OK, you can go.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

Myself, Doctor Madan Kumar. I finished my PhD in Central Electric Chemical Research Institute. Karaikudi. And after I cleared. CSCR, Jaira. And the NET exam. I joined the CSCS Sikri.

Myself, Doctor Madan Kumar. I finished my PhD in Central Electric Chemical Research Institute. Karaikudi. And after I cleared. CSCR, Jaira. And the NET exam. I joined the CSCS Sikri. To continue my PhD studies.

Alright, so you completed your PhD at Central Electrochemical Research Institute in Karaikudi, cleared CSIR-JRF and NET, and then joined CSIR-SERC. Is there anything else from your academic journey you’d like to highlight, or should we move forward?

So you continued your PhD studies at CSIR-SERC after clearing those exams.

After that. Completion of the PP. Hi. Yes. Hi, yes. I did my PhD in electrochemical water splitting. By fabricating thin films via pulseless depression.

After that. Completion of the PP. Hi. Yes. Hi, yes. I did my PhD in electrochemical water splitting. By fabricating thin films via pulseless depression. And also I did. Electrochemism application.

After that. Completion of the PP. Hi. Yes. Hi, yes. I did my PhD in electrochemical water splitting. By fabricating thin films via pulseless depression. And also I did. Electrochemism application. Via pulse less depression technique.

So you worked on electrochemical water splitting using pulseless deposition for thin films—quite a technical topic. If you were explaining the underlying physics of water splitting to a group of undergraduates, how would you make the basics clear and engaging for them?

Alright, so you focused on electrochemical water splitting using thin films from pulseless deposition and looked into their electrochemical applications. If you were teaching first-year undergraduates, how would you introduce the concept of electrochemical water splitting so that it feels approachable and relevant for them?

Alright, so you worked on electrochemical water splitting using thin films from pulseless deposition and applied that technique in electrochemical systems. If you had to explain the physics behind water splitting to a group of first-year undergraduates, how would you break it down so it's accessible for them?

In that studies. I will explain by. Explaining them by. The physics behind the. The question techniques. And how? It will improve. Water spreading application.

You mentioned you'd start by explaining the physics behind the pulseless deposition technique and its impact on water splitting. For students who struggle with abstract concepts, what's one analogy or classroom experiment you'd use to make the process more tangible?

And because we fabricate a thin. Which is highly stable. Ice. I will explain.

And because we fabricate a thin. Which is highly stable. Ice. I will explain. What is putting by?

Dr., I noticed your recent paper on “Electrochromic responses of short-range ordered vanadium pentoxide thin films prepared by laser ablation” in Materials Chemistry and Physics. How has your experience with thin film fabrication and electrocatalytic materials influenced your approach when teaching undergraduate lab courses or mentoring student research?

So you were about to explain why the thin films you fabricated are highly stable for water splitting applications. Go on.

And because we fabricate a thin. Which is highly stable. Ice. I will explain. What is putting by? By explaining the need of. Energy storage for the future energy application. And I will start them by. Other ways of techniques like also stable. But the film. Fabricated by pulse acid depression technique. Is highly pure. Which can. Which can be fabricated under. High vacuum environment and also we can modify the structure and the phase changes. During the.

And because we fabricate a thin. Which is highly stable. Ice. I will explain. What is putting by? By explaining the need of. Energy storage for the future energy application. And I will start them by. Other ways of techniques like also stable. But the film. Fabricated by pulse acid depression technique. Is highly pure. Which can. Which can be fabricated under. High vacuum environment and also we can modify the structure and the phase changes. During the. Uh, during. We can change the. And the temperature variation during the depression. In that we can tune the. Get list. And and small. G and uh, Step 3.

And because we fabricate a thin. Which is highly stable. Ice. I will explain. What is putting by? By explaining the need of. Energy storage for the future energy application. And I will start them by. Other ways of techniques like also stable. But the film. Fabricated by pulse acid depression technique. Is highly pure. Which can. Which can be fabricated under. High vacuum environment and also we can modify the structure and the phase changes. During the. Uh, during. We can change the. And the temperature variation during the depression. In that we can tune the. Get list. And and small. G and uh, Step 3. Time. Ah, yes I will focus on DST and ANRF.

You're describing how the purity and stability of thin films from pulseless deposition, especially when fabricated under high vacuum, let you control structure and phase changes. Go on—how do you help students connect those material properties to real-world energy storage or conversion devices in your teaching?

