Meet Our Mentors

I lead storytelling and narratives for Google's advanced energy work. I develop external content on advanced clean energy solutions (such as geothermal, nuclear, long duration storage, and data center demand flexibility) and their impact on electricity system reliability, affordability, and decarbonization. I studied Creative Writing (BA '20) and Sustainability Science and Practice (MA '20) at Stanford and I'm now based in NYC.

My name is Alejandra and I have a background in mechanical engineering. I have experience in the automotive industry and most recently completed my MBA, focusing on commercialization of innovative technology.

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES May 1-July 30 2025 Exchange faculty Civil Engineering TU Delft, Netherlands Dec 2019-till date Assistant Professor Civil Engineering IIT Hyderabad Dec 2020-till date Adjunct Faculty Dept. Climate Change IIT Hyderabad Dec 2021-till date Adjunct Faculty E-Waste Res. Engg. IIT Hyderabad Jan 2022-till date Adjunct Faculty Dept. of Sustainability IIT Hyderabad May 2018-Nov 2019 Assistant Professor Civil Engineering NIT Warangal May 2017-April 2018 Postdoctoral Fellow Civil & Env. Engg IIT Madras 2016 Short-term Researcher Civil & Env. Engg Univ Nebraska Lincoln USA 2017 PhD Civil Engg/EWRE IIT Madras ****Head of GREENS Laboratory @IIT Hyderabad**** (https://sites.google.com/ce.iith.ac.in/iith-ambika/home) I drive comprehensive Research and Development (R&D) initiatives, overseeing the entire lifecycle from ideation and conceptualization through strategic execution. My expertise includes successfully securing critical funding through compelling proposal development and meticulous fund management to ensure timely project delivery. A key aspect of my role involves technical leadership and mentorship. I actively guide PhD scholars, thesis dissertations, and undergraduate/postgraduate students across diverse specializations, fostering their growth and ensuring project success. I am also responsible for training and managing project staff, cultivating high-performing teams. Beyond project execution, I excel in research communication, including detailed report writing, documentation, and impactful research publications. I also provide technical and research consultancy services, leveraging my deep expertise to solve complex challenges.

Dr. Ashok Kamaraj is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering at the IIT Hyderabad with 14+ years of industrial research experience. Before joining IITH, he was a Senior Scientist at CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML), Jamshedpur. He obtained a B.E., in Metallurgical Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Salem, in March 2011. From Sep 2012 - Aug 2015, he held the Trainee Scientist fellowship to pursue an M.Tech., in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering. He continued his Doctoral Research in Process Metallurgy (Steelmaking) at CSIR-NML and obtained a doctoral degree from AcSIR in February 2020. The overarching theme of his research work is the physical simulation of metallurgical processes, metal recycling, waste utilization, and the life cycle and sustainability analysis of metallurgical processes. He also has a keen research interest in the deployment of machine learning and artificial intelligence towards the design of efficient waste management, metal recycling, and metallurgical processes. To his credit, he has published over 35 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, 14 articles in conference proceedings, one software copyright, and one design patent. He was conferred the Young Metallurgist (metal science) award by the Steel Ministry (GOI) in April 2022, the Prof. Shilowbadra Banerjee Award (for the best In-house project) by CSIR National Metallurgical Laboratory in Nov 2022, and the M. S. Khan Memorial Award by the IIM Jamshedpur chapter in Feb 2020. He is presently one of the editors of Transactions of IIM and IIM Metals News. His hobbies are listening to music and gardening.

As the Founder and International Director of Sadhana Forest, I have led the organization since 2003, focusing on environmental restoration and long-term food security. The organization addresses malnutrition in arid regions by training local communities in land restoration techniques and planting drought-resistant, indigenous, food-bearing trees together. This increases community’s resilience against climate change. Sadhana Forest is a vegan, volunteer-led and run organization with 8 off-grid sustainable training centers in India, Haiti, Kenya, and Namibia. Research focuses include Oxalate Carbonate Pathways in food-producing trees, biodiversity of fauna in reforested areas, efficiency of on-contour swales, and integration of traditional knowledge in agroecological systems. Visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1616-4360 My book, “Humanity 2.0: 10 Principles for a Compassionate Society”, distills over two decades of lived experience into a vision for a compassionate, sustainable world. Visit: http://www.sadhanaforest.org/humanity2. With over three decades of mentoring experience, I continue supporting the development of innovative and practical initiatives addressing sustainability challenges.

Dr. Chandrashekar holds a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay and earned his doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan, focusing on computational physics of self-healing materials. He completed postdoctoral research on desalination using carbon nanotube membranes at the University of Pittsburgh. He leads research and product development at Vision Earthcare Group, a sustainability startup incubated at IIT Bombay's SINE program. The organization includes Vision Earthcare Foundation, a nonprofit focused on technology acceleration and services in environmental and intellectual property domains. His specializations include catalyzing product-market fit, generating pilot programs, developing minimum viable products, and assisting startups with client profiling and scalable business systems for sales, finance, and compliance. Chandrashekar and his team have commercialized nature-inspired technologies including Soil Bio Technology for wastewater recycling and the Compact Acarine Mite Utilizing System (CAMUS), which uses only 0.5 square meters per kiloliter compared to conventional methods requiring approximately 2.0 square meters per kiloliter. Vision Earthcare has established over 400 water recovery plants serving millions nationwide. He mentors startups through organizations like Sustainability Mafia and various accelerators, and developed the Peacock Ecocity model of urban design, emphasizing decentralized, nature-integrated communities.

