Akshat Jiwan Sharma

I thank the American Center for inviting me to a panel discussion on USA’s engineering excellence that has made the USA the leader in deep space exploration. While NASA had its origin in Aeronautics, its pivot towards space exploration during the cold war era birthed the space industry.  Since then it has launched several lunar,mars,outerplanetary and deep space missions collecting invaluable data that has advanced humankind's understanding of the universe and essentially created astrophysics as a career option for some of the brightest minds in physics.  Missions like voyager which were originally intended for a tour of outer planets — jupiter,saturn,uranus,neptune have far gone beyond their intended expedition, travelled billions of kms and have sent data on heliosphere that has directly led to projects like the SHIELD being developed in Boston University [1]  Rockets often take the limelight in space projects but nearly every aspect of the program relies up...

I thank ASM for organising a technical discussion on lithium ion battery interconnects. A typical battery pack could contain anywhere from a couple to thousands of cells depending upon whether it's being used for consumer electronics or high power EVs.  Battery chemistry requires different electrode materials and the same battery chemistry requires different current collectors at Cathode(Al) and Anode (Cu). This works for individual cells. During assembly however when the cells have to be connected in series or in parallel things break down.  Because Al & Cu don't weld well and they suffer from galvanic corrosion, new material processing techniques are necessary to enable fast wiring of batteries. Cold cladding is an industry standard that has now proven itself. Copper and aluminum are cold welded at high pressures and they form an airtight atomic bond without any intermediate oxide/intermetallic layer on the Al side.  This discussion highlighted Materions particular ...

11 June 2026  Earlier this June I had the pleasure of participating in two highly relevant discussions for accelerating the renewable energy adoption in the EU. The meeting on Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) implementation was focussed on policy changes required to achieve the goal. Whereas the meeting on grid resilience focussed more on the technical aspects that could actually make renewable energy work on a continental scale. [1-3] The Renewable Energy Directive proposed by the EU is now a law that the member states are required to enforce. But while the intent has been positive the actual implementation of the law has been lagging. The reasons could be many: slow bureaucracy, political opposition, conflicting goals, technological gaps and prioritisation of other pressing concerns.  Member states have their own complex politics & their own issues to take care of before they can look at union directives. Now to overcome this challenge the union has adopted a carrot ...

I thank the engineering export promotion council of India for organising a roadshow for the upcoming Pharma Tech expo in Sep 2026. I would also like to thank the I-hub foundation for cobotics at IIT Delhi for organising an online discussion on the evolution of healthcare with development of  tooling and technology across successive industrial revolutions.  The two events presented a unique opportunity for me to attempt to apply myself in the field of medicine which needless to say is extremely challenging considering that this sector is highly regulated and requires specialisation. But after listening to the experts in the field I was convinced that the industry is moving towards automation and some of the biggest challenges being faced by India and other developing states in Africa are access to machines and instruments that can help provide healthcare to people.  A concern that many of the leaders in the field shared is that while India has done reasonably ...

I thank the society of automotive engineers for organising the second annual Aerospace Materials & Manufacturing Summit, to discuss the material challenges that the aerospace and defense industry is currently facing and some of the new opportunities that have arisen due to innovation in materials manufacturing and processing.  As someone who deeply cares about material science it was a great opportunity for me to listen to the experts in the aerospace industry and learn about their thought process prior to materials selection. I also think that this is a great initiative by SAE that will foster a deeper engagement with material engineers.  Aircraft impose severe constraints on materials as they have to be tough,strong and lightweight. Unsurprisingly Aluminum alloys and fiber composites dominate due to their unique combination of properties that align well with the requirements of aerospace. Titanium,Tungsten and Nickel alloys are used in engines and turbines due to their...

I thank the European commission for organising EU space days and giving me a chance to participate in the conference online. It was a great pleasure to listen to the esteemed speakers sharing their vision on how to strengthen the EU space industry.  This was my second engagement with the European Space Agency following the virtual event in January. [1-2] This year's event took place at Cyprus which is currently presiding over the EU. Since space and defense industries are intimately connected a few statements were made regarding the political status of Cyprus which remains divided between the Republic of Cyprus in the south and Turkey controlled region in the North. A question was asked: how could the space industry be used to defend the sovereignty of the nation? Although the question was rhetorical, it clearly emphasized that the EU is no longer going to view the space industry purely from a scientific & engineering POV.  This seemed to me a natural continuation of the s...