Makes sense. Now, given your background in thin film electrochemistry, where do you see the most fundable research directions developing over the next three years? Which specific grants or funding agencies would you target to build a sustainable research group at VIT?

Right, so you're looking at DST and ANRF for funding. With those agencies in mind, how would you align your research proposals with VIT's goal of promoting innovation and interdisciplinary excellence—especially given the recent focus on quantum computation and advanced theoretical physics?

Ma'am, because if I focus on that one, I will. Get a grant from. And then for the sea water. Yes, hi, yes.

Okay, so you’d focus your grant applications on DST and ANRF, especially around sea water research. If you had to build a curriculum module at VIT using your thin film and water splitting expertise, how would you make sure it meets both accreditation standards and advances in quantum computation or theoretical physics?

Hi, yes.

Alright, let's talk teaching. Suppose you had to run a physics class with 200 students and couldn't use slides or traditional lectures. How would you design a session that keeps everyone engaged and actually gets them wrestling with the concepts?

By explaining them with. And the concept?

Wait, the scarcity of the pure water. And also. The abundant. Availability of. Ah, yes, yes.

You said you'd explain the concepts, but with that many students, just talking isn't enough to keep them involved. Can you give me one specific technique or activity you'd use to make sure they're actively participating and not just listening?

You brought up the scarcity of pure water and the abundance of other sources, but that doesn't quite answer how you'd get students actively involved in the classroom. Is there a hands-on demo, group activity, or debate you'd use to connect those ideas to the physics behind water splitting?

Hi, yes, I will. I will do them.

Hi, yes, I will. I will do them. By I. I will give them.

To do the excrement. And also. The Anson experiment for them.

Accreditation cycles can be pretty demanding. If you joined our department and found that outcome assessment data was inconsistent across courses, how would you approach fixing that?

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I will fix the approaches by. Combining with different. Collaborators. In our universities.

Suppose a colleague in your department asks you to co-author a research paper, but you notice some of the data they present looks questionable and possibly manipulated. How would you handle that situation, balancing your commitment to academic integrity with the collegial relationship?

And we will add. More approaches to. Uh. I will explain the. And I I will explain. The novelty and the research. Ethics. Then I will.

Teach them the. True way of the research.

Okay,

Given your focus on thin films and water splitting, do you have any industry connections that could help students land internships or work on real-world projects tied to those topics?

Teach them the. True way of the research. Because the results are. Yes, I have a I have one more idea on electrode operation techniques.

For large area fabrication of water splitting from that. I already done. NICU alloys and NIR alloys and also. Hi. Yes, yes.

You mentioned electrode operation techniques as an idea for industry connection. Can you name any specific companies or institutes you've worked with, or would like to partner with, to give students hands-on experience in that area?

Okay, so you've worked with NICU and NIR alloys for large area fabrication of water splitting. Are those collaborations with specific companies, or were those all research-focused?

Yes, I will focus on. The reliance the. Lens and lanes and the bloom Technique and bloom.

Technique for their. And development of hydrogen resources in India. They already started the hydrogen process. And the hydrogen?

Let’s switch gears and talk about semiconductor device physics. Imagine you’re designing a new thin film transistor for a sensor array, but you keep seeing performance drops when the temperature changes. What’s your first move to diagnose and fix that?

Alright, you mentioned the bloom technique and large-area hydrogen development in India, but I still need you to walk me through how you'd actually diagnose a temperature-related performance drop in a thin film transistor. What's the first test or analysis you'd run?

I will check the circuit files. And then? Check the every connections of the. And transistor then I will proceed the next step.

Alright, so you'd start by checking the circuit files and connections. Say you find nothing wrong there — what kind of physical or material analysis would you do next to pinpoint if the temperature variation is causing the drop?

And where is the fault? And step by step I will. Nice. If the temperature variation is causing the drop, means I will. Uh, change the material. Which will sustain for the temperature. The circuit will be made-up of. And the temperature dependent. And temperature dependent material. Which which will be suitable for all? Temperatures.

Alright, so you'd switch to a temperature-resistant material if you saw the drop was due to heat. What would you look for when choosing the new material—are there specific properties or testing protocols you'd rely on to make sure it'll actually hold up in your sensor array?

Hi.

Alright, let’s talk machine learning. Imagine you’re leading a group of undergrads on a project to classify materials based on their spectroscopic data. They’re struggling with overfitting—what’s the first practical step you’d take to help them address that?

