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About the Principal Investigator:

Dr. Indranil Bhattacharya is a tenured Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Tennessee Tech University. He has been at Tech for more than eight years. He was an Assistant Professor from August 2013 to May 2019. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Florida State University and Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering with First Class with Distinction from India. Dr. Bhattacharya’s research interests are in lithium and sodium-based battery technologies, high-efficiency III-V solar cells, wireless power transfer and electromagnetics. He is the main inventor of 3 US patents. He has been the Principal or co-Principal Investigator of USD 2.5 Million funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory etc. He has published at least 38 peer reviewed technical papers in reputed journals and conferences. He is supervised 6 Ph.D., 8 Master's and 50 undergraduate students at Tennessee Tech. His graduate and undergraduate students have won best research poster awards consecutively the past 5 years in the Tennessee Tech's Research and Creative Inquiry Day. In 2021 his undergraduate student won the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship award.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

High-Energy Density, High-Power Density, Cost-Effective and Safe Energy Storage

Sodium-ion battery, Lithium ion battery, Lithium sulfur battery, Lithium air battery, Supercapacitors etc.

 

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, 2013

       Florida State University

  • MS, Electrical Engineering, 2009

       Florida State University

High-Efficiency and Cost-Effective Solar Cells and Grid Integration

III-V multijunction solar cells, Perovskite solar cells, Silicon solar cells, Maximum power point tracking and grid integration.

GRANTS ACTIVATED

Total Funding of USD 2.4 Million as a Principal or Co-principal investigator

  1. National Science Foundation, “IUSE/EHR: Improving Undergraduate Success through Effective Critical Thinking (iUSE-CT)”, Total amount $298,284, Role: Co-Principal Investigator, 2021-2024.

  2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Department of Energy, ​Investigating Early Transition Metal Dopant Effects in Cobalt Free Lithium ion Batteries, Total Amount $85,000 Role: Principal Investigator,  2019-2021.

  3. US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, "Developing an EV Demonstration Testbed in the Upper Cumberland Region of Tennessee, an Economy Distressed Rural Region", Total amount $1,559,686, Role: Co-Principal Investigator.

  4. Tennessee Valley Authority, “High-Energy Density Sodium Ion Batteries for Grid Level Energy Storage’, Total amount $89,000, Role: Principal Investigator,  2019.

  5. Faculty Research Grant, “Cobalt Free High‐Energy Density and Longer Life Cycle Next Generation  Sodium Ion Batteries ", Role: Principal Investigator, Total amount $10,000, 2019-2020.

  6. Faculty Research Grant, “Improving Energy Density through Synthesis, Characterization and Investigation of Diffusion Mechanisms In Layered Structure Sodium Ion Batteries", Role: Principal Investigator, Total amount $10,000, 2018-2019.

  7. National Science Foundation REU Site: Immersive Research in Energy Generation, Storage/Conversion and Power Transmission, Total amount $330,750, Role: Principal Investigator, 2018-2021.

  8. National Science Foundation, "Investigating Optical Characteristics, Doping Levels and Current Matching in Perovskite/Si, Perovskite/GaAs/Si and Perovskite/III-V Ternary Semiconductors", Role: Principal Investigator, $30,047, July 2017-June 2018.

  9. Faculty Research Grant, “Development and Modeling of High-Energy-Density Solid State Lithium Sulfur Battery”, Tennessee Tech Office of Research, Role: Principal Investigator, Total amount $10,000, 2016-2017.

  10. URECA Team Grant, Total amount $5,000, Tennessee Tech University, Role: Principal Investigator, January 2016.

  11. NSF-REU Site: Summer Research Internships in Manufacturing and Techno-Entrepreneurship, Total amount $373,907, Role Senior Personnel/Faculty Mentor with PI Dr. Joseph Rencis, June 2015 - May 2018. 

  12. Faculty Research Grant, “Design and modeling of Very-High Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells”, Tennessee Tech Office of Research, Role: Principal Investigator, Total amount $10,000, 2014-2015.

AWARDS AND DISTINCTION

  1. Wings Up 100/2019 Research Achievement Award, Tennessee Technological University, 2019. This honor was bestowed to acknowledge high-external funding received.

  2. FSU Innovators Award, April 14, 2015 presented by Florida State University of Research Division.

  3. FSU Innovators Award, December 5, 2011 presented by Florida State University of Research Division.

  4. Grant Assistance Program (GAP) Funding Award from Florida State University Council of Research and Creativity, December 2010.

  5. 2013 Statewide (Florida) Graduate Student Research Symposium, Award for Research Excellence (2nd Place) in the STEM Category, April 19, 2013, Tampa, Florida.

  6. Graduate Research Poster Presentation Award, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida State University, March 22, 2013.

  7. Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication Engineering from India in "First Class with Distinction". 

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