The remote sensing group has five faculty members pursuing research on diverse areas in this field. The group is involved in the development of advanced research and laboratory facilities in the field of Remote Sensing. Projects on the anvil include remote sensing and GIS applications for mangrove wetland management, automated hyperspectral data classification and a joint project with solid earth science group on understanding the origin of Anorthosites in the Earth and Moon using geological and remote sensing approach.

The Remote Sensing group plans to carry out research in (i) SAR image processing for retrieval of geophysical parameters, (ii) Geospatial technologies for coastal zone management with special emphasis on integration of Optical, Hyperspectral and LIDAR data, (iii) Development of image classification algorithms, (iv) Image fusion techniques for biophysical characterization, and (v) Near real time data acquisition of satellite data and pre-processing.

Science Fiction is a literary genre that deals with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals. With the advent of space travel, human visits to moon, cloning, and other feats achieved by the technological advancements, the significance of science fiction advanced like anything. Discussions of Utopias, Dystopias, Soft SF, Hard SF, Time Travel, Women in SF, Cybernetics and SF, Issues of gender, ecology, language, power, genetic engineering, imaginative literature, and major techniques dealt with SF are also included.

The group has 2 faculty members working in various specialized areas of micro-nano fabrication, modeling etc. Major areas of research currently control group is dealing with are:

• VLSI design
• IC Design, sub-threshold design methodology and system implementation
• Very low voltage circuits for wireless sensor Networks & Biomedical signal processing
• Signal processing hardware for color image processing, image analysis, object recognition
• Analog IC design
• Fault tolerant computing

The group has 3 faculty members working in various specialized areas of signal and image processing, image compression etc. Major areas of research currently this group is dealing with are:

• Reinforcement Learning
• Communication Networks
• Neuro Fuzzy Systems
• Computer Vision and Object Recognition
• Speech coding
• Image compression
• Communication systems
• Digital signal processing
• Three dimensional object Recognition
• Robotic Vision
• Modeling virtual reality environments for space applications

The department has one geologist who is actively pursuing multitudes of research projects on planetary geosciences. Solid Earth group concerns itself with the study of processes associated with the origin and evolution of various rocks and minerals on Earth and nearby solar system bodies, particularly the Moon and Mars. The specific research themes include the study of evolution of Earth’s mantle and lower crust, behaviour of trace and rare-earth elements in igneous and metamorphic systems, chromite genesis in ultramafic-mafic rocks, mineral deposits associated with various rok types and significance of fluid inclusions in economic mineral deposits, stable and radioactive isotopes in igneous petrogenesis and genesis of anorthosites in earth and moon.

The Geology group is planning to develop an active research base in Planetary Geoscience studies at the institute. The faculty has started collaboration with SAC, Ahmadabad and PRL, Ahmadabad on future Planetary Science exploration programmes such as PLANEX and Chandrayaan-2. The group has started working on identifying and studying terrestrial sites that are lunar and Martian analogues. Geological fieldwork will be carried out at these sites in addition to mock in-situ experiments for the proposed space planetary missions.

The goal of the course is to introduce the student to an emerging area called space economics and particularly to provide her/him with the basic theoretical and empirical inputs to evaluate the direct and indirect benefits & Public good nature of space program in the changing Indian and global context. Also, the course envisages inculcating a broader understanding of the global context of space industry and space policy, the role of innovations, methodological challenges and cost benefit of space program & approaches and future of space business, industry and application services.

• Finite element analysis of aerospace structures
• Rover design for lunar mission
• Computational structural mechanics, Mesh free methods, Stochastic mechanics
• Structural dynamics and vibrations; Non-linear dynamics; Structural acoustics
• Smart materials; piezoelectric structures
• Elastic wave propagation; Structural health monitoring
• Mechanics of biological and bio-inspired composites using molecular dynamics
• Design, development and control of integrated systems like wheeled planetary rovers; deployment mechanisms and aids for rehabilitation.
• Dynamics of rigid body systems, Optimal design, Automatic control, Robotics
• Damage detection in composite and Isotropic materials using time reversed Lamb waves

