Dr. Rajesh Kumar has worked past more than 10 years in Europe and USA (including NASA, JPL and MIT, Cambridge) in the area of Biophotonics and, has leaded several cross-disciplinary R&D projects that sums more than 400 lakhs (INR). At IIT Ropar, he is working with wide-range optical spectroscopy and advanced microscopy imaging techniques, which include label-free and non-invasive approaches for biomedical and healthcare applications. He serves as external peer reviewer for various research grants, journal articles and academic thesis at national and international level. He also served as the grand jury panel member in Intel-ISEF award (Los-Angeles) and California state science fair awards.
Academic/Scientific Positions
Current position: Assistant Professor and HoD, Biomedical Engg. IIT Ropar, Punjab.
2015-2019 : Project Leader and Research Scientist
• NASA – Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California, USA
• MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
• NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
2012-2015 : Research Fellow, Biophysics and Medical Technology, NTNU, Norway
2009-2012 : Marie-Curie Research Fellow (European-Union/FP7), United-Kingdom (UK)
Education
• Ph.D. in PHYSICS (Biophysics and Medical Technology), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway.
• M.Sc. (5 years) in PHOTONICS, International School of Photonics, Cochin University of Science and Technology. Thesis: South-Korea.
Other
• Management and Business Skills (certified course), University of Oxford, UK.
• Pedagogical Education (certified course), University of St. Andrews, UK.
• Cybersecurity and Sensitive Unclassified Information Awareness Training, NASA, USA.
Research Grants, Awards and Fellowships (selected list)
2021-2023: PI – MIT/MISTI Global Seed Fund Award, USA
2020-2024: PI – Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT), Gov. of India
2020-2023: PI- Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Gov. of India
2020-2022: PI – ISIRD Grant, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar, India
2015-2019: PI of Project (No:46084300) – Health Authority of Central Norway
2017-2017: PI of Project (No:90191400) – Health Authority of Central Norway
2014: SPIE Award by International Society for Optics and Photonics, USA.
2012-2013: PI of Project-Internationalization of Medical Technology, Norway.
2012-2013: PI of Project-Medical Imaging (MedIm) Grant, NTNU, Norway.
2012-2015: Research Fellowship, NTNU, Norway.
2012 onwards: Associate Fellow of The Higher Education Academy, UK.
2009-2012: Marie-Curie Research Fellowship (European-Union / FP7), UK.
2008-2009: Visiting Research Fellowship, SKKU, South-Korea.
2005-2009: KVPY – National Fellowship, DST, Gov. of India.
2008: National Level Award by Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Delhi.
2006: National Level Award by Indian Physics Association (IPA), Mumbai.
Contact
Dr. Rajesh Kumar
Assistant Professor and HoD
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Room 122 (SS Bhatnagar Block)
IIT Ropar main campus
Rupnagar, Punjab-140001, INDIA.
E-mail: rajeshkumar@iitrpr.ac.in
Phone: 01881-232508