Dr. Shailesh I. Kundalwal is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering who specializes in Design Engineering stream. Before joining IIT Indore in 2017, he was Banting Fellow at the University of Toronto (UofT). In fact, he was the first holder of Banting Fellowships Award in the MIE Department, UofT. He obtained his M.Tech and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Mechanics from IIT Kharagpur. By the end of MTech (Mechanical Systems Design) program, he was awarded with an honorary Prof. D. P. Ghosh Memorial Award for securing the first rank and being best outgoing PG students enrolled in Applied Mechanics specializations. He proposed a novel multifunctional Fuzzy Fiber Reinforced Composite in his doctoral studies which led to a critical breakthrough in the field of hybrid nanocomposites. During three-separate international postdoctoral stints, he worked in the field of multiscale modeling of composites and mechanics of nanostructures. He founded the Applied and Theoretical Mechanics (ATOM) Laboratory at IIT Indore in 2017 which undertakes research mainly in computational and experimental investigations of nanostructures. He received the SERB Early Career Research Award in 2018 in the field of flexoelectricity. He guided 16 BTech, 10 MTech/MS (coguided: 4) and 5 PhD (coguided: 1) students as well as completed five projects successfully funded by national/international funding agencies till date. He is currently guiding 7 PhD students and handling four projects awarded by national funding agencies: CSIR, DST, ISRO, and MHRD. He has authored 65 research articles (excluding conference papers and chapters) in reputed international journals. His name featured in the list of top 2% global scientists published in PLOS Biology by Stanford University in 2021. According to this ranking system, his worldwide rank in Mechanical Engineering is 600, Institute rank is 4, and department rank is 1. He regularly contributes as a reviewer on several international journals, national/international research funding agencies, and Elsevier/CRC/Springer books in the broad field of solid mechanics. He is a member of professional bodies such as ISTAM, ASME, CSME, APS, and IEI (I), and also takes active part in the advisory/core committees of national/international conferences. Prior to his higher education at IIT Kharagpur, he served in the Defence Research and Development Organisation at the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune in different capacities, where he was engaged in Experimental Stress Analysis and Photoelastic research works in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
Academic Degrees:
Ph.D. (Applied Mechanics), IIT Kharagpur, 2013.
M.Tech. (Mechanical Systems Design), IIT Kharagpur, 2009.
B.E. (Mechanical Engineering), Institution of Engineers (I), Pune, 2006.
B.Sc. (Physics), Marathwada University, 2003.
Positions Held:
Adjunct Faculty, Center for EVs & Intelligent Transport Systems, IIT Indore, 2020 – present.
Associate Professor, ME Department, IIT Indore, Aug 2019 – present.
Assistant Professor, ME Department, IIT Indore, Feb 2017 – Aug 2019.
Visiting Assistant Professor, ME Department, IIT Indore, Jan – Feb 2017.
Banting Fellow, MIE Department, University of Toronto, Oct 2015 – Dec 2016.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Masdar Institute, Abu Dhabi, Apr – Sept 2015.
Postdoctoral Fellow, ME Department, University of Toronto, Dec 2013 – Feb 2015.
Society Memberships:
Life Member: Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
Member: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Member: Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering
Member: American Physical Society
Member: Society of Automotive Engineers International
Associate Member: Institution of Engineers, India
Honors/Awards/Recognition:
2021: RECOGNITION: Inclusion in the Stanford University’s Top 2% Most Influential Scientists List for the Year 2020.
2021: AWARD: Outstanding Reviewer Award, Institute Of Physics Publishing
2020: RECOGNITION: IOP Trusted Reviewer Status, Institute Of Physics Publishing
2020: RECOGNITION: Member, Spark Evaluation Committee, Swiss National Science Foundation
2020: RECOGNITION: Who’s Who in the World, Marquis Ventures LLC
2019: RECOGNITION: Runner-up in the highly competitive “Dare to Dream” DRDO Innovation Contest 2019
2018: AWARD: SERB: Early Career Research Award, SERB-DST, Govt. of India
2018-20: RECOGNITION: Regular Invited Expert Reviewer, Swiss National Science Foundation; Pazy Res. Foundation, Israel; DST, SERB, Govt. of India
2018: AWARD: SERB International Travel Grant Award, SERB, Govt. of India
2017-2019: OUTSTANDING REVIEWER AWARDS: Materials Science & Engineering B (Oct 16), Composite Part B (Jan 17), Int J of Mechanical Sciences (Mar 17), Mechanics Research Comm (Mar 17), Thin-Walled Structures (Aug 17), Composite Structures (Sept 17), Applied Mathematical Modeling (Mar 18), Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids (Nov 18).
