President of the Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) Umesh V. Waghmare on Friday threw light on the usage of fundamental laws of physics in identifying instabilities in crystals.
Delivering presidential address on “Instabilities of crystals and their functional properties” at the inaugural session of the 88th annual meeting of the IAS at SRM University-AP, Prof. Waghmare acquainted the audience with how these fundamental concepts hold supreme importance in the development of predictive models that capture interactions between the instabilities and external forces to predict the material-specific functional behaviour of advanced materials.
He illustrated his remarks with crystal instabilities of polar phonons, spin-ordering and strain that drive the functional properties of ferroelectrics, anti-ferroelectrics, anti-ferromagnets and shape memory alloys respectively.
The three-day event features distinguished fellows and associates of IASs and renowned professors from premier institutions across the country.
Vice-Chancellor of SRM University-AP Manoj K. Arora said the IAS members should infuse their admiration and inclination for research and development into the faculty of educational institutions.
The University Pro-Vice-Chancellor D. Narayana Rao underscored the need to upgrade intellectual and material prosperity. Stating that educational institutions were the backbone of research and development of a country, he said there were abundant career opportunities for the youth in the days to come.
Pro-Chancellor P. Sathyanarayana said it was important for the industry and academia to come together for improvement of research and development in the country.
The inaugural session was followed by a special lecture on “Uniqueness of plant mitochondria: Relevance to crop improvement and climate change” by A. S. Raghavendra from the University of Hyderabad. Swagata Gupta from IIT Kharagpur chaired the lecture.
K. Bhanu Sankara Rao and D. B. Ramachary from University of Hyderabad and Aditya Bandhopadhyay from IIT, Kharagpur spoke in the afternoon session, which was followed by a symposium on green energy.