Yes, you can begin.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

Yeah, my name is Amar Iqbal and I. Pursue be taking mechanical engineering. From the Purple Institute of Technology, Bihar. And then follow. I'm taking a ceramic engineering from the National Institute of Technology N Kila.

Okay, so you started with mechanical engineering at the Purple Institute of Technology in Bihar, and then moved to ceramic engineering at NIT.

And then I earned my doctorate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Patna. Yes. Yeah, in the in the. Mtech I have done on the fabrication of polar ceramic using a freeze casting technique. And there I have developed the yacht ceramic material, the synthesis and the fabrication. And then then we have. Develop the polar sample using. Every casting technique. And then we have seen third like we get a. And isotropic porosity in the. Ceramic material.

Professor, reflecting on your experience with hands-on material fabrication, what aspect of teaching laboratory courses do you find most rewarding?

Yeah, they met material characterization like, uh, X-ray deflection technique, scanning, electron microscopic, advanced mechanical testing like compressive. Testing hardness measurement. And so on. Yeah, hello.

Alright, you mentioned advanced techniques like X-ray diffraction and SEM in the lab, and I see your PhD thesis was on flash sintering of yttria-stabilized zirconia. Can you tell me about a time you had to explain the basics of flash sintering to students who didn't have a strong background in materials science? How did you approach making it accessible to them?

Yeah, and. The first like same thing is the densification technique and usually sintering required very high temperature and for the three to four hour.

Right, so you focused on the difference in densification between traditional and flash sintering. What strategy did you use to help students grasp why flash sintering achieves densification so much faster, especially when they're new to the concept?

Flashlight swimming either like a feet. Say something technology. In which we apply electric field along with. Yes.

So you started to explain the electric field aspect, which is key for flash sintering. When you’ve got students who struggle with the physics behind it, do you use analogies or demonstrations to help them visualize what’s happening?

Yeah, we can visualize them that the enduring flag, the role of elective field is used to create the defect in in the material. And uh, this defect are responsible for the electrical conductivity in uh, mostly the ceramic material. For example, if you pass a small amount of very microcurrent through the sample. There is increasing temperature in the sample. Which again incur further increase the elliptical conductivity of the material. These goals in a positive. Back loop and we will result in a flashing of a sample at the preset value of the current and the material densify within few second.

Yeah, we can visualize them that the enduring flag, the role of elective field is used to create the defect in in the material. And uh, this defect are responsible for the electrical conductivity in uh, mostly the ceramic material. For example, if you pass a small amount of very microcurrent through the sample. There is increasing temperature in the sample. Which again incur further increase the elliptical conductivity of the material. These goals in a positive. Back loop and we will result in a flashing of a sample at the preset value of the current and the material densify within few second. We can have a. Assimilation and the various experimental video. To have a quick. The grasping of the flash entering. So if they're even to the student.

Thanks for breaking down how you use the electric field and feedback loop to help students picture what's happening inside the ceramic. Shifting gears, I saw you listed experience with student project supervision—can you share a specific instance where you guided a student team through a challenging research or design problem, and how you balanced letting them struggle with stepping in to help?

The way you use real experimental videos and highlight that feedback loop for conductivity is a smart way to make a challenging concept more concrete for students. Since you also guided student projects, can you share an example of a project you supervised that connected your research on ceramics or sintering to a real-world application? What was your role in helping students bridge theory and practice there?

Yeah, one of the my bachelor student working on the flash and thing on the white white Ware material. Where we have the clay, fresh bar and. The course and they use they are using the pressing the sample and they're doing the flash and since they they are like sometimes cracking in the sample and sometimes like melting. Uh. In the sample. So they are not able to optimize this situation. But I guide them to how the optimizing different parameter of the flashing thing like the role of electric current, voltage, temperature and the different dimension of this side. What are the exactly the road of the three company and Cliff? File and Quartz in a whiteware material. Then this help them to optimize the. A placenting material and then then they are getting densification at the intact sample after the. Yeah, hello.

So you play an active role in guiding students through technical challenges, but also make sure they learn to optimize and problem-solve on their own. Now, given your research in advanced ceramic processing, where do you see the most promising and fundable research directions over the next few years? Are there particular grants or funding agencies you’d target for your work?