2019-20: RECOGNIZED REVIEWER: Mechanics of Materials (Nov 14), Materials and Design (Mar 16), Int J of Thermal Sciences (Aug 16), Materials Science & Engineering B (Sept 16), Composite Part B (Jan 17), Int J of Mechanical Sciences (Jan 17), Mechanics Research Communications (Mar 17), Composite Structures (Jul 17), Thin-Walled Structures (Aug 17), Applied Mathematical Modelling (Sept 17), Aerospace Sc & Technol (Jan 18), Applied Mathematical Modeling (Mar 18), Composite Communications (Jul 18), Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids (Sept 18), Engineering Structures (Mar 19), Physica E (Aug 2019), European J of Mech – A/Solids (Aug 2019), Mechanics of Materials (Sept 2019), Composite Part A (Oct 2019), Int J of Solid & Structures (Dec 2019), Materials Today (Jan 2020), Carbon (Mar 2020), Composite Part B (Sept 2020), Int J of Solids and Structures (Dec 2020).
2016: NOMINATION: John Charles Polanyi Prize, University of
Toronto
2016: RECOGNITION: Who’s Who in America, Marquis Ventures LLC
2016: AWARD & FELLOWSHIP: Banting Fellowships Award, NSERC Canada
2016: RECOGNITION: First Banting Fellow in MIE Department, University of Toronto
2014-16: HONOR: Judge for the MIE Research/Graduate Symposium, University of Toronto
2014: NOMINATION: INAE Innovative PhD Projects Award, IIT Kharagpur
2013: AWARD & FELLOWSHIP: CSIR Senior Research Associate Fellowship (Scientists’ Pool Scheme), CSIR, Govt. of India
2013: AWARD: Special Doctoral Support Grant, IIT Kharagpur
2010-12: RECOGNITION: Best Teaching Assistant, IIT Kharagpur
2009: RECOGNITION: First Rank, Applied Mechanics Specializations, IIT Kharagpur
2009: AWARD & PRIZE: Professor D. P. Ghosh Memorial Award, IIT Kharagpur
2006: NOMINATION: Best Technical Staff Award, DIAT, DRDO, Pune
Teaching at IIT Indore:
Other Academic/Administrative Activities:
Academic and Administrative Activities at IIT Indore
(Institute Level)
2021–: Program Coordinator, MTech in Electric Vehicle Technology
2019–: In-Charge, Central Nanoindentation Facility
2019–: Member, Swayam/NPTL Committee
2019–: Member, Scholarship-Cum Eligibility Committee
2020–21: Member/Convener, Institute Residential Allocation Committee
2020: Convener, Learning Resources Center
2019: Member, Organizing Committee of “International Conference on Precision, Meso, Micro & Nano Engineering” held at IIT Indore from Dec 12-14, 2020. More than 300 national and international participants attended this conference
2019: Member, Seventh Convocation of IIT Indore Committee
2018–20: Member, Institute Crèche Facility
2018–19: Member, Best BTech and MTech Projects Award Committee
2018–19: Institute Representative, JEE Duty
2017–18: Marshal, Fifth and Sixth Convocations of IIT Indore
(Discipline Level)
2017–: Member, Doctoral Committee (PSPC) member of several PhD candidates
2017–: Member, JRF and PhD Student Admissions
2017–: Lab In-charge, Applied & Theoretical Mechanics (ATOM) Research Lab
2019–20: Convener, Discipline Safety and Security Committee
2017–19: Convener, Discipline Post-Graduate Committee
2017–18: Program Coordinator, MTech in Mechanical System Design
2017–18: Faculty Advisor, SAE India Team of ME Students
External Professional Service:
2018–: Regular Invited Expert Reviewer: Swiss National Science Foundation; Israel Pazy Research Foundation Grant Applications; Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute; SERB-DST, Govt. of India
2015–: Ad hoc books refereeing: Elsevier, CRC, McGraw Hill and Wiley
2013–: Ad hoc journal refereeing, numerous journals: Elsevier, ACS, Springer, RSC etc.
2014–16: Invited Judge, MIE Research/Graduate Symposium, University of Toronto
2019: Session Chair, International Conference on Precision, Meso, Micro & Nano Engineering
2018: Session Chair, International Conference on Mathematical Modelling & Scientific Computing