CENT of SCEM receives prestigious DST funding for project

Jaideep Shenoy 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangaluru/CENT-of-SCEM-receives-prestigious-DST-funding-for-project/articleshow/51808371.cms

MANGALURU: Center of Excellence in Nano-science and Technology (CENT) of Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management (SCEM) has received prestigious department of science and technology (DST) - Science and Engineering Research Board - Extra Mural Research (DST-SERB-EMR) project fund of Rs 55.89 lakh for project design, fabrication and characterization of whispering gallery mode resonators in planar waveguides for detection of bio-molecules using terahertz (THz) radiation.

DST-SERB-EMR released Rs 37.5 lakh to setup THz based bio-molecular detection laboratory at CENT-SCEM. This project was submitted under guidance of Richard Pinto, director, CENT. This is a collaborative project between CENT-SCEM, TIFR-FOTON Group and EE department of IITB. Project aims to develop integrated low loss THz waveguides and WGM resonators with high Q factors suitable for detector applications in area of biosensors/biophotonics.

THz based sensors are among latest developments in single molecular detection in the area of bio-medical engineering and detection of explosives. Among the many possible applications of these sensors include early detection of cancer (molecular level). Eminent scientists Shriganesh Prabhu and Achanta Venu Gopal of TIFR FOTON group are involved in this project. They are the leading experts in the field of plasmonics, a press communique from SCEM here stated.

The Fundamental Optics, Terahertz and Optical Nanostructures (FOTON) group at department of condensed matter physics and material science, TIFR has made significant contributions in the terahertz domain during last decade. Siddhartha Duttgupta, EE department, IITB is another collaborator of this project. He has expertise in tools for processing, characterization and computation as part of the IIT Bombay Nano Fabrication Facility (IITB-NF).