Hiya, June. Yes, sure.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

Thank you. Thank you, Arjun. So. I am Doctor Chhatrasala and I did my PhD. In materials science from Indian ministry of technology, Kanpur. Later on. Uh, I move. For my postdoctorate to. The answer? University, South Korea. Nearby I walked. On the. Thermoelectric materials and the. Making the thermoelectric devices. Later on I move. To the. Technion IIT Israel. As Ali Kaufman Fellow. So I work more deeply. To find out the the materials sciences and to design those materials in the engineer prospect. So that the efficient thermoelectric device can be.

Uh, made and I. Come back to the India as a Ramanujan Fellow. And then I moved to the industry.

Right,

So after your time in Israel,

So this is all about. Yes. I.

Alright, you outlined your journey up to your industry experience, but I still need to hear about a foundational physics concept you enjoy teaching. What's one core idea—like Newton's laws, thermodynamics, or wave-particle duality—that you find especially rewarding to explain to students, and why?

Yes.

Just saying "yes" doesn't give me much to work with — can you tell me about a specific physics concept you like introducing to students, and what you do to make it click for them?

Uh, you are. Absolutely. Correct regarding the foundation of the physics.

Okay, sounds like you agree on the importance of foundational physics, but I still need you to name one specific concept—maybe conservation of energy, or the basics of electric fields—that you enjoy teaching, and explain why it resonates with you or your students.

Yes, the conservation of. Yes, the conversation.

Yep, Yeah, the conservation of the energy than the wave particle duality than the the sum of the basics regarding the thermodynamics. So those are the field I can cover while teaching to the students. And later on, apart from that the my the research mostly focus on the semiconductor.

Yep, Yeah, the conservation of the energy than the wave particle duality than the the sum of the basics regarding the thermodynamics. So those are the field I can cover while teaching to the students. And later on, apart from that the my the research mostly focus on the semiconductor. Yeah.

That's an interesting point. Could you elaborate a bit more on that?

Mm-hmm.

Okay, so you mentioned conservation of energy,

So. Yup, so. Mm-hmm. Yup.

So, I'd like to dig a bit deeper. When you're introducing semiconductor device physics, what strategies do you use to help students who might be intimidated by the math understand the core principles behind, say, how a thermoelectric device works?

Alright.

Mm-hmm.

Alright, so you’ve had industry and research experience in semiconductors and thermoelectrics. Given your publication record in this area, where do you see the most promising, fundable directions for your research over the next few years, and what types of funding or grants would you target to support that work?

So specially I will target with the some of the government coordinating that offered by the Government of India, the ANRF funding and the DSD funding, then some of the funding that can be possible. By collaborating with the Indo Israel project because Israel is also nowadays. Heavily investing into the thermoelectrics and thermoelectric research. And and later on the some of the industries nowadays are looking. Closely how they can manage this waste heat into the energy. Conversion devices and energy conversion materials. So that also the one area I will focus on. How we can make a close tie up with the academia and the industries? So you can say there are these several funding opportunities. I would like to explore in the near future. And moving apart from those, the funding agencies, there are some the collaboration. That I would like to do within the India and the abroad. So the collaboration you can say. Uh, with the some of the living IIT's. GNCR and the some of the. Outside institutes like the Yonsei University technique on IIT. And the also the Max Planck, I have the collaborator over there. So I would like to find some of the collaboration opportunity. So that I would not. Stuck at the initial stage. And later on. Once I establish those resource facilities. Then I can move. Quietly well.

So specially I will target with the some of the government coordinating that offered by the Government of India, the ANRF funding and the DSD funding, then some of the funding that can be possible. By collaborating with the Indo Israel project because Israel is also nowadays. Heavily investing into the thermoelectrics and thermoelectric research. And and later on the some of the industries nowadays are looking. Closely how they can manage this waste heat into the energy. Conversion devices and energy conversion materials. So that also the one area I will focus on. How we can make a close tie up with the academia and the industries? So you can say there are these several funding opportunities. I would like to explore in the near future. And moving apart from those, the funding agencies, there are some the collaboration. That I would like to do within the India and the abroad. So the collaboration you can say. Uh, with the some of the living IIT's. GNCR and the some of the. Outside institutes like the Yonsei University technique on IIT. And the also the Max Planck, I have the collaborator over there. So I would like to find some of the collaboration opportunity. So that I would not. Stuck at the initial stage. And later on. Once I establish those resource facilities. Then I can move. Quietly well. Any more questions?

