Good day, Rajesh Kumar Rajagopal. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Uh, yeah, yeah. Tell me what? How? How should I start?

You can begin by sharing your professional journey in academia—highlighting your role, experiences, and key milestones. How did your career evolve to where you are today?

Thank you, uh, thank you very much for, uh, giving me this opportunity, uh, for the professor, uh, uh, position at chemical engineering and metal science department and.

Uh, thank you very much for this opportunity. Uh, The thing is, like, uh, I did my bachelors and also my masters in India. And after that, uh, completing my bachelors and masters in India. And then I also did my PhD in India before joining PhD, uh, at IIT Kharagpur. So in the, in the time, I also spend the time at Indian Institute of Technology.

Uh, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where I had a very strong experience.

Uh, in working with the white, white diversity of people. And then I begin my journey at IIT Kharagpur, uh, uh, mainly like working with different, uh, sensors, uh, micro capacitors and uh, different kinds of gas sensors work I have worked on. And after getting my PhD, then like I then I was interested to venture and to learn more about the academia in.

Sweden, So I would say like this is a very important transition also for me from having an experience, not only in India to have an international experience. I proceed there and there I worked with the different people and like wide variety of, uh, it's a global institute as you know.

Uh, outside India. So for, uh, based on that, I started applying and then I got, uh, interesting portion at Uppsala University.

And there is an opportunity to work with wide variety of students from, uh, different all over the globe and, uh, different researchers, uh, uh, uh, like, uh, uh, possibility to collaborate, uh, and also like to learn how the Academy of work. So to me, like, it was a very dynamic academic environment where you meet new people to exchange their ideas and.

Uh, uh, to learn how they were, uh, doing their research and uh, to have a very good.

Uh, interesting ideas and discussion, brainstorming I would say, and how, uh, like.

Umm, how they were able to proceed, uh, with the different challenges and ideas, uh, that was one of the main experience and to work with the different people, with the different backgrounds, uh, at the international level. So in order to access how the students are thinking and from bachelor's point of view, master's point of view, and also from PhD point of view, how the students are, uh.

Uh, were like thinking on how to teach the students. Uh, this was a very important experience for me. And after, after that, uh, uh, like I also helped in developing the world class laboratory, not only in India during my, uh, during my PhD also I was involved in developing the three different labs, mainly the thin filmed development lab and then also the scanning probe microscopy lab. And also I was involved in.

Developing the magnetic measurements in the SQUID magnetometers and then.

Uh, after that, like, uh, the, the experiences and, uh, the, umm, uh, the amount of experience I had, I also used it to develop the lab in Uppsala University, mainly there for the development of the ultra high vacuum systems where I was able to contribute in terms of, from my technical experience. And also I also developed the own lab to, in order to characterize the materials. And.

To be uh, then I was able to solidify all my, uh, knowledge into international publications, conferences and to interact with uh.

Uh, with, uh, with the students and how to, uh, mentor the students. And after, uh, doing that, uh, I was, uh, uh, I, I'm in, uh, my current, uh, uh, CNRS position where I have, uh, utilized all my skills and at VAT definitely this is a very important opportunity for me where, where I bring in my international experience to the value Institute of Technology VIP where, uh. The hands on experience or the.

With the international professors would be helpful in developing new courses at joint venture between our VIP Institute and the international institutes and also like the both at Sweden and.

Uh, Uppsala University and also in CNRS. So there is a possibility when the students, bachelor students, master students, uh, uh, come to the, uh, the final level. So it is a possibility that we can send the students to them to have an international experience so they, we can venture into, uh, think about how to get into a new position or in order to stay in academia to further proceed in their PhD and to get the students well trained in.

And also in the PhD and also in the master level and umm and all, I also worked with, uh, different funding agencies during my PhD, DRDO and DST and I was able to successfully, uh, get my grant.

Selected for I triple E uh, I triple E sensor society and also at DST uh, to attend the conferences. So and also like after coming to VIP, definitely I would work on further developing my collaborations and also.

Uh, uh, not only with the collaborations, but also with uh, uh, students exchange and also like writing new proposals and project at VIP.

Thank you for providing such a detailed overview of your academic journey, Professor. Let's proceed.

Professor Rajagopal, let us start by exploring your expertise and experience related to Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. Can you briefly explain your specialization and how it aligns with the role we are discussing?

Thank you. Thank you very much for giving me this questions and it was a very interesting question to me. So I have a very strong experience in metal science in in mainly with mentoring students and also.

At Masters, Bachelors and.