Yeah, yeah. I'm very much interested for this advanced ceramic technique for the synthesis and the processing of these novel lithium sodium ion battery electron material.

As per my area of hospital I am as better in flat sensing and the sensitivity of higher. Hydropioxide material.

Given your mix of research and teaching, let's talk about student engagement.

Okay, so you specialize in flash sintering and sensitivity of hydropioxide materials. Suppose you’re running a hands-on lab course where students have to design an experiment with these materials—how would you make sure every student is actively involved, not just watching from the sidelines?

Yeah, for the for the large number of students, we will divide in a different. Like at for their strength like 5 to 1010 batch of each and we will assign the different. For each group.

For a for a particular day. Group One will do the. Be a synthesis of the process and the Group One will do the mixing and Group 3 will be do the centering and again the next lab course. Hey, Vivek.

Alright, so you break the class into groups and assign different tasks to each one. How do you make sure quieter students or those who tend to hang back still engage and contribute,

So, 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?

Yeah, to manage the large number of group. Uh, we will use like a presentation if you like video. Asking the question, interacting with the student so that so they cannot. Did during the whole lecture duration they were involved? That we did the cloud. They are not getting at the time to have your, uh, have their own gossip peak or doing whatever, uh, they want.

I mean, directly each and everyone will shoot that or it, it, it can be my turn to have, uh, questions and interaction and, uh. UH faculty cannot.

You mentioned using presentations and interactive questioning to keep students engaged and on task, especially with large groups. But with accreditation,

Right, so you're saying that direct interaction and rotating responsibilities among students can keep everyone engaged and accountable during sessions. When it comes to accreditation, though, what steps would you personally take to ensure outcome assessment data is accurately collected and reported across all those groups?

Yeah. The observed data which can be. The redacted file. To check the authenticity of the data for example. One had given the. Some data. And we can be rectified with the. The other two group. To get a majority of the clear, uh, description of the data.

Alright, Professor, let's shift to a scenario involving professional ethics. Imagine a student submits a formal complaint that your grading was biased, but at the same time, your department head is pressuring you to increase pass rates for accreditation reasons. How would you handle that situation?

Uh, for the same. Checking uh, the answer sheet evaluation, we will definitely show the student if they have any claim for the increasing the marks or they are not satisfied what they have written. Uh, they should deserve more Mark. They can, uh, means rehabilitate their. Answer sheet and came. Come to me to have a rectify any issue if there is any mistake or they. They seem that it they deserve more.

Alright, Professor, let’s turn to the connection between your research and industry.

And there from if. If there is a minimum incuration of passing the whole mark. Uh, we will be like a normalized grading. Overall, yeah. For the fabrication of whiteware ceramic using a flat sintering, there are various company in India like. Taizmi Company Sera. And we can have the collaborate and we can provide internship to our student. For the even the international approach, since I have experience, we can have like the fabrication or different. Certain material we can hand on the experiment for. Our issue did even some. Multi programs are there with a different nation. When when support and provide financial assistance.

You mentioned companies like Taizmi and Sera in India, and also mentioned international collaborations that could open up hands-on opportunities for students. Can you give me one concrete example of a student project or internship that came out of these industry connections—what did the student actually do, and how was the experience structured?

But in some three months, six months, a mobility program. And we can, uh, send our student for. Yes. Yes. Yeah. One of my the student working at the internship they get their PPP. PPPO they they after company. Me after completing their internship they get. Perform the same. Company Yeah, we will. Categorize every section like, uh, specific marks. Uh, for a report of, uh, Denmark. Divide 22 marks for each session like a. The introduction methodology adoption and the process they have followed and the result and their their discussion and what the outcome they have done.

But in some three months, six months, a mobility program. And we can, uh, send our student for. Yes. Yes. Yeah. One of my the student working at the internship they get their PPP. PPPO they they after company. Me after completing their internship they get.

You’ve talked quite a bit about advanced ceramics and flash sintering, which ties into expertise in smart manufacturing. Now, thinking about student evaluation—when you’re grading lab reports or project work, what’s your process for making sure your evaluation is both fair and consistent across a big class?

Alright, so you break down the marks by sections like introduction,

And B. It's on there. We will, uh. A divide among a. ALDI groups which have alerted. And for the all retail we can make? 4 hour lab uh lab group of the class group have. Excel sheet. Will be different test evaluation and they mark sheet. Uh, which can be updated time to time. And they the. Top record. And every student.

