A Thirst for Answers

Aadarsh Mishra has 23 research papers to his credit, the highest for any Indian undergrad
A Thirst for Answers

BANGALORE: Most engineering students just want to finish their course and get placed at the end of the course. But Aadarsh Mishra aspires to tread a different path. The BTech student from Manipal Institute of Technology has already published 23 research papers! Aadarsh’s tryst with his publishing spree started when he presented a paper titled Photovoltaic Properties of Silicon Nanostructure Based Solar Cells at an international conference of engineering in Pune. “The encouragement and support I got from that conference became the source of my determination to engage in research. Within a month, I published my first research paper,” says Aadarsh, who is in his third year of college.

As a Mechanical Engineering student, Aadarsh was studying about solar cells and researching on thin films, under the guidance of his professor. “This was the first time I thought I would write a paper. I started working on photovoltaic properties of solar cells,” he says. Solar cells are electronic devices that convert the energy of light directly into electricity through a photovoltaic effect. “I thought this research will be unique and open up alternative sources of electricity,” he says.

Not wanting to confine the thirst of knowledge to his books, “I always wanted to do something unique. My mother always said that one should dream of doing something, than becoming something.” It was in his second year that one of his professors inspired him. “My professor Raviprakash Y, not only strengthened my concepts in Physics and Material Science, but also gave me more exposure in research,” says Aadarsh.

Aadarsh’s papers have been published in The International Journal for Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Journal of Metallurgy and Material Science and the International Journal for Mechanical and Production Engineering. Some of his papers include Thin Films of Tin Sulphide for Use in Solar Cell Devices, Dry Sliding of Ti-6Al-4V Alloys and Dry Sliding Wear Behaviour of Titanium Carbide with Copper Composites.

With 23 research papers published, Aadarsh claims it is a record for an undergraduate student to achieve this number. Currently, Aadarsh is interning at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where he is working on ‘Micro structural Analysis of Wear Debris.’ Aadarsh’s aim is to continue his research abroad; he is particularly interested in Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. “I have plans to get seven more papers published. I write them with the aim to contribute to science and technology. It is only because of my professor that I could do all this,” he says.

He aspires to pursue research in the field of Material Science and Thermodynamics under the eminent scientist and Bharat Ratna CNR Rao. Aadarsh’s role model is his father, RS Mishra, a retired bureaucrat who passed away last year. “I want to support my mother, who is doing her PhD from Lucknow University, for all the encouragement she has given me,” he says.

— work.sayantan@gmail.com

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