Biographical note

Dr. Atul Sharma completed his M. Phil. in Energy and Environment (August 1998) and Ph.D. on the topic “Effect on Thermophysical Properties of PCMs due to Thermal Cycles and Their Utilization for Solar Thermal Energy Storage Systems” (June 2003) from the School of Energy and Environmental Studies, Devi Ahilya University, Indore (M.P.), India. He has worked as a Scientific Officer at the Regional Testing Centre Cum Technical Backup Unit for Solar Thermal Devices, at the School of Energy and Environmental Studies, Devi Ahilya University, Indore funded by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources of the Government of India. He also worked as a Research Assistant at the Solar Thermal Research Center, New and Renewable Energy Research Department at the Korea Institute of Energy Research, Daejon, South Korea (1 April 2004–31 May 2005) and as a Visiting Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kun Shan University, Tainan, Taiwan, R.O.C. (1 August 2005–30 June 2009). Dr. Sharma is currently an Associate Professor at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT), which has been set up by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India through an Act of Parliament (RGIPT Act 54/2007) along the lines of the IITs with an “Institute of National Importance” tag. The institute is co-promoted as an energy domain-specific institute by six leading PSUs—ONGC Ltd., IOCL, OIL, GAIL, BPCL and HPCL in association with OIDB. The mission of the institute is to work towards promoting energy self-sufficiency in the country through its teaching and R&D efforts. Recently, Dr. Sharma published an edited book, “Energy Sustainability Through Green Energy” published by Springer (Pvt.) Limited, India and “Energy Security and Sustainability” published by CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group. Dr. Sharma has published several research papers in various international journals and conferences. He has also published several patents related to the PCM (phase change materials) technology in the Taiwan region. He is working on the development and applications of phase change materials, green building, solar water heating system, solar air heating system, solar drying systems, etc. Dr. Sharma is conducting research at the Non-Conventional Energy Laboratory (NCEL), RGIPT and is currently engaged with the Council of Science & Technology, U.P. sponsored project at his laboratory. Further, he served as an editorial board member and was a reviewer for many national and international journals, project reports and book chapters. Dr. Amritanshu Shukla did his Masters in Physics and completed his Ph.D. from IIT Kharagpur in January 2005. He did his postdoctoral research work from some of the premier institutes across the globe, namely at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar (Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill USA, University of Rome/Gran Sasso National Laboratory, Italy and Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad (Department of Space, Government of India). He is currently working as an Associate Professor in Physics at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) (set up through an Act of Parliament by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, as an “Institute of National Importance” on the lines of IITs). His research interests include Nuclear physics and physics of renewable energy resources. He has published more than hundred research papers in various International Journals and in various International and National conferences. He has delivered invited talks at various national and international institutes. Currently, he is having several national as well as international projects and active research collaborations from India and abroad on the topics of his research interests. Dr. Lu Aye is an Associate Professor in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the Universityof Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Prof. Aye obtained his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree at the Rangoon Institute of Technology and Graduate Certificate in Computing, at the Rangoon Institute of Computer Science, Rangoon, Myanmar [Burma]. He received his Masters of Engineering Science (Mechanical), Ph.D. (Advanced Energy Systems) and Graduate Certificate in University Teaching at the University of Melbourne. Professor Lu Aye has over 36 years of engineering experience in university teaching. Prof. Aye’s research interests are renewable energy, energy efficiency technologies, biomass gasification, green buildings, energy system simulation and optimization, thermal storage, advanced energy systems, heat pumps and life cycle analysis of energy systems. Prof. Aye is a leading expert in modelling, simulation and optimization of energy systems. Prof. Aye has an international collaboration in Exchange programs, Research, Technical Assistance/Training with the Chiang Mai University, Thailand. Prof. Aye is also a member of the University of Melbourne Energy Institute Energy Efficiency and Smart Grids research groups.