And B. It's on there. We will, uh. A divide among a. ALDI groups which have alerted. And for the all retail we can make? 4 hour lab uh lab group of the class group have. Excel sheet. Will be different test evaluation and they mark sheet. Uh, which can be updated time to time. And they the. Top record. And every student. Yeah, hello. Hello Yes, I will use. Feedback.

Okay, so you’re using Excel sheets to track evaluations for different lab groups and keeping updated records for all students. When it comes to giving students feedback on their reports, are you doing that individually, or do you use group sessions, and how do you make sure the feedback actually helps them improve?

You said you’ll use feedback, but I’m curious—when you actually give feedback to students, do you focus more on pointing out what they did wrong, or do you try to highlight what they did well?

Take me. Me for every student as per their. Even in. Yeah. First we have to give them what they have, have a positive approach what they have.

Achieve and. The holiday can enhance with the. What they have? Obtain through their feedback.

Okay, so you make a point of starting with what the student did well and taking their individual context into account.

So you’re saying students can build on what they’ve achieved through your feedback. If you have a student who consistently ignores your suggestions and keeps repeating the same mistakes, what do you do to help them actually improve?

Yeah, yeah, if, if I'm. My student in the doing the experiment lots of result are there but all other result are failure. And we did the he did not getting the success. I explained that all the failure are the result. And we are in a positive aspect that the. Are deployed or these are the parameter doesn't work for. This experiment. And you are getting uh, like a mapping of all the the failure experiment. And it's also a great.

Right, you’re saying even failed experiments can be valuable if you treat them as data points, and help the student map out what didn’t work. Switching gears, Professor, your CV lists a number of research publications.

Experience in. Hunter Gold in a pretty way. And ultimately after doing lots of. MMM, yes.

Alright, sounds like you’ve had experience working through challenges until you reached something worthwhile. For your industry experience, have you ever taken on a consultancy project or worked directly with a company to solve a manufacturing or materials problem? Walk me through what you did and what the outcome was.

Yes, one of my paper paper I have analyzed the It's very difficult to measure the exact temperature during the process of flash entering and. And then we cannot measure through the thermocouple. Uh, so I use the simulation technique to measure the rising sample temperature, heating rate and the thermal gradient. And through thermal gradient analyze differentiation all this standard. Conventional dog bone sample crack during the process of flashing Ting. So using the our simulation data and the experiment result from the OR literature, we have opted.

In the different parameter for the thermal gradient will result in a cracking of the sample. And a standard dogbone sample geometry.

So you couldn't measure the temperature during flash sintering with a thermocouple, so you used simulation to estimate heating rate and thermal gradients,

You found that the thermal gradient across the standard dogbone sample geometry caused cracking during flash sintering. When you presented these findings, how did industry partners or your research peers respond—did it change any manufacturing practices or lead to follow-up projects?

And yeah. Yeah, when I presented your result to one of the company. Which we have granted the. Collaborated with one of the project. Unsuccessfully due to the time restriction and uh. Fund assigned to necessity we are not able to carry out this project but the the our main projects aim is to to. All the glazing defect in the whiteware industry through Flash. The industry you did the dual firing technique first, one for firing for the sintering the material and another firing. To prevent any. A pinhole gliding defective. But for the small pinhole detail, a flat setting can be added the beneficial increasing the. Surface temperature to a localized region and then glazing melt and our point effect. Glazing effect can be in. Rectified without going into the another, uh. Thermal cycle. But the industry are very much. Accept acceptable for this behavior, but due to this, our project collaboration did not work between the IIT Patna and the industry.

Alright, so you actually got some industry acceptance for your flash sintering glazing approach, even if the collaboration with IIT Patna and the company didn’t go forward because of time and funding. Let’s switch gears for a moment—when you’re guiding student research projects, how do you help them pick a topic that’s both doable with the resources you have and meaningful from a research perspective?

Yes.

For a guiding student process, first the challenging the key step in the list.

Alright, Dr., you said yes, but can you give me a concrete example of how you help a student pick a research topic that's both doable with your lab resources and meaningful in your field?

So you start with listing out the key steps and challenges. Can you walk me through a time when a student suggested a project that was too ambitious for your lab’s resources—how did you guide them to something more realistic without shutting down their enthusiasm?

