Meet The Mentors

Dr. Noopur Singh is a freelance researcher in the field of Bioinformatics. She received her Ph.D. Degree in Bioinformatics from Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in 2023. Before that, she worked as a JRF at the DBT-funded bioinformatics facility at Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi. Subsequently, she held the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Biotechnology at Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology for Handicapped, Kanpur. Dr. Noopur has over 10 years of experience in the field of Bioinformatics. Her area of expertise includes Computer Aided Drug Design, Molecular Modeling, Gene Editing, NGS Data Analysis, Sequence Analysis, and Gene Prediction. She has authored 7 research publications.

Sibaji Das is a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of Geography at Jadavpur University, India, with academic and research expertise in Remote Sensing, GIS, geomorphology, hydrology, watershed management, climate change, glacial studies, and environmental/disaster management. He has completed an M.Sc. in Geography with a specialization in Watershed Management and a B.Sc. in Geography with a specialization in Fluvial Morphology from Jadavpur University. He has qualified the Joint UGC-CSIR NET JRF in Earth Science with AIR 125 and has research experience in Earth and Environmental Science at IISER Berhampur. His work includes ecological forecasting, socio-economic valuation of ecologically important species, Eastern Himalayan morphology, neo-tectonic evidence, fluvial morphology, landscape evolution, and water-resource management. He is skilled in ArcGIS, QGIS, ERDAS Imagine, Google Earth Engine, HEC-HMS, HY8, MATLAB, TopoToolbox, Python, ML/AI, ICPMS, and field-survey instruments.

Dr. Sujeet Pratap Singh is Assistant Professor in the Biotechnology Department of Amity University, Lucknow. He received his M.Tech. Degree in Biochemical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 2006 and earned his Ph.D from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh. He is having 18 Years of Experience in the field of Biotechnology. His Area of Expertise includes Industrial Biotechnology, Fermentation Technology, Bioprocess Technology etc. He is the author of various research and review papers and a member of the editorial boards of different scientific journals.

Dr. GAURAV MUDGAL is an Associate Professor in the University Institute of Biotechnology within Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab. Previous to this he headed science clusters at Auronya College, Pondicherry and Mangalayatan University, Aligarh. He is a La Caixa fellow, and received his Ph.D. Degree in Molecular Biosciences with the highest distinction from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain in 2014 with his work on molecular biology of coronavirus-host interactions realized at the CSIC center of excellence -National Center of Biotechnology. He had previously worked as a nationally recruited scientific officer at the CGIAR headquarters of ICRISAT in Hyderabad and had handled many projects related to transgenic crop developments. He is having 16 years of research experience in biotechnology. His area of Expertise includes: Molecular biology of virus-host interactions, plant-microbe interaction, plant and animal biodiversity, underutilized crop translations and bioremediation. He is the author of many publications with the journals like PLOS, MDPI, Nature, Springer, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis and a recipient of a core research grant of 4.3 million INR for his work on DNA barcoding and morphometrics on Indian tardigrades.

Dr Harishchander Anandaram is an Assistant Professor at Centre for Excellence in Computational Engineering and Networking, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. He received his Ph.D. Degree in Bioengineering from Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, in 2020. In his PhD thesis, he worked on pharmacogenomics and miRNA- regulated networks in psoriasis, a joint project with Georgetown University, USA, JIPMER, INDIA, CIBA, INDIA, and ILS, INDIA. His thesis illustrated a multi-disciplinary approach by combining computational biophysics and molecular biology machine learning. Also, he had the opportunity to collaborate with international researchers and have publications in reputed international journals in bioinformatics and systems biology simultaneously. He has received the prestigious “Young Scientist Award” from “The Melinda Gates Foundation” for his research abstract on “The Implications of miRNA Dynamics in Infectious Diseases”. To date, he has reviewed more than 200 manuscripts in systems biology. He is currently working on predicting Novel lead molecules and biomarkers using computational techniques to target inflammatory pathways associated with infectious and autoimmune disorders.

Dr. Mohd Zamir Pakhuruddin is currently the Director at Institute of Nano Optoelectronics Research and Technology (IDNOR) and a lecturer at School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia. He spent about 8 years in industry as a Senior Engineer of Photolithography and Sputtering (R&D) in SilTerra and Fuji Electric, Kulim Hi-Tech Park respectively. He received his PhD in Photovoltaics Engineering at University of New South Wales(UNSW), Australia. His expertise is in Photovoltaic materials and devices (PVMD). His current research includes black silicon, perovskite and organic solar cells for conventional, solar windows and indoorphotovoltaic applications. To date, he has published more than 40 research papers in the field of photovoltaic. He has been a keynote speaker and an invited speaker in international conferences, seminars and trainings on topics related to the physics of solar cells, optics and light-trapping, photovoltaic technologies andphotovoltaic manufacturing. He is a Professional Technologist (Ts.) in Green Technology, which is awarded by Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT).

