities.

Sensors & Instrumentation for Crop Growth (Photosynthesis)

₹64.70 Lakhs

Principal Investigator · CSIR SUPRA

Temperature, humidity and CO₂-scrubber sensor interfacing with a custom leaf-sample holder for photosynthesis data collection and analysis.

Moisture Probe for Oil Seeds & Pulses

₹12.13 Lakhs

Principal Investigator · Dept. of Vanaspati & Vegetables, Govt. of India

Resistivity-based moisture sensing interfaced to a microcontroller, validated at Khandelia Oil Mills, Chandigarh.

Indigenized Lyophiliser for Preservation of Indian Fruits & Vegetables

₹398 Lakhs

Co-Principal Investigator / Nodal Officer, ANB Mission · 2018–2020 · CSIR Agri-Nutri Biotech (ANB) Mission

Electronics for chamber temperature and humidity measurement and control in a lyophilisation system for food preservation.

Smart Agro-Informatics & Green IoT for Agriculture-4.0 (SAGITA)

₹80 Lakhs

Coordinator / Team Member · CSIR ANB Mission

Soil temperature and water-mark humidity sensor networks with field installation, built toward IoT-enabled precision agriculture.

Mobile Soil-Sensing System & Digital Spatial Repository

₹118 Lakhs

Theme Coordinator · CSIR ANB Mission

Fusion of proximity soil sensors with geo-statistics modelling for precision agriculture mapping.

Customized Flow Hive for Wax-Free Honey Extraction

₹68 Lakhs

Program Coordinator · 2018–2020 · CSIR ANB Mission

Lab prototyping and validation of a wax-free honey extraction mechanism.

Design & Development of Bamboo Composite Structures

₹98 Lakhs

Team Member · 2018–2020 · CSIR ANB Mission

Joint design and testing for bamboo and composite structural sections.

Electrostatic Spraying Technology — Facility Creation

₹300 Lakhs

Head of Division · CSIR OLP

High-voltage electronic and electrical test facility supporting electrostatic spraying R&D.

River Water Quality Index Monitoring via Machine Learning

₹19.50 Lakhs

Team Member

Photosynthesis-index electronics feeding a machine-learning water-quality model.

Smart Monitoring System for Livestock Emissions

₹20.89 Lakhs

Team Lead Support (HoD) · 2017–2020 · SEED, DST

Electronics and administrative oversight for a livestock-emissions sensing system.

Electrostatic Nozzle for Agricultural Applications

₹27.05 Lakhs

Team Lead Support (HoD) · SERB, DST

Testing and technology-transfer negotiation for an agricultural electrostatic nozzle.

Customized Coconut Harvesting Machine

₹32.56 Lakhs

Team Member · DST

Climb-mechanism electronics using brushless DC motors for automated coconut harvesting.

Technologies

Developed as Principal Investigator

Controlled Storage Atmosphere for Fruits and Vegetables
Sensors and Instrumentation for Crop Growth (Photosynthesis)
Early Warning System for Plant Protection and Pest Control
Indigenized Lyophiliser for Preservation of Indian Fruits and Vegetables
Customized Flow Hive for Quality Honey Extraction
Bamboo Structures (Composite Sections & Joints)
Smart Agro-Informatics and Green IoT for Agriculture-4.0 (SAGITA)
Mobile Soil Salinity Testing System

Prototypes

Taken to working prototype

Sensor and Instrumentation for Crop Growth (Photosynthesis)
Controlled Storage for Fruits and Vegetables
Digital Moisture Probe for Grains
Hand-Held Moisture Meter for Made Tea
Early Warning System for Plant Protection & Pest Control (Kutki)

Scale

Research programme at a glance

Externally Funded

₹2 Cr

CSIR Projects

₹15 Cr

Departmental Projects

₹8.2 Cr

25+

PG Theses Supervised

M.Tech scholars

Mentorship

Doctoral scholars under supervision

Manju Bala

Spinel ferrite based nanocomposites for microwave absorption applications

Amandeep Singh

High strain-rate compressive response of polyurethane for shock mitigation of embedded electronics (thesis submitted)

S. Anup Chander

Robotics and control systems