Began undergraduate studies at University of Science and Technology of China in 2002 and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Physics in 2006. Obtained a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Colorado Boulder in the United States from 2006 to 2012. Conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Colorado Boulder in the United States from 2012 to 2013. Engaged in postdoctoral research at Harvard University in the United States from 2013 to 2016. Joined the School of Energy Engineering at Zhejiang University in 2016 and is currently a researcher and doctoral supervisor, dedicated to research in microfluidics, microchemistry, 3D printing, biomaterials and bioinformatics.

Chen Qun is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at Tsinghua University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Electrical Engineering. He earned his B.E. in Thermal Energy and Power Engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2003 and his Ph.D. in Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics from Tsinghua University in 2008. Professor Chen began his academic career at Tsinghua as an Assistant Researcher in 2008, progressed to Associate Professor in 2012, and was promoted to Full Professor in 2015. His international academic experience includes visiting scholarships at the University of California, Davis (2009-2010) and as a Visiting Professor at Fukuoka University, Japan (2015). His research focuses on integrated energy systems optimization, heat transfer enhancement, and thermal management under extreme conditions. Professor Chen has received several prestigious awards including the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award and the Wu Zhonghua Outstanding Youth Scholar Award from the Chinese Society of Engineering Thermophysics, while leading numerous research projects including National 863 Program projects, National Key R&D Program initiatives, and National Natural Science Foundation grants.

Claudia Doblinger is Associate Professor of Innovation and Technology Management at the TUM Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability and an affiliate member at the TUM School of Management. Before joining TUM in October 2018, Claudia was a project manager for digitization at the Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen GmbH. She holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Regensburg, where she earned her PhD in Innovation and Technology Management. After her doctoral studies, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has further been a guest researcher at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Cambridge. Claudia’s research focuses on environmental entrepreneurship and innovation, with a particular focus on how public policies affect cleantech startups. Her research has been published in international academic journals such as Nature Energy, the Academy of Management Annals or Research Policy.

I hold a B.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and a Diploma de Estudios Avanzados (DEA; Diploma of Advanced Studies) from Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain. I earned my Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University under the supervision of Dr. Herschel A. Elliott. Following my doctoral work, I was a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Stephen P. Long’s laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (UIUC) and at UNICAMP, Brazil. Before joining IIT Palakkad as a faculty member, I also served as a Research Scientist at UIUC.

Don Maruska is a Master Certified Coach and author of “Solve Climate Change Now: Do What You Love for a Healthy Planet.” Previously, Don created and led a nationwide coaching program serving 10,000 professionals a year. He’s also the author of “How Great Decisions Get Made: 10 Steps to Reach Agreement on Even the Toughest Issues,” “Take Charge of Your Talent: Three Keys to Thriving in Your Career, Organization, and Life,” and eBook “Grow and Enjoy Your Business: Proven Tools for Success.” Prior to his coaching career, Don was founder and CEO of three Silicon Valley companies, earning a National Innovator Award. Early in his career, he managed projects with McKinsey & Company serving public and private sector clients. The first in his family to attend college, Don earned his BA magna cum laude from Harvard and his MBA and JD from Stanford University.

Dr. M. Indu Sekhara Sastry is currently the Advisor (R&D) of AM Green - a company promoted by M/s. Greenko.  In his current assignment, he is responsible for setting up of an State-of-the-Art advanced R&D cum QC analytical facility for characterisation of various green molecules produced including green ethanol, SAF etc. He is also responsible for identifying important new domains/research areas pertaining to AM Green business and to initiate development of research activities in the identified areas to sustain the business.  Previously, Dr. Indu Sekhar has been General Manager, (R&D) of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.  Dr. Indu Sekhar has more than three decades of uninterrupted experience in the characterisation of various lubricants, catalysts, additives required in downstream hydrocarbons sector. He was instrumental in the development of IOC’s first home-grown nanotechnology product, Indane Nanocut.  Coordinated research activities of IOCL with External customers, and other research Institutes of India, Deakin University, Australia, He is the mentor for two-startup companies. After super annuation from IOCl, he worked as RINL-Chair Professor at Department of Chemistry, Andhra University. Dr. Indu Sekhar has over 80 research publications in national/international journals/ conferences and 9 granted patents. Dr. Indu Sekhar has received many awards, including NPMP, NRDC, Petrofed,Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation, AIMA Innovation, and Bangalore Nano Awards for product and process technologies developed. He holds a doctorate in chemistry from IIT-Madras.