Uh, yes, uh, the first kids, uh, when I shouldn't come with a project with a not feasible in our lab resources for, uh, for the real. Time example when you sit down with interchange in mechanical property and all this thing and I want to work in a mechanical characterization since we are working on the flash group and we said that you can just. I sent that the sample and go for the mechanical characterization of this. Ceramic material. Yeah, all the mechanical property hardness definite and index a indentation nano and micro and then you will have your own interest in the mechanical calibration and analysis and which is also for the ceramic material as per our the lab requirement. Uh, this goes well with the both the uh, uh, lecturer, the supervisor and the student. They have more mutually agreed on this.

Okay, so when a student's project idea was too ambitious, you steered them toward something more feasible—like focusing on mechanical characterization of ceramics that fit your lab's capabilities, and it ended up working for everyone involved. Thinking about your teaching style, how do you structure a typical theory class to keep students engaged and make sure complex topics in mechatronics or manufacturing actually stick?

Yeah, we will use. For the presentation video and the model. For a quick. Understanding and then for our thing, the learning not depend only. Only delivering the top. We have to interact with the student to showcase some like visualization, some like a practical. Scale, for example in the megatronics. In the manufacture factoring. By the way, different TD printing, we have to be right there. We we have to show with the model, we have to present the class with the entire thing, lecture and video and what are the post? See or their new. Was challenged and add. Here in that. Manufacturing. And what? Are they small even they're small?

Yeah, we will use. For the presentation video and the model. For a quick. Understanding and then for our thing, the learning not depend only. Only delivering the top. We have to interact with the student to showcase some like visualization, some like a practical. Scale, for example in the megatronics. In the manufacture factoring. By the way, different TD printing, we have to be right there. We we have to show with the model, we have to present the class with the entire thing, lecture and video and what are the post? See or their new. Was challenged and add. Here in that. Manufacturing. And what? Are they small even they're small? Like a megatronic.

It can be used for the robotics. OK, miss work.

Alright, so you’re bringing in models, videos, and hands-on demos to make abstract concepts more real, especially for topics like 3D printing in manufacturing. When it comes to structuring your lectures, do you have a particular framework or sequence you follow every time, or do you adapt based on the material and the group?

Alright, so you're bringing in models, videos, and hands-on demos to make abstract concepts more real, especially for topics like 3D printing in manufacturing. When it comes to structuring your lectures, how do you balance covering theoretical foundations with making sure students get enough practical exposure, especially in a field like mechatronics?

Got it.

Yeah.

Thought to have a lots of experiment and get a practical is a skill.

Thought to have a lots of experiment and get a practical is a skill. Some more it yes.

So you mentioned robotics as an application.

So you're saying hands-on experiments are key for building real skill. When you're evaluating students' lab work or practical projects, what do you look for to distinguish truly strong work from something that's just following instructions?

So you see practical skills as key, and that comes through in your hands-on teaching. Shifting gears a bit, do you have any direct experience working with industry on consultancy projects or applied research—maybe something where you helped a company solve a real manufacturing or mechatronics problem?

Ideally, I don't have a. Any direct experience with the industry or solving a? Industry application. Base for solving industry problem.

Okay, thanks for being upfront about not having direct industry consulting experience. Since you do have a PhD in this field,

But uh, for this uh, currently for the lithium and battery which I'm working researching, I does making a prototype. Yes for this. This my sentient technique and the ceramic material can be used at the synthesis of the various actuator and the sensor. And we can we use in app. Uh, megatonic devices or robotic devices I can work or research in a very small domain, uh, like, uh, the sense. Uh, with like a meeting manufacturing and the optimizing the properties and that small pack can be, uh, used in a very big part of our robotics, uh. Or in terms of manufacturing, we can use the different. Take me for the additive manufacturing with. Printing and optimizing except. Property then material. Tuning they say different, uh, parameter. Yes, hello.

Alright, Dr., we're wrapping up. Is there anything you'd like to ask about the role or the team?

Yes, first part is probably. Uh this uh post and assistant professor in research. What is the main domain? In main domain only confined with the research or? Search plus speaking.

Uh, it just like, uh. Uh, normal assistant professor at like in any other university.

That's a fair question.