He believes teaching is an integral part of scientific contribution

Education plays a vital role in building the future of our nation by transforming lives and communities. We have several educator heroes who help students aim high and achieve their potential, often meeting and overcoming considerable challenges along the way. Recently Delhi based MT Research & Educational Services (MTRES) came up with Teaching Excellence Awards (TEA) 2018, to recognize the monumental role teachers play in our society as they instil a desire to learn and achieve and create tomorrow’s leaders. Meet one of the awardees, Dr. Balaram Kundu, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, who has been honoured with Outstanding Teacher Award in MTRES TEA 2018.

Dr Balaram graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Regional Engineering College Durgapur (Presently NIT Durgapur) in 1993 and post graduated in Thermal Engineering from Bengal Engineering College Shibpur (Deemed University) (at present IIESTS) in 1995. He started his teaching career when he joined Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College as a Lecturer in 1998. Meanwhile, he received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 2000. Subsequently he joined Jadavpur University in 2003 and has been associated with the institution ever since.

My interests in teaching have played a major role in my decision to choose an academic profession.
Dr Balaram Kundu

His area of expertise includes analytical heat transfer, solar collector, thermal insulation, extended surface heat transfer, fin-and-tube heat exchanger, biological heat transfer, electro-osmotic flow, etc. He has authored more than 95 technical papers published in reputed international journals with the total impact points of 242. Currently, his Scopus h-index, Google Scholar h-index and RG score are 22, 25, and 39.34, respectively. He has also written chapters for several books. He is a Board Member of more than 20 international journals and reviewer board member of more than 70 international journals. He has also filed two patents in 2016 for his works entitled Subsonic flow always found in a portion of the divergent part of a convergent-divergent nozzle under an actual application and Method for calculation of fin heat transfer with internal heat generation subject to nonlinear surface heat exchange.

According to Scopus, presently, I rank 4th in the world on the basis of number of papers published with a keyword “Fin”
Dr. Balaram Kundu

Dr Balaram has visited several countries like Japan, USA, UK, Thailand, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, South Korea, etc. for collaborative research work. His international exposure started when he visited Saga University, Japan, as a Visiting Faculty in 2007 for one month. Then he worked as a Research Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea, for two years and nine months under the Brain Korea 21 program. Subsequently, he also visited Hanyang University several times as a Visiting Research Professor. During his stay in Korea, he published several research papers in SCI Journals for the work carried out in the field of augmentation of heat transfer in heat exchanger applications.

In the mean time, he was also offered to join King Mongkut’s University of Science and Technology, Bangkok; Keen Hee University, South Korea; and Inha University, South Korea, as a Research Scientist, Research Academic Professor, and Non-Tenure Track full-time Lecturer, respectively. He was selected as a Senior Scientist for Sejong University, Seoul, South Korea, in 2013. He also received offers to join Jimma University, Ethiopia and Thapar University, Punjab, as an Associate Professor and Professor, respectively, in 2015.

I treat teaching as an opportunity to enhance my own scientific skill. I believe teaching is an integral part of scientific contribution.
Dr Balaram Kundu

He is also a recipient of Institutional Medal for the best paper published in the Journal of the Institution of Engineers (India); Outstanding Faculty Award – the VIFFA 2015, by Venus International Foundation; Outstanding Scientist Award – VFRA 2015; Teacher’s Excellence Award 2015 under number of research papers / books published category by Confederation of Education Excellence; and Distinguished Scientist – Venus International Research Award 2017.

I feel MTRES are doing excellent work for giving recognition to those teachers who deserve to receive this type of award for their dedication to academics.
Dr Balaram Kundu

Currently, he is focusing his research on the thermal therapy for killing cancerous cells. This therapy is gradually becoming more prominent as there are no side-effects of the treatment. Apart from research, his interests in teaching and enthusiasm to use teaching as means of scientific contribution keeps him motivated to excel in his academic career. His goal for student learning is to develop problem solving skills, analytic skills and ultimately, ability to think holistically. These skills will not only help in order to synthesize a creative solution and/or an insightful advice but also to deliver it successfully. He feels it is essential to get trained to think critically and actively to develop these skills.

About MTRES
MT Research & Educational Services is an initiative to bridge the gap between academics and industry. It was founded in 2013 with the combination of industry, academic and research personnel. They execute various educational events (Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, Short Term Courses, Trainings and Competitions) throughout India. They provide various educational platforms for direct engagement of students, academicians and corporates. They execute internships and placement drives also in colleges. Website.