Mrs. Gurpreet Kaur holds an MCA degree from Punjab Technical University (2010) and has over 7 years of IT industry experience as a Senior Software Developer in various companies. Her expertise lies in front-end technologies, data structures, and algorithms (DSA).

I am Priyanshu Mohanty, a B.Tech student in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering at IIIT Bhubaneswar, with strong interest and hands-on experience in Generative AI, Agentic AI, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and AI application development.

I have worked as a Gen AI Intern at Fastpeer AI and AI Developer Intern at Code-X-Novas, where I built RAG pipelines, autonomous AI agents, AI microservices, and agentic workflows using tools such as LangChain, LangGraph, FastAPI, Neo4j, GPT-4o, OpenAI API, HuggingFace, and Groq.

My project experience includes developing an AI Dining Concierge, an Autonomous AI Carrom Agent, and a Smart Attendance System using AI, computer vision, reinforcement learning, and cloud-based integration. I am passionate about building scalable, intelligent AI systems that solve real-world problems through automation, reasoning, and data-driven decision-making.

I am Rohith Praveen, a dedicated Physiotherapist with experience in orthopedics, neurorehabilitation, cardiopulmonary care, pediatrics, and sports rehabilitation. I hold a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from Manipal Academy of Higher Education.

I have worked as a physiotherapist at Pulse Medicare Multi-speciality Hospital and currently practice as a Freelance Physiotherapist, providing home-based physiotherapy and personalized sports rehabilitation services. My expertise includes athletic taping, exercise prescription, mobility training, strength and conditioning, on-field injury management, and return-to-sport protocols.

With strong exposure to professional sports such as football, athletics, badminton, swimming, marathons, and kabaddi, I aim to support athletes and patients through evidence-based rehabilitation, performance recovery, and patient-centered care.

Thomas J. Webster’s (H index: 129; Google Scholar) degrees are in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (B.S., 1995; USA) and in biomedical engineering from RPI (Ph.D., 2000; USA). He has served as a professor at Purdue (2000-2005), Brown (2005-2012), and Northeastern (2012-2021; serving as Chemical Engineering Department Chair from 2012 – 2019) Universities and has formed over a dozen companies who have numerous FDA approved medical products currently improving human health in over 20,000 patients. His technology is also being used in commercial products to improve sustainability and renewable energy. He is currently helping those companies and serves as a professor at Brown University, Saveetha University, Vellore Institute of Technology, UFPI, and others. Dr. Webster has numerous awards including: 2020, World Top 2% Scientist by Citations (PLOS); 2020, SCOPUS Highly Cited Research (Top 1% Materials Science and Mixed Fields); 2021, Clarivate Top 0.1% Most Influential Researchers (Pharmacology and Toxicology); 2022, Best Materials Science Scientist by Citations (Research.com); and is a fellow of over 8 societies. Prof. Webster and his team have over 1,350 publications with over 55,000 citations. He is a recent Nobel Prize in Chemistry Nominee.

Dr. Dimple Thakar is an esteemed Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Marwadi University, with a prolific 20-year academic career intertwined with over three years of industry experience in IT and software development. With a Ph.D. in Computer Science specializing in steganography, she is a recognized expert in her field.

Dr. Thakar has a deep commitment to education and research, reflected in her roles as Research Coordinator and NAAC criteria coordinator at the Faculty of Computer Application, where she also serves as the Program Coordinator for the BCA course. Her extensive teaching repertoire includes advanced subjects such as Data Structures, C#.NET, Design Analysis and Algorithms, and Object-Oriented Analysis and Design.

In her previous roles, she served as an Associate Professor at the Sunshine Group of Institutions, where she was also the Academic Head of the MCA department and coordinated various programs and cultural activities. Her early career includes significant stints as a lecturer at Geetanjali College and Matushri Virbai Mahila College, enriching her teaching experience.

Dr. Thakar is also notable for her contributions to the IT industry, having developed critical software solutions for sectors including banking and manufacturing, demonstrating her proficiency in a variety of programming languages and technologies.

Her scholarly contributions are substantial, with numerous papers published in international journals and conferences. She is an active member of the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Science and Engineering Research and serves as a reviewer and committee member on several international conferences.

A passionate mentor and educator, Dr. Thakar is dedicated to fostering research and academic excellence among her students, making her a vital asset to both her university and the broader academic and professional communities.

I am Saurav Singh, a results-driven Consultant and Mentor with over 3 years of experience in innovation-based education, mentoring, and public policy. I have served as a Regional Mentor of Change under Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, where I guided over 50 Atal Tinkering Labs and mentored more than 3000 students in innovation, design thinking, and entrepreneurship projects across Bihar and Jharkhand.

With a strong background in technology, education strategy, and social innovation, I have contributed to the development of innovation ecosystems and policy research. I am passionate about driving data-driven program management and am eager to contribute to Wadhwani Foundation’s mission of fostering innovation and employability.

I am currently focusing on UPSC preparation with a special interest in public policy and governance, while continuing my work as an independent consultant in education and innovation projects.