As a Co PA and also working with the people. So where I bring in my experience has in the Super capacitor in developing the Super capacitors and the sensors mainly like to develop carbon based super capacitors and and I will also be involved in developing the sensors. Mainly I have worked on gas sensors.

And also with PhD students mentoring them.

And like in order to out I would be able to help and further.

Venture into the electrochemical uh uh catechization mainly the important part is how to characterize this materials uh uh and uh how the sensors uh like now also like I'm involved in developing and increasing the sensitivity of the sensor so like it it would work in low voltage range and as a gas sensor and also like an optical sensors where. In my current project also I work on bolometer MEMS devices.

So where we are very much interested to characterize the, uh, noise level of the instrument. So when, uh, when you know the noise of the sensor, you can further increase the sensitivity of the sensor. So, uh, I would bring like my diverse background, not only in, in developing the, my synthesis characterization on towards application development and, and I also worked with different diverse interdisciplinary projects. I would definitely bring in those. Uh, to their position.

Thank you, Professor Rajagopal. You've emphasized your involvement in supercapacitors, sensor development, and your interdisciplinary approach. To delve deeper into your expertise, could you elaborate on your contributions to the characterization techniques specifically used in your supercapacitor and sensor research—such as challenges faced and how those were addressed?

Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much, uh, for giving me this. Uh, uh, instead I want bringing up, uh, uh, question to me. So in like I would say like, uh, both in the Super capacitor and sensor, like main thing in I would say first the capacitors where the main thing is the to categorize the carbon material, where in order to categorize the carbon material.

Say the main thing, uh, like, uh, in material perspective is the ramen spectroscopy, uh, because from, from the ramen spectroscopy we can get whether we are getting a single wall carbon tube or double walled carbon tube. Uh, definitely we are getting a graphene or a carbon nanotube that, like what is the structure of the material that you, we can determine from the ramen spectroscopy. Then, uh, I have used the key like SCM scanning electron microscopy to see how we, whether we got the three-dimensional.

Like, uh, property of the carbon material that we are involved and to further confirm whether we got the carbon nanotube the OR the, it's the main technique is the transmission electron microscopy. I'm to, uh, uh, and uh, to characterize the uh, property of a supercapacitor. The main important thing is the Electro chemical impedance spectroscopy and one of the main. Challenges I I face is like in one of the project I was involved in doping.

Boron into the carbon structure. So it requires to adjust the parameters of the precursors, mainly the temperature and precursor and the concentration. So based on that by like I would I have optimized based on how the surface and the SCM structure and the ramen look like and further iterating the process to get a very good behavior in electrochemical properties and in in the sensor process.

Uh, involved in developing the zinc ferrite in film server for, uh, uh, for the sensor applications and, uh, mainly we want to use it as a cast sensor. So for that, uh, the first thing I did is, uh, like I have very good experience in the X-ray diffraction. So I want I, after characterizing or depositing the thin film by sputtering method, I have used XRD to determine whether we got the same crystal structure on the substrate and to, to assess whether it is.

It's like I was.

The amorphous of the crystalline phase of the material is there and whether there there is a stress or stain that is developed based on the deposition conditions. By tuning that abortion conditions by after like if there are some oxygen vacancies to after the deportion, you deposit and anneal the material and.

By this I was able to analyze the.

I was able to improve the sense of property. Additionally, I like in the. I would also say that in the.

Like working with the collaborators to interpret like robust modeling to further develop the.

Uh, properties and my overall, uh, like, uh, uh, proper, like important thing is like how to how the improvement was done working with the collaborators to develop the model for the system. And overall, my contribution techniques like enhance on development not only in the Advanced Research tools, but also like to provide an.

Valuable insight to the material behavior that would lead to better better.

Uh, devices, super capacitors and sensors.

I appreciate your detailed insights into characterization methods and optimization challenges. You mentioned working with collaborators to enhance material properties and develop robust modeling. Could you briefly elaborate on how these collaborative efforts contributed to improving the sensitivity or efficiency of the devices in question?

Uh, thank you. Thank you very much for the wonderful question again, actually, uh, so I would say like.

To work with, uh, collaborators mainly to improve the sensitivity and, uh, the modeling as you asked me, uh, first, uh, from my side, I, I like, uh, uh, to get the best material property with the uniformity and to develop the material and characterize them to the full level, both in the Super capacitors and sensors like, and then I focus on.

It, it was a very important thing, uh, like to uh.

The key strategy like sensitivity, how to improve the sensitivity?

