Who is Professor Shirish Kedar, director of IIT Bombay, who researched air-powered machines?

After the death of second year student Sahil Wakode at IIT Bombay, there is tension between the students and the administration at the institute. Student Director Prof. Shirish B. Kedare and Prof. Suryanarayan is demanding Dula’s resignation. Late Sunday night Prof. Kedare asked the students to resign, though the organization clarified that he has not yet formally resigned. In such a situation, let’s know about Shirish Kedare, the current director of IIT Bombay, Prof.

41 years association with IIT Bombay

Prof. Shirish Kedare has an old association with IIT Bombay. He did his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the same institute in 1985. After this he completed his PhD from here in 1992. In May 2024, Prof. Subhashis Chaudhary appointed as Director of IIT Bombay.

Research on wind energy

His PhD subject was different from traditional engineering subjects. He researched the ‘reciprocating wind machine’ i.e. a machine driven by wind. Later his work also expanded into areas like solar energy and thermal energy storage.

Did social work in villages

After his PhD, he worked as a volunteer for development and social work in rural areas from 1992 to 1995. After this, he also served as Technical Advisor to the Chairman of KVIC from 1998 to 2001.

Research and patents

Prof. Kedar has been a professor in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay. He is said to have more than 65 research papers and 6 patents to his name. He has also published several international and national journal papers, according to the institute.

Role in government and educational boards

He has been an independent director at ONGC and a member of the Board of Governors of IIT Madras. He is also associated with Research Advisory Council of NTPC.

Opinion on coaching culture

Prof. Kedar has on several occasions raised concerns about coaching-based studies. He has been saying that stressing only on passing exams can affect students’ conceptual understanding.

Contribution to solar energy projects

He has also worked on the Arun series of solar Fresnel concentrating reflectors. He is said to have contributed to the research, design, production and testing of systems such as Arun160, Arun100 and Arun30.