Bhubaneswar: SOA University, which was recently ranked 26th in the country by the National Institutional Ranking Network (NIRF), has added another feather to its cap with its Director (Research), Prof Pradipta Kishore Dash being ranked 5th among the top ten active Indian researchers in engineering by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
Dash has also been placed sixth in the country in the DST rankings in his specific research area of energy which had been determined by his publications spanning the years 2009-13 and 2009-14 separately.
The DST, functioning under the central government, had evaluated the performances of active Indian researchers in various fields including Engineering, Medicine, Computer Science, Mathematics and Energy to rank the top ten from among them in each subject area based on their publications.
Contacted, Dash emphasized on research saying it was a must for the university. “Research is a must while great importance should be given to innovation and creativity,” he said.
“My students in the Multi-Disciplinary Research Cell are doing very well in energy research. In fact, excellent work is being done in energy research, particularly in photo voltaic system, wind energy, micro and smart grids,” he said.
“We have an enormous number of publications many of which had been published in some of the world’s top journals,” Dr. Dash said adding he was grateful to the MDRC and the faculty of Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), the discipline of engineering and technology under the SOA University, who were doing active research under his supervision.