IESA Expert Panel

Dr. Abhik Banerjee received a BSc and MSc in chemistry from University of Calcutta. He completed PhD in chemistry from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune (2015), where his thesis work focused on novel nanostructured materials for energy, environmental application under the direction of Professor Satishchandra Ogale. He then joined as postdoctoral researcher with Professor Yoon Seok Jung in the Chemical Engineering Department at Ulsan national Institute Science and technology (UNIST), South Korea where he focused on the synthesis of novel solid Na superionic conductor and solution processed coating of such conductor on cathode for better electrochemical performance. Later he joined postdoc at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) with Professor Shirley Meng where his research focused on fundamental interfacial charge transfer limitation of solid-state battery technology. 

Abhik currently holds the position of team leader of Research Institute of Sustainable Energy (RISE) under TCG CREST. The RISE will work on underlying causes that are currently hindering solid state battery, Silicon and Li metal anode, while providing practical approaches towards enabling safety, higher energy density and fast charging batteries. Dr Abhik Banerjee has more than 10 years of experience in the design, novel chemical synthesis, characterization, and structure-property-performance relationships of a variety of materials, especially materials for solid state electrochemical energy storage. With a profound fundamental understanding of the relevant scientific and technological issues, Abhik has contributed significantly to the development of new materials for rechargeable batteries, development of novel synthesis/processing approaches, and a fundamental understanding of their structure-composition-performance relationships. His contributions are attested by 40 articles in archival journals and 5 patents.

Shilpi has more than 9 years of experience across multiple domains ranging from Electric Vehicle mobility transition, biofuels, solar rooftop, renewable energy feasibility at rural sectors, project management and engagement under corporate and government climate action programs.   

She is currently leading the Electric Mobility track at OMI. Her work revolves around bringing in thought leadership on sustainable mobility. She and her team help in influencing policy decisions through research. Previously she has worked with The Climate Group and Indian Institute of Science. Shilpi holds a master’s degree from TERI University in Renewable Energy, Engineering & Management. She is also a Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellow. She aims to channelize her rich experience to create meaningful impact in the lives of people through sustainable development and building consciousness around climate change.

Dr. Rahul Walawalkar is the President & MD of Customized Energy Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. He leads the Emerging Technologies domain for Customized Energy Solutions globally, which, under his leadership has emerged as a thought leader in   the   areas   of   energy   storage, renewables, demand response, electric vehicles, and smart grid technologies.  

A strong votary of improving energy storage and e-mobility in India, Dr. Rahul founded the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) in 2012 and continues to serve as its President.  

He served as board member for Energy Storage Association, USA during 2009-15 and as the Chair for Global Energy Storage Alliance during 2018-20. In 2021, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) of India inducted Dr. Rahul to be part of the Central Advisory Committee of the power regulator. He played an instrumental role in shaping up the Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Manufacturing Program for NITI Aayog during 2019-20. 

During 2018-19 he worked on drafting the National Energy Storage Mission for MNRE. He served as member of standing committee on energy storage for MNRE during 2014-17 and National Taskforce for Renewable Integration by Central Electricity Authority & Ministry of Power between 2013-14.  

Under Dr. Rahul’s leadership, Customized Energy Solutions has received numerous awards including ‘IPPAI Power Innovation Award’ for creation of India Energy Storage Alliance in 2016-17, ‘Brad Roberts Award’ for outstanding industry contribution by Energy Storage Association (USA) in 2016, USAID’s ‘Pacesetter Fund Award’ for MICRO initiative in 2016 & 2019 and ‘CII Innovative Energy Services Award’ for Tata Power Demand Response program in 2012.

Avanthika has over 15 years of experience in the energy sector, having worked in substation designs, market research, and consulting services in India, Asia Pacific, and Africa.

Her research expertise is on emerging technologies such as energy storage, renewable energy, battery manufacturing, EV charging, and green hydrogen. She is presently the Industry Research Manager at Customized Energy Solution, leading the research on the emerging technologies market in India.

Dr. Judy Jeevarajan is the Vice President and Executive Director for the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at UL Research Institutes (ULRI) with more than 26 years of experience in the area of battery safety research. She was inducted into UL’s Henry Merrill Society as a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in 2016 and as a Corporate Fellow in 2020. 

