Akshat Jiwan Sharma

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...

May 26 2026 I thank the Africa Solar Industry Association for organising an online conference on energy storage technologies to meet Africa’s growing demand in the renewable energy sector.  For the last 6 months I have been intensely networking with stakeholders in the African energy sector. In January I engaged with Damilola Ogunbiyi, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (UN SRSG) for Sustainable Energy for All, and Co-Chair of UN-Energy  , Selwin Hart, Assistant Secretary General and Senior Advisor for Climate to the United Nations Secretary-General and the former president of Maldives Mr Mohamed Nasheed [1] Later in February, at the Bharat Electricity summit, I had a chance once more to engage with representatives from African states seeking partners to help meet Africa's energy demand.  Following this I attended several online discussions on making energy storage cheaper.   [2-4] I have also written about the geopolitics of energy t...

May 15 2026 I thank ASM sustainable manufacturing committee for organising a highly informative talk by Dr Sweta Baruah on the topic of Materials Upcycling in Additive manufacturing.  As it stands AM is far more material efficient than traditional manufacturing processes— producing less waste than subtractive manufacturing techniques (milling/turning/drilling/grinding).  Yet feedstock cost in AM remains high due to energy intensive processes used in its manufacturing. Typical powderisation techniques using gas or water atomisation consume much energy as do wire extrusion processes.  The desire to cut down the input energy serves as a powerful motivator to develop processes that can lower the cost and make AM more sustainable.  Traditional melt processing technologies for making powder or wire help with the reusability of waste streams and reduce energy input because compared to fresh feedstock there is no need for crushing ,chemical treatment,reduction etc.  Yet...

13th May 2026 I thank the American Institute of Physics (AIP)  for organising an exceptional talk by Dr Merav Opher on the SHIELD (Solar wind with Hydrogen Ion charge Exchange and Large-Scale Dynamics) project, which she is heading at Boston University in collaboration with NASA and several other institutions. It was a great privilege for me to learn from one of the leading plasma astrophysicists about this highly complex interdisciplinary initiative.  The SHIELD project aims to implement a ‘digital twin’ of the heliosphere, the bubble surrounding our solar system created by solar wind from the sun travelling supersonically with velocities in the range of 400Km/s.  This protective bubble,which is much larger than our solar system, is responsible for shielding nearly 70% of harmful cosmic rays.  The motive behind creating a digital twin emerges from the fact that the plasma characteristics of the heliosphere are quite different from lab plasmas and interstellar plasma...

Extremely happy to announce that the bhū travel and tourism council has signed an MoU with greek travel agency Kalamaki Travel.Established in 1989 Kalamaki is one of the oldest, continually serving travel agencies on the island of Crete that has been delighting visitors for decades by creating some of the finest travel experiences. Our agreement emerges as a response to one of the toughest challenges facing independent travel agents today — consolidation by online travel agencies with immense marketing budgets making it impossible for small business owners having neither the technology nor the manpower, to compete with them.  With our agreement we have decided to take a bold new direction that places emphasis on cooperation between independent travel agencies & creation of new business opportunities rather than clashing over shrinking markets as more traffic is routed through global distribution systems.  By placing emphasis on domestic tourism, building new it...