Akshat Jiwan Sharma

23 Feb 2026  I thank the LDES Council for organising a highly informative webinar on Accelerating Bankability for Long Duration Energy Storage, gathering several professionals in the energy storage sector.  Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is important because it allows energy to be stored for many hours, or even days, quite cheaply, helping balance electricity supply and demand over longer time periods. This is important because it supports renewable energy as both solar and wind power are variable; the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. LDES stores excess energy when production is high and releases it when production drops. By improving grid reliability it helps prevent blackouts by supplying power during extended outages, extreme weather, or periods of high demand. LDES provides an incredible variety of storage mechanisms that can store energy ,mechanically,chemically,electrically or thermally unlike traditional lithium ion batteries that are full...

The India AI impact summit, one of the most high profile events of 2026  drew in large crowds from all across the nation and key stakeholders from the rest of the world to deliberate upon the AI & its impact upon society.  I had the good fortune of attending pre summit meetings at IIT Delhi where I learnt about some of the technical aspects that GOI together with the Anusandhan National Research Foundation are considering to position the nation to benefit from this wave of AI which has ,by this time ,largely proven itself to be one of the most transformative technologies to have been developed in the last century.  From what I understood the strategy seems to be this. First India is one of the biggest markets for new technology. The administration wants to leverage India's growing economic strength & purchasing capability of the middle class to incentivise big corporations to invest in India which would further enhance the rate of growth.  Second,...

20 Feb 2026 Delhi Climate Week was kickstarted in IIT Delhi yesterday with an opening session on ‘people first low carbon technologies to bridge the climate ambition with economic growth’. As the speakers emphasized, the purpose of Delhi Climate Week is to position Delhi as the leading voice of the global south on climate and green technology issues & to shape the discourse rather than just follow along on the issues set by others.  Mr Erik Solheim, Former Minister of Climate and the Environment of Norway, gave opening remarks as he recalled the success of Brazil COP 30 last November.  This was followed by a very inspiring talk from Dr RK Malhotra ,the president of hydrogen association of India, in which he outlined some of the challenges in green hydrogen production and steps that can be taken to overcome them.    I could not help but notice ,not just in this particular climate focussed event but in several others that I have had the pleasure of atte...

  13 Feb 2026 At the International Conference on Composite Materials, Design and Engineering in IIT Delhi, it was a great privilege for me to be learning from scholars sharing their findings in the field of composite materials. More than 100 papers were presented over a period of 3 days making the conference one of the most productive ones that I have ever had the honor of attending.  Composite materials have already revolutionised the field of materials science. GFRPs are used everywhere from aerospace to circuit boards and sports equipment. Carbon fibers are being seen as promising future materials if the cost of production could be managed.  Under load composite materials differ significantly from metals. Generally they are quite strong if fibers are aligned along the direction of the load. However they are prone to failure if load is applied transverse to the fiber orientation. This means that for fiber composites careful engineering is required which makes them somew...

8 FEB 2026 It was a great honor to participate in Acma Automechanika and connect with  auto component manufacturers across the entire value chain in the automobile industry.  From engines to specialised components like pistons,gaskets,axles,steering,suspension ,chassis, paints and more. Participating in the event gave me a chance to gauge the depth of the automotive industry and understand how many small business owners and skilled workers are needed to manufacture a vehicle. Its market value can't fully capture the century of research,the countless hours, the blood sweat and tears that have gone into making a modern automobile.  Although there were infinite opportunities to learn for a curious mind a few things really jumped out and made me think. One of those was how automobiles have very effectively managed to combine multiple ways of controlling the movement of a running vehicle. Of course there is the engine but there's also hydraulics for power steering ...

28 Jan 2026 I thank the society of automotive engineers for organising a 2 day power packed conference on current status and the future of  EV charging in North America.  As many of the presenters noted, EV charging is now being viewed as an infrastructure problem, not a niche technology that needs to be proven. The focus is on scaling charging ubiquity, grid-integrated vehicles and commercial viability.  Some hard problems like megawatt-scale thermal limits, urban curbside access, and standards interoperability still need to be solved but it's almost certain that they will be in due time. If we look at the history of US innovation it's clear that the country has become very good at building new technological infrastructure. Credit cards ,ATMs,internet and many more examples prove this point.  It was quite clear after listening to the speakers that US policy makers are going to go all in on EV technology. Critics often point out some notable blind spots in the policy...