Alright, you’ve clearly got experience navigating partnerships and funding landscapes. Switching gears—imagine you’re teaching a large introductory physics class and can’t rely on traditional lectures or slides. How would you design an active learning session that gets students actually working with the material, not just listening?

Alright, you mentioned collaborating with government agencies like ANRF and DST, leveraging Indo-Israel projects, and building ties with industry for thermoelectrics and energy conversion — that's quite a comprehensive funding vision. Switching gears—imagine you’re teaching a large introductory physics class and can’t rely on traditional lecture slides or chalk-and-talk. What would you actually do to keep 200 students engaged and wrestling with the material? Okay, if you were teaching a large introductory physics course with 200 students and you couldn't use slides or traditional lectures, how would you keep everyone actively engaged with the material?

Yeah, so my simple technique. When I would I interact with the students. So generally I prefer to give some of the practical examples.

The practical examples in the sense if I would like to. Uh, engage, uh, to the student. So I will introduce the some of the practical. Example let us. Yeah.

The practical examples in the sense if I would like to. Uh, engage, uh, to the student. So I will introduce the some of the practical. Example let us. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly.

Alright, so you focus on practical examples to connect with students in large classes.

You were about to give a practical example you'd use to engage students—can you walk me through one specific example, maybe from thermodynamics or semiconductors, and how you'd use it to spark discussion or hands-on learning?

Alright, Dr., let’s talk about the bigger picture for a moment. Accreditation cycles can be demanding—if you joined our department and found that outcome assessment data was inconsistent across physics courses, how would you approach fixing that?

Up, yeah.

Alright, Dr., let’s step into a situation that can come up in any department. Imagine a student files a formal complaint, claiming your grading is biased. At the same time, your department head is urging you to improve your course’s pass rate. How would you handle this tension between maintaining academic integrity and responding to institutional pressure?

Yeah.

Okay, but saying “yeah” doesn’t give me much to go on—walk me through what you’d actually do in that situation. If you were facing both a student complaint about grading bias and pressure to raise pass rates, how would you respond?

So the first I would like to make the. It's a good connection with the student. I will. To introduce them, Why?

Uh, devising uh. Would not help them into their future. The reason is that. Once they can get the leverage. About this bites.

Given your background in semiconductor device physics and thermoelectric materials, do you have any established industry partnerships or connections that could help translate your research into internship or placement opportunities for students at VIT?

So I need something more specific—can you describe a time you actually worked with an industry partner or helped students participate in a consultancy or hands-on project? What was your direct role in that collaboration?

Yeah, in that collaboration, I can contribute, I can make some of the tanglement with some of the industry collaborators and I can introduce to those students for. Some of the initial. The learning how the English needs work. And how it is slightly different than that of the academia, what we learn. And how we can make? Floats tie up between the Academy and the industry.

So you’d focus on helping students learn how industry works and bridge the gap with academia, but I was hoping for a concrete case—like a specific project or consultancy where students actually worked alongside industry partners and what your hands-on involvement looked like. Can you give me that kind of example?

So that was. Sudheer my main focus to. Behind to make the. Uh, encouragement to. Yes. Yeah, please the. Yes.

You mentioned your main focus was on encouragement and connecting students with industry collaborators, but I still need a concrete example of a project or consultancy where you personally facilitated student involvement with an external partner. If you don't have one, just say so and I can move on.

Yes.

Alright.

Alright, so. I have. I have. So the particularly I will. Connect those student with some of the industries which I know which are where I have a contact. So I can make some of the two to three months kind of the project within those industry that is called the internship kind of the project.

Okay, so you’d set up short-term industry projects or internships for your students using your contacts. What steps do you take to make sure both the student and the company actually benefit from those internships?

And within that internship kind of the project they will get. Virtual idea What the industry? 1. Hi, yes, and.

Alright, you set up those industry projects as internships and students get a sense of how things work, but let’s switch gears. Imagine you were asked to supervise a student research project using quantum computation—what kind of practical project would you propose that’s feasible with the resources typically available at an engineering college?

So the temple. Companies need. Yeah. Yup. Yeah. Uh-huh.

You didn’t really answer the question about practical quantum computation projects—so, for example, if you had only standard college resources, what’s one specific student project you’d assign that uses real quantum algorithms or simulators, not just theory?

So for the COM. So there are the some of the research and development what? Done so far on the quantum computation. I would like to review that for. Those the work done so far. With the. And once you get the idea. Then I will try to make him more more. Uh, imagine native. What? The gap over there. And how that we can find that gap and how we can fulfill that gap? This is the major. Thing if anything or any new field you want to start into the research. So finding a particular gap. By serving by by reviewing the more and more literature. And once we conform. We got that gap. Research Gap. And we will target that research cap. How we can? Cover that research gap. Both with our. Present Understanding. And with some of the collaboration? Outside of the Institute.