First step is addressing. Uh, I will make sure that the. Preferred material is. Align with the. Previously reported data. Are the standard data.

First step is addressing. Uh, I will make sure that the. Preferred material is. Align with the. Previously reported data. Are the standard data. Uh, and then I will. Approach them.

Okay, so your first step is making sure the material aligns with standard data. But for overfitting with spectroscopic classification, what would you actually do with their dataset — would you change the model, add more data, or something else as your first hands-on fix?

Alright, so you'd start with aligning their material with standard data before moving forward. But for fixing overfitting, would you change how they split the data, use regularization, or maybe try something else first?

How to check this? Standard data.

You'd check the standard data to compare with your results. Usually, you'd pull published spectroscopic datasets from peer-reviewed journals or national standards repositories. For your own student project, how would you handle cases where the standard data isn't available—would you try to generate your own baseline, or is there another approach?

We will do. The repeatability of the material. Then we will fix that. If it is repeated for four. For more than four to five times. We will fix that is. The standard data.

Alright, so you'd establish repeatability by testing the material four or five times and then treat that as your standard. Now, let's shift to quantum computation. Say you're teaching an undergraduate course and a student asks why qubits are so sensitive to noise compared to classical bits. How would you explain that in a way they'd actually grasp?

Hi, uh, I have quite. Quite bit struggling with this topic, can you go the next question?

No problem, we can switch topics. Let’s talk teaching and academic skills. If you’re designing a new lab course for undergraduate physics majors, how would you make sure students with very different backgrounds stay engaged and actually learn the material?

I will arrange the experiments. According from the basic levels because uh. Most of the students studied from there. And up to 10th class they will study the basic sciences from that. I will. I will. Make the experiments according to that one. And they will study the easy explain 1st and then the difficult one the next.

I will arrange the experiments. According from the basic levels because uh. Most of the students studied from there. And up to 10th class they will study the basic sciences from that. I will. I will. Make the experiments according to that one.

Alright, so you'd start students with experiments at the basic level and build up from what they've already learned. When you've got students who are struggling to keep up, how do you handle grading and feedback so it’s fair but still pushes them to improve?

Alright, so you’d scaffold the labs starting with basics, then move up to tougher experiments. When you’ve got students who are struggling to keep up, how do you handle grading and feedback so they don’t get discouraged but still improve?

I will take. More care for the. Struggling students.

So you’d give extra attention to students who need it. For industry projects or consultancy—let’s say you’re brought in as a consultant to help a company improve their solar cell efficiency, but you only have access to limited process data and basic lab equipment. What’s your first move to add value for them?

And and I. And I teach. Extra classes for them. Personally. And also. First of all, I will build up. From what the source we have. I will build up the experiments and I will provide them. To the 2 root that one and then. We will develop from that one.

Okay, so you'd start by building up from the resources you have and provide students with extra classes if they're struggling.

What are the things?

You’re asking what things you’d focus on to help the company improve solar cell efficiency with limited data and basic equipment. For that scenario, what’s the very first measurement or test you’d run to figure out where their process is losing performance?

I will check the circuit first, then I will check. Each and every part of the. MOSFET and. One by one and then I will diagnose the problem.

Okay, we're almost done. Is there anything you'd like to ask about the Assistant Professor - Physics role or the team before we wrap up?

Hi, yes, uh. I want to ask. More things about the assistant professor role because. And based on the research experience I got. I want to build up. Uh, experimenters. Experimenter setups in the university. Which will. Which further I will get. The projects and the. Uh, patterns from that one.

Right, you’re looking to build up experimental setups so you can generate new projects and maybe patents from your research. As an Assistant Professor, you'd have access to university facilities and some funding—but to actually get larger grants or establish those setups, you'd need to outline a clear research plan and collaborate with colleagues.

But uh. The role of. Custom professor research. Yes, I have some questions because I'm. When when I am selected for assistant professor search. I should fully focused on the classes.

You’re right, Professor—teaching is a big focus for new Assistant Professors, and the expectation is you’ll lead classes while also developing your research. Balancing both can be demanding, but the university usually supports junior faculty with mentorship and some flexibility as you settle in. Is there anything else you’d like to know about the role or the team? You can ask one more question if you’d like.

And also the. For the research. Hi yes I want to know. The role I want to know about the role. Can you explain about the roles? What are all the rules?