The first I will go on with the Super capacitors like in the Super capacitor, I uh, optimize synthesis uh, synthesizing the boron dope uh carbon electrodes, which significantly enhance their electrical conductivity and uh, based on the increase in the surface area and then by fine tuning the doping concentration and the synthesis technique by changing the flow rate of the gas. I was able to improve the storage capacity and cycle ability.

Of the material so far, mainly for the.

Uh, like additionally, like umm, I also employed the Electro impedance spectroscopy uh to model the charge transfer process like allowing me to better understand it and based on working with collaborators like to fine tune the properties that would further.

Work on how the how this model is efficient with the current device and also in case of as I said for the zinc ferrite gas sensors like I mainly in.

Worked on improving the crystallinity of the material to to get an crystalline material, not an amorphous material, by controlling.

The devotion rate, this lead to an enhancement of the sensitive of the targeted gas, uh, based on that I was able to uh, robust model the framework like umm, like temperature and the gas concentration.

And what would be the sensor response?

Like working with the collaborators mainly in developing the models and optimizing the material which allowed like.

Uh if uh further help in improving the.

Material optimization of the devices, but also like I was also involved in the further enhancing the sensors.

Advancement in energy storage environments and monitoring technology.

Actually.

Thank you, Professor Rajagopal. Your collaborative approach toward material optimization and modeling for improved sensitivity and efficiency in sensors and supercapacitors demonstrates your dedication to advancing technology. Let us now discuss your teaching and mentoring experience. Could you share how you've structured your classroom or laboratory sessions to ensure effective learning outcomes for students?

Oh, thank you. Thank you very much for the question. Actually like M.

For for learning like mainly for the students level like developing the class. So I would structure my class like what is the level of the students that I will going to teach whether it will be a bachelor students or masters students. And before starting the class I would like subdivide my classes.

Like my, I have like my own way of teaching that is like, uh, uh, for the each class, like, uh, I prefer like one or two paper print out. And I will give it to the students, which I developed from Sweden and also in France to give, to give some basic idea and ask them to solve the question. Like I would guide them to solve, uh, like, what is the, what is the theoretical background that we are going to teach today? And.

Like what are the subjects I'm going to teach? And for that.

And how it how would the students will be?

Be able to do it uh, by hands on experience, uh, they will have uh, like better idea and uh, conceptual alignment, uh, with the students and umm.

And step by step in improving and also like it. I also feel that it is important like after the this is before the second class begins. It, it is important to interact with the students, how they have accessed the knowledge by question and answering for like 10 minutes to know whether they they were able to come into the track and to and to put them to give them real world application like where it will be useful, where are the.

Sensors will come into the play and, and in, in, in while, uh, teaching the course. Like, uh, I will also implement while teaching a super capacitor or a sensor. Like, what is the current research I'm doing? Like how I improved my current research so that the people will be very, very much interested to know more about the research so that I can, uh, tell the students my experiences and my knowledge that I gained in working with the projects.

Uh, by structuring this, uh, course plan and for laboratory class, I will device the students like whether it will be a simulation lab or an experimental lab. And even in Sweden, like we have a process like before each class starts, it is better to give the students the, uh.

Uh, the tutorial like before, uh, uh, before the start of each and every class, it is better to give them, uh, the tutorial like what we are going to teach. And also in middle science or chemical engineering lab, like one of the main thing I would definitely emphasize on for the students is to be out to be, uh.

Uh, to, uh, may to be safe, what are the safety things that has to be followed in the course? And before each, uh, lab, I would, uh, tell them, uh, what, what is that we want to see is the theoretical framework and, uh, in, uh, like to give some illustration and concept, uh, to start with and, uh, to give the students to understand and, uh, practice that and.

I would also involve the students, if the like, to work as a team to solve the problems and, uh, to foster like chemical thing, uh, like critical thinking and team, uh, team working skills in terms of modeling, like I would definitely introduce the software that I used for modeling not only enhances the technical skill and also grabs importance of modeling and. I also like to have regular feedback and assessment from the student, which is very important.

Whether they want a chalkboard teaching, whether they want more slides or they want some to prepare like more questions before we start the class. And I would, I would say like my teaching would be an iterative process.

A deeper into the, into the subject and overall, uh, mine is a combinational and Sonic experience with the layer problems and collaborative projects by Moodle or, uh, some, uh, some, uh, uh, like questions that would be given to the students aiming like to create an engaging and impactful learning environment that will prepare the students. Towards further challenges in technology and research.

Like learning and helping the students to develop and to channelize the students and more.