Dr. Jeevarajan serves in the Technical Working Group for standards organizations such as UL, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Society of Aerospace Engineers (SAE), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and additionally serves as a member of the UN Informal working group that is working on the re-categorization of the hazards associated with lithium-based cells and batteries.   

From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Jeevarajan worked for Lockheed Martin Space Operations at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, until 2003. In 2003, she started her work as a NASA civil servant where she was the Group Lead for Battery Safety and Advanced Technology. Dr. Jeevarajan represented the battery group on all NASA safety panels and was responsible for approving all batteries flown for human-rated space missions.   

Dr. Jeevarajan has several NASA awards to her credit with the NASA Engineering and Safety Center’s (NESC) Engineering Excellence Award and the Exceptional Service Award being noteworthy. She also won the Power Systems Award from AIAA in 2019 for her contributions to the safety of the human space flight and the ‘Woman Leader of the Year’ Award from the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) in 2020 for her active contribution in the area of energy storage safety. Dr. Jeevarajan is a published contributor on battery safety with more than 150 presentations at conferences and several journal publications. She has three book chapters to her credit.  

Dr. Jeevarajan earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry (Electrochemistry) from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa (1995) and holds a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame (1991). 

With his vast experience in industry since 1966, Mr. R. P. Deshpande is among the most experienced and respected specialists in Indian capacitor sector. Some of the capacitor brands nurtured by him continue to retain their market-pole position. Throughout his career, Mr. Deshpande has pioneered the development of many capacitor products, technologies, processes, and related applications. His first book, “Capacitors- Technology and Trends”, published by McGraw Hills in 2012 filled up a crucial knowledge gap and has received wide appreciation and response in industry and academic fields.  

His interest in Ultracapacitors first manifested as a paper at an international seminar (CAPACIT - Mumbai, Jan 2010) and his work on the use of capacitors for energy storage appears as articles, papers, and lectures on several platforms. His second book “Ultracapacitors- Future of Energy Storage”, published in Feb. 2014, and has been widely acknowledged. 

He has been working in diverse renewable energies and energy storage technologies for the past 15 years and has been giving training and delivering lectures in these subjects at different platforms. He is currently associated with M.I.T., Aurangabad as an adjunct faculty member. He also continues to guide industries in his capacity as industrial consultant 

Mr. Deshpande, a Fellow of The Institution of Engineers (India) and an electrical engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, continues to work in alternative renewable energies and energy storage technologies. He is often invited as an expert speaker to various forums and in a visiting faculty role, loves to share his experience with faculty and students.

Dhamodaran Santhanagopalan is an Associate Professor at Centre for Nanosciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi Campus (Kerala). He completed his PhD in Physics from University of Hyderabad in 2007. After a brief Institute Postdoctoral Fellow term, he was Physics Faculty at IIT Kanpur for a total of about four years. Subsequent to that he joined the Department of NanoEngineering, University of California San Diego as a Postdoctoral Fellow.
He was part of Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion (LESC) headed by Professor Ying Shirley Meng and his major research activity at UCSD was on focused ion beam fabrication of electrochemically active nano-scale solid-state Li-ion batteries for in situ STEM observation of interfacial phenomena.
During this period he was part of the US-DOE funded EFRC Centre for batteries headed by 2019 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Prof. Stanley M. Whittingham. Upon joining at Amrita, initially, he served as an Assistant Professor and
Ramanujan Fellow (for 5 years) and currently he is an Associate Professor at the centre. Major focus of his research group at Amrita is on energy storage technologies from lab-scale to translation (with both liquid and solid state electrolytes). His research group is also interested in second-life Li-ion batteries and active materials recycling/regeneration from end-of-life Li-ion batteries.

Aditya joined CES in October of 2021 as a consultant for the Emerging Technologies team. He brings with him experience of working on projects related to policy advisory, techno-commercial analysis, strategy roadmaps, forecasting, capability development, and legal analysis. His technical skillsets include data analysis and visualization using PYTHON, RSTUDIO, EXCEL modelling, advanced automation using VBA, and financial modelling.  

Prior to joining CES, Aditya worked as a consultant for Ricardo Energy & Environment and as an engineer for Cummins India Technologies Ltd.  

Aditya holds a post-graduation diploma, with a specialization in sustainable management, bestowed by the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM L) and a Bachelor of Technology degree (Mechanical Engineering) bestowed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT G).