Vibrant PDPU

That Gujarat and vibrancy go hand in hand became evident to me when I recently visited the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), established in Gandhinagar, capital of Gujarat, by the Gujarat Energy Research & Management Institute (GERMI) as a private university. A 30-minute drive from the Ahmedabad airport, PDPU is situated between the cities of Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. With a huge campus marked with architecturally aesthetic buildings, green spaces, and sporting fields, I felt that it was an ideal place for study and play!

With Dr. Mukesh Ambani of the Reliance Group of Industries as its President, PDPU boasts of five schools across the domains of engineering, management and humanities – technology, solar energy, petroleum technology, petroleum management, and liberal studies. When I met Ms. Manasa Rao, Senior Manager in the Office of International Relations, she emphasised the strategic push at PDPU towards forging partnerships with international organisations, which has immensely benefited the students and faculty alike.

Their ongoing research projects include areas like: chemical and isotopic investigations of fluoride rich groundwater in Gujarat and Rajasthan, design and development of cost effective concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems, and plasma surface modification of polyester fibers and fabrics to enhance the dye uptake properties with natural dyes.

GERMI, located in the PDPU campus, is being promoted by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (a government of Gujarat undertaking). Its state-of-the-art facility engages in scientific assessment, policy development, planning and implementation of programmes, benchmarking, capacity building for improved resource management and compliance, and forecasting.

The Research & Innovation Centre at GERMI has three major research wings dedicated for petroleum, solar energy, and environment & energy efficiency. Dr. Omkar Jani, Principal Research Scientist with the solar energy research wing at GERMI, suggested to me that their training courses in solar energy were one of the best in the country. GERMI also offers consultancy services in the solar energy and environment sectors.

Along similar lines, the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) is engaged in world-class research into sustainable future energy systems. Developing technologies to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases, evaluating UK household energy efficiency, and studying energy demand, represent a sampling of the research projects currently underway at the UKERC, which is funded by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Energy Programme. Also, RCUK in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has funded bilateral solar projects including stability and performance of photovoltaics (STAPP), and advancing the efficiency and production potential of excitonic solar cells (APEX).

Further reading/opportunities:

• PDPU’s international collaborations.
• A one-day seminar on the offshore wind power potential of Gujarat is being organised at PDPU on February 1, 2014 focusing on resource assessment, technology, policies, issues and challenges in offshore wind energy in India. The registration for the event is currently open, and it’s free.