Thank you, Professor Rajagopal. Your emphasis on tailoring course content, integrating hands-on learning, addressing safety in labs, and fostering collaboration and critical thinking among students reflects thoughtful pedagogical planning. You mentioned iterative teaching methods and utilizing student feedback extensively—how have you ensured that this continuous adaptation positively impacts their comprehension and overall academic progress?

Uh, thank you. Thank you very much. Like, uh, uh.

Uh, for this question, like, like I, I would say like, umm, the students feed feedback are very much, uh, vital for enhancing the, uh, overall, uh, chat, like towards progress in the Academy. I would say, like I actively seeks, uh, seek through the service and information discussion and reflect the session after the each class and laboratory so that. Like the theoretical and laboratory can be.

Uh, income to the same place. And, uh, this would allow, allow me to, uh, understand and identify like where the students are struggling and adjust my methodology according to that, whether I should go in, uh, same phase or a different phase according to the students. And if, for instance, if student takes, uh, like expresses this difficulty with synthesis or modeling, I can provide additional stored. Resources to modify my explanation and clarity.

Understood.

And also incorporate the student feedback to foster like collaborative learning environment and when like students feel there is an open uh, opinion or valid and they would like to uh, engage actively in the discussion and express.

Express their challenges I often like.

Uh, implement suggesting to improve the courses contents, uh, on the laboratory procedures, uh, so that, which are not only enhances the learning experience, but also encourages the students, uh, to have more, uh, competitive towards the forward of the academia. This would.

Help help me to identify that strengths made in response by the students so I can.

Have a better student support.

Uh, in achieving, umm, uh, my academic goal and ensure that, uh, uh, well, uh, uh, prepared for the future challenges like, uh, uh, overall, like I would say, like leveraging students feedback.

As a cornerstone of my teaching philosophy, uh, driving continuously improving and fostering environmental conductive to the, uh, towards the academia and towards the success of the institute, so that we will get more students in the courses and registration, yeah.

Thank you, Professor Rajagopal. Your integration of feedback to refine teaching and laboratory methods highlights your commitment to student success and institutional growth. Moving on to research leadership, could you elaborate on how you've guided student research projects—specifically, how you encourage originality and maintain rigorous academic standards in their work?

Oh, thank. Thank you once again for this. Uh, it's a very interesting, uh, question actually. Like, umm, uh, like I, I would say that this is a very, very important, uh, topic.

So whenever, uh, like I have experience in guiding, uh, the students both at, uh, bachelor's level, master level and PhD level. So like, like all the three levels, like it is very important. Like to, uh, I feel that students should like, I would make sure that like I am approachable and available and flexible to the students so that they feel like very.

Yeah, innovative and OK. They have uh, a concrete idea that they will be, uh, uh, I will be available. And I also feel that uh, like uh, initial, initial days it, it is very important to have.

I kinda in in order in order to guide the students, it is very important to be in a regular level having a meeting like in every week. So like on the each meeting like to channelize the students, how they are going to work and to give them the initial idea and the background. So what they we want to want, we want to achieve and what is the research problem that that I would present? Like what is the research problems and the challenges that we want to?

To um, uh, uh, allow the uh.

And the students to do, but not only sticking like OK, only this methodology to do, but you have to giving the students various angles to explore so that they can so that students are encouraged and like.

To level develop their, uh, career critical thinking and also like problem solving. And uh, like whenever I see the students like some, uh, they are little bit diverged. Like I would tell them how to do a literature survey, like, uh, uh, to identify the research gaps that would require to find the find the problems so that.

We can, uh, contact to that and also like, while, uh, encouraging the students to be in the, uh, poster, like collaboration, like promoting, uh, collaboration among the students, uh, from a different winter disciplinary backgrounds that would exchange the new ideas. Actually, that would, that would be very important and that would encourage to produce, uh, like sparkle new.

Spark like new ideas in the research so that.

Original research will come out. I like, umm, and as I said, like, uh, normally like when the students come with the data, I would see, uh, whether they have analyzed it. And also like, what are the ways that we can see, uh, uh, further improve this model And what are the strategies like in techniques in synthesizing the advanced characterization techniques that we can?

Tell them to improve and if the resources is not available in the institute, I will work help them out together. Secure that.

Uh, uh, umm.

And that I, uh, the characterization like sending the samples which add, I add the collaborations during my PhD in with the Hyderabad and also with the university and also the CNRS, there is a possibility, so, uh, where, where there is a possibility to develop the new methodology or the experiments and to be innovative in the.

In the in the research and I I also feel that once like it is always important to.