Author: Raja

Nanthini Nagarajah successfully defended her doctoral dissertation on the 20^th of November 2023. The title of her dissertation is ‘Sustainability transition in a developing country context: Drivers and barriers for renewable energy technologies in Sri Lanka’. Her doctoral assessment committee consisted of Professor Jason Li-Ying – Technical University of Denmark, Associate Professor Mikaela Vasstrøm – University of Agder, Norway and Professor Natalia Mæhle – Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL).

Nanthini Nagarajah was supervised by Professor Arnt Fløysand and Professor Dhayalan Velauthapillai. This PhD research was financially supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) are organizing with our partners, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, India and University of Jaffna (UoJ), International Conference on Advanced Materials for Clean Energy and Health Applications (AMCEHA 2023) in Coimbatore, India from 19th to 20th September. Councillors at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Delhi, Ms Elisabeth Strand Vigtel and Marit Marie Strand are the chief guests at the conference. Over 400 delegates are participating in the conference including Rector of HVL, Dr. Gunnar Yttri, Vice Chancellors of UoJ, Alagappa Univ and CIT. 50 foreign delegates including prominent scientists from Norway, Sri Lanka and other countries in the field are presenting their research. HVL has signed two MoUs with CIT and Alagappa Univ. and UoJ has signed a MoU with CIT. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry is represented by Mr. Umesh Sahdev. The conference is arranged under our Utforsk and Norpart projects funded by Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-Dir). Looking forward in enhancing the research collaboration between our partners in Norway, India and Sri Lanka.

 

A delegation consisting of 9 from HVL including the Pro-rector, Geir Kåre Resaland participated in ICS 2023. The HVL delegation also participated in other meetings and discussions during their visit to New Delhi.

12 September 2023

Arrival in Delhi and site seeing – New Delhi

13 September 2023

• Meeting with the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi

The HVL delegation met with embassy representatives at the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi. The delegation met with Marit M. Strand, Counsellor – Head of Cooperation Climate and Environment, Health and Higher Education and Vivek Kumar – Senior Advisor. The ongoing collaborative initiatives between the research institutes in India and HVL were presented. The need for further collaborations and the need to strengthen existing collaborations were discussed. In addition, the Sri Lankan collaborative initiatives were also presented as the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi is currently the mission responsible for Sri Lanka as well.

• Meeting with Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

The HVL delegation met and discussed with representatives of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) about the interest and project activities of HVL and the collaborations with the research institutes in India. The MPIDSA also presented its mission and activities to the delegation from HVL.

14-15 September 2023

• International Climate Summit 2023

The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDICC) organized the 3^rd International Climate Summit (ICS) which was held from 14 – 15 September 2023 at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India. The former president of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind was the chief guest of the event. The ICS focused on India’s vision to become a leader in green shift by prioritizing green hydrogen, biofuels, and renewables. The ICS set the stage for a global dialogue and actionable outcomes on climate change mitigation by tapping into the rich repository of ancient wisdom and knowledge of India and blending it with modern science, technology, and innovations. In achieving this the ICS platform consisted of global delegates and green advocates, especially from Nordic countries for discussions and deliberations. The Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) is one of the knowledge partners of PHDICC. HVL was part of the plenary sessions carried out during ICS.

16 September 2023

• Meeting with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

A fruitful discussion was carried out with The Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi to look into potential future collaborations where representatives from both institutes exchanged ideas and interests.

Research School for Training the Next Generation of Micro- and Nanotechnology Researchers in Norway (TNNN) took place on 21-23 June 2023 at the University of South-Eastern Norway, Vestfold. Tharmakularasa Rajaramanan and Sivagowri Shanmugaratnam (Ph.D. Research Fellows) took part in the conference and delivered their contributed talks titled “Dye‐sensitized solar cell using natural dye extracted from Mussaenda erythrophylla flowers” and “Green hydrogen production from pure and saltwater using NiS₂/TiO₂ photocatalyts” respectively. This conference facilitates to communicate with other Ph.D. students and Professors in different fields.

On Friday the 9th of June Håkon Eidsvåg successfully defended his PhD in Computer Science at the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. The title of his dissertation is “Computational Modelling and Simulation of Materials for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production”.

The doctoral examination committee consisted of the first opponent: Professor Peter Kratzer, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany, second opponent: Forskar dr. Heesoo Park, Universitetet i Oslo and committee leader: Førsteamanuensis Constanza Susana Riera, HVL 

 

Håkon’s supervisors have been Prof. Dhayalan Velauthapillai (HVL) and Dr. Ponniah Vajeeston (University of Oslo). The dissertation consists of seven journal articles.

Norway and India, as partners of technology and cooperation research, the Indian Ambassador of Norway, Dr. B. Bala Bhaskar visited Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), Bergen, and interacted with Rector, Deans, Faculties, and students, on 9^th May 2023.    

We thank Dr. B. Bala Bhaskar for the visit and the opportunity to present the research findings of our international projects and the group discussion with the international students that motivated them to research from a different perspective.

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) Students elaborating their research outcomes during the visit of Dr. B. Bala Bhaskar, Indian Ambassador of Norway to Clean Energy Laboratory.

We are delighted to have the school’s staff and students in the Clean Energy lab at Høgskulen på Vestlandet (HVL) on 27-28^th of April 2023. Research students from Sri Lanka & India demonstrated their research work and prototype models about solar cells, Hydrogen production materials, supercapacitors, and CO₂ adsorption. Staff and students were pleasant after participating in this lab visit.

The Christie Conference was established in 2010 and aims to be UiB’s most important meeting place between research, politics, administration, culture, society, and business. Prof. Dhayalan Velauthapillai is also going to contribute to the depth, discussion, and debate at this conference. The session is going to be held on 25^th April 2023 at 9.45 am.

We are elated to have Norway’s Research and Higher Education Minister Hon. Ola Borten Moe and deputy minister Oddmund L. Hoel to Clean Energy lab at Høgskulen på Vestlandet (HVL). Prof. Dhayalan Velauthapillai conferred few top notched research work supported by NORPART and UTFORSK.

Great day! We, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) had immense pleasure to have our former Prime Minister Erna Solberg, former Minister for Development Dag-Inge Ulstein and the Director of Norad, Bård Vegard Sollie to attend a discussion panel on Global climate change – threats, challenges and opportunities. We at HVL are so inspired by their presence at our Bergen campus and are so delighted to showcast our prototypes of emerging solar cells, Hydrogen production materials, supercapacitors and CO2 adsorbing materials. Our research scholars from Sri Lanka and India are overjoyed by the response from highly respected personalities.