Dr. R. Velraj was born on 7th July 1965 in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. He has 33 years of teaching experience and specialized in Thermal Energy Storage, Solar Energy, Desalination, Energy efficient buildings, Energy Auditing and Management, and Heat Transfer & Computational Fluid Dynamics.
Pursued B.E. in Mechanical Engineering at Annamalai University, M.E. in Energy Engineering, and Ph. D. at Anna University and part of the doctoral research he carried out in Solar Institute, Juelich, Germany for a period of 20 months (1995 - 1997) under DAAD Fellowship by Germany.
Attended LEAP (Leadership for Academicians Programme) training for a period of 2 weeks in IIT-BHU and 10 days at Cambridge University, United Kingdom from 19th December 2020 to 26th January 2020.
Executed 15 sponsored research projects (13 as Principal Investigator and 2 as Co-Principal Invertigator) which includes collaborative projects with Technical University, Munich, Germany, University of Birmingham, UK and Concordia University, Canada. Executed a research project as Principal Investigator in collaboration with 7 Universities on the development of Renewable Energy based Microgrid with a grant of Rs. 15 crores and another project jointly with IIT, Madras in the field of solar Desalination (PI to AU - 1.75 crores).
Published more than 250 research articles in journals of high repute, 1 book, 1 chapter and Produced 37 Ph.D's. and further contributed substantially for 17 more scholars to complete their Ph.D's.
Editorial Board Member of the Elsevier Journal 'Sustainable Cities and Society'.
Scientific citations of 13000 with H-index of 60. (As per Google scholar citation)
AD scientific Index has ranked under various categories as below:
Based on H index & Total citation - First rank in AU (Till today and also for the last 5years).
In the field of Energy Engineering - 5th position nationally and 113th Position globally.
Consultancy, Industrial Collaborations and Technology Transfer
Granted 3 patents in the field of cool thermal storage and compressed air energy storage and has filed 7 patents in the field of solar and other energy applications.
Executed 38 consultancy projects - (28 as Principal Consultant & 10 as a team member) for several industries in the area of energy technologies, Thermal Storage, CFD analysis and Biomass resource assessment studies.
Made Technology transfer with "ETA SMART PVT LTD", a Chennai based company in the field of Cool Thermal Storage System through Anna University and two more technology transfer through Research project collaborations.
Green Initiatives and other Contributions to Society
Implemented several green initiatives inside Anna University campus.
Biogas plant for cooking using 1 ton food waste per day.
Centralized solar PV street lighting system (25 kW with 235 street lights).
Solar operated (35 kW) air-conditioning (30 TR) for 5000 sq. feet space with cool thermal storage (20 Ton hour) which will be in operation from September 2021.
Solar power generation (10 kW).
Solar water pumping system (4 kW).
E-Vehicles for mobility inside Campus.
Served as expert member for various International research forums, Government bodies like International Energy Agency (IEA), Raj Bhavan, TEDA, IEI, Science City, TIDCO, TIDEL PARK, IRT, NLC, NIOT, AICTE, SAMEER, reputed Universities and Institutions and also for the Government funding bodies like MNRE, DST, NIWE and TNSCST.
Initiated several international collaborations, Industrial collaborations and also visited several countries (Germany, Spain, UK, and Russia) as expert member/DST delegation.
Served as resource person in various international and national forums in his field of research, reviewer for several international journals of repute, and member of Governing Council / Academic council/ Board of Studies for various Universities and Autonomous Institutions.
Organised several International and national workshops/conferences, Awareness programs on Solar Energy and conducted more than 100 short term training Programmes and beneficiaries are several students, scholars, academicians, various industrial stakeholders and public.
Awards & Honors
International Level:
DAAD Fellowship by Germany as a part of doctoral work (1995-1997).
Recognised as the Top 2% Scientists in the field of Energy according to the list released by Stanford University, USA on 8th October 2020.
Recipient of "Best Poster Award - 2012" by Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune, Naval Post Graduate School & Office of Naval Research, USA.
National Level:
Council Member of the Institution of Engineers - India (IEI - India) as Eminent Engineer (2021 - 2022).
Board of Governors of 'National Design and Research Forum' Bangalore.
Secured the First Rank in the Poster Presentation at India International Science Festival under the theme Water Segment organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology; Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India in collaboration with VIBHA and CSIR on 22nd Decemebr 2020.
The Hon'ble President of India presents the National Service Scheme Award to Anna University
State Level:
Recipient of "Tamil Nadu Scientist Award (TANSA) 2014 (Environmental Science)" by Government of TamilNadu - Received from Hon'ble Minister for Higher Education, in the year 2017.
Recipient of 'Active Consultant Award - 2011' by Anna University.
Recipient of 'Best Innovation Award - 2013' by Anna University.
Recipient of 'Achievement Award' by Appadurai Chair for Power Systems, Anna University in recognizing the contribution towards technological developments to be adopted by TANGEDCO in the year 2017.
Recipient of 'Research Excellence Award' by CTDT Anna University.
Recipient of 'Distinguished Researcher Award' in the year 2019 by Anna University.
Recipient of 'Certificate of Appreciation' for high impact research publication by CEG, Anna University.
Committee Member of the Institution of Engineers (India) as Eminent Engineer, Tamil Nadu State Centre. (2018 - 2021).
AD Scientific Index Ranked 1st Position" in Anna University based on the H-Index and total citations in Research Publications in the Field of Energy for the past 5 years. Further Ranked 1st in Anna University in Engineering & Technology and Energy Engineering.
AU signed MoU with SIPCOT for the development of Medical Device park in the presence of Hon'ble CM
Popular Videos
Opportunities in Engineering Education - Anna University Vice Chancellor, Dr. R. Velraj
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37th Indian Engineering Congress - Anna University Vice Chancellor, Dr. R. Velraj
Makkal Medai - Anna University Vice Chancellor, Dr. R. Velraj
Speech on Republic Day Celebration at Anna University - Anna University Vice Chancellor - Dr. R. Velraj
VC's Speech on Orientation & Induction Programme - 2022 to 2023
Speech on Precautionary Measures to Overcome COVID Pandemic - Anna University Vice Chancellor, Dr. R. Velraj
Brainstorming Meet on Industry Aligned Curriculum Development21 - Anna University Vice Chancellor, Dr. R. Velraj
About Prof. R. Velraj