You talked about reviewing literature to find research gaps in quantum computation, but I was asking for a hands-on project—something a student could actually build or run, even if it’s on a quantum simulator. Can you give me a concrete project example you’d assign,

So that towards. The the prime. I would like to take. So for analyzing results, of course there are nowadays the. AI machinery, tools and machine learnings are the important aspect and within that machine learning. There are some methodologies and depending upon those methodologies. What uh, the scope of the project?

You mentioned that analyzing results in quantum computation projects could involve machine learning tools and methodologies, which ties in the intersection of these fields. Now, shifting focus—let’s talk teaching. Imagine you’re explaining the basics of semiconductor device physics to a first-year engineering class with no prior exposure. How would you break down a concept like the p-n junction so it’s genuinely engaging and accessible for them?

Based on that. I will try to design that. So first I will take my efforts.

You said you'd first take your efforts—can you walk me through exactly how you'd introduce the concept of a p-n junction to students who've never heard of it before, step by step?

Yeah. So the first I would like to introduce about. The P type material. What is this P type semiconductor? Then I would like to introduce what is this N type semiconductor? How this P type semiconductor can be made? How anti semiconductor can be made? And how they are distinguished depending upon. The charge carrier's density. Depending upon the polarity. What how the electrons are contributing into the N type? Semiconductor. How the holes are contributing into the P type semiconductor? And when we are joining those P and the North types semiconductor? How? That interfaces plays a vital role. If the heterogeneous interfaces. Then how it interact? As a PN junction. If there is the. Homogeneous intersection How this? PN Junction Act. How those electrons are moving? From umm. P2 the type. Material and how those electric current are. Drive into that region junction. That I would like to explain how that depletion reason. There is a vital role depending upon. The heterogeneous. Depletion reason. The homogeneous depletion reason. So that's all I would like to explain in while my teaching. So starting from the introduction. To go tap or taper into. Smart concept.

Alright, so you’d start by breaking down what P-type and N-type materials are, how they’re made, and their carrier dynamics, then move into the interface and the role of the depletion region. When you get to explaining the depletion region, is there a particular analogy or demonstration you use to help students really visualize what’s happening there?

Exactly. So the common example I always like to provide to the student day to day's life example. So everybody is know about the speed Breakers. If we are moving through that. Speed Breakers if that barrier. If that barrier is a huge. The speed. Get to be reduced if the barrier is somewhat controlled. How that speed gets? To be. Not that much affected so similarly when. The change carriers also. The micro and nanoscopic uh. Charge carriers when moved into the material. They also face such kind of the inhomogeneity. In homogeneities in terms of. The factors. When it built. Connect with the. Ntype Material. When the N type material connects with the P type mater. And how that deflation reason? Act as a barrier. And how that barrier hide? Plays a vital role. So such kind of the common example, I would like to connect with those. Standard physics and then go with. Equation how that barrier height? Barrier Reed plays a vital role over there.

That's all I will expect. Explain with me some of the mathematical formulation. How to solve? If we consider. Some of the barrier height. Of X and some of the barrier weight of the Y. Then how those depletion reason get rid and?

That's all I will expect. Explain with me some of the mathematical formulation. How to solve? If we consider. Some of the barrier height. Of X and some of the barrier weight of the Y. Then how those depletion reason get rid and? Yeah, yeah.

So you're using the speed breaker as a way for students to picture the depletion region as a barrier for charge carriers, then tie that to measurable effects like barrier height. Switching focus to machine learning—imagine a student wants to classify handwritten digits but only has a small dataset.

Alright, so you'd bring in mathematical formulations and relate barrier height and width to depletion region properties. Now, for that student with a small handwritten digit dataset—what machine learning technique would you suggest to help improve their model's accuracy, given the limited data?

Yup, Yup.

Alright,

Yes, ex.

Alright, let's shift.

You said “yes, ex”—can you clarify what you mean by “ex” in this context?

Particularly in the machine learning. So I'm not the expert of the machine learning. But still I have a few ideas regarding the some of the regression method, some of the polynomial method. And some of the extrapolation method. That we can use. To extrapolate the data if we have a small scale of the data. Then we need to adopt this methodology. If you have a large scale of the data then opt. Whose unique proper data cleaning. By using some of the mathematical.

Uh, tools. So. So these are the. Ideas I can put? But exactly the machine learning expert. Yeah.

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