• Efficient Piezoelectric beam Finite Element formulations based on coupled polynomial interpolations
• Atomistic simulations on the mechanical behavior of Bio-inspired brittle matrix nano-composites
• Wheeled rover with actively articulated suspension for planetory terrains
• Non-linear rotor dynamics( Friction induced vibration in rotating machines)
• Investigation of holographic interferometry techniques for strain measurement and non-destructive testing
• Stochastic wavelet methods for structural mechanics
• Defect detection enhancement in Aerospace composite structures
• Structural health monitoring of stiffened structures
• Path planning of rovers with identification of topographic and soil characteristics
• Very low cycle fatigue analysis of thin shells due to repeated buckling

Tuning of surface properties of nanomaterials is required to overcome the inherent limitations of nanomaterials. Plasma surface modification, an eco friendly dry method, is used for the surface functionalization of carbon based nanomaterials like carbon nanotube, graphene, and carbon based hybrid nanomaterials. Potential applications of plasma functionalized nanomaterials in the areas of nanocomposite and as working electrode in electrochemical sensor are being explored.

Studying the effects of particle and fluid inertia for prolate spheroids at low Reynolds numbers under the action of a periodic external force field. In future this work can be extended for the oblate spheroids. The possibility of chaos in the dynamics can be examined. The results of this problem may provide insight into the development of fluids whose rheological properties can be controlled with small changes in controllable parameters. Planned to study the effects of particle and fluid inertia for prolate spheroids in a uniform true dependent flow field at low field at low Reynolds numbers under the action of a periodic external force field.

• Computational design and development of theranostic agents Our group focuses on the design of molecules for customized applications followed by their chemical synthesis using organic reactions and testing. Currently, molecular systems are being developed for medical applications with a special emphasis on theranostic applications.
• Combinatorial chemistry, drug discovery and drug delivery The principles, tools and techniques of combinatorial chemistry are being explored by our group to develop novel molecular entities centred around heterocyclic cores to enhance molecular diversity. The libraries are initially screened using docking studies employing cancer biomarkers and promising systems are chemically synthesized and tested for anticancer activities followed by protein binding studies. For targeted drug delivery, we currently employ dendrimers.
• Self assembled molecular architectures Self-assembly of molecules into well-defined nanostructures with controlled size, morphology and optical properties is a challenging task in the “bottom-up” construction of supramolecular architectures. Herein our department, we are focusing on the development of self-assembled molecular architectures from bioresources and controlling the self–assembly via concerted action of noncovalent interactions. These self-assembled architectures have potential uses in molecular devices, stimuli responsive materials, solar cells etc.

• Laser diagnostics: concentration, velocity and drop size measurements
• Rocket injector spray characterization
• Film cooling in combustion chambers/nozzles/turbine blades
• Modelling and simulation of turbulent, compressible, reacting flows.
• Reactive heat flow simulations, supersonic combustion modelling
• Optical and laser diagnostics in reacting and non-reacting flows
• Laminar and turbulent premixed combustion burning velocity, swirl combustion
• Electronic cooling in mini/micro scales
• Characterization of two phase flow in conventional and cryogenic systems
• Computational fluid dynamics

• Studies on Film cooling in rocket combustion chambers
• Investigations of Heat transfer characteristics of kerosene based nano fluids
• A study of Elliptical and circular jets at thermodynamic subcritical and supercritical conditions
• Combustion enhancement studies in vortex-hybrid rocket engines
• Nozzle flow separation phenomena and its control
• Modelling and characterization of cavitating venture
• Heat transfer and fluid flow in micro channels
• Jet characteristics at subcritical, critical & supercritical conditions
• Thrust augmentation studies on nuclear thermal rocket
• Thrust vectoring of solid rocket nozzle by secondary fluid injection
• Mixing enhancement studies in Supersonic combustors
   

Presently working in the area of analysis and modeling of naturally occurring series from Ionospheric and Magnetospheric data. Investigating the chaotic dynamics of the time series of Total Electron Content (TEC), the geomagnetic horizontal Intensity (H) and the ring current index (Dst). The analysis based on the calculation of the invariant characteristics such as Lyapunov exponent, Correlation dimension, etc. and of the surrogate data test established the existence of a low dimensional deterministic chaotic system in all cases.