Professor Gopal Nath Tiwari, was born on July 1, 1951 at Adarsh Nagar, Sagerpali, Ballia (UP), India. He received postgraduate and doctoral degrees in 1972 and 1976, respectively, from Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Over several years since 1977, he has been actively involved in the teach-ing program at the Centre for Energy Studies, IIT Delhi. His research interest in the field of solar energy applications are solar distillation, water/air heating system, greenhouse technology for agri-culture, as well as for aquaculture, earth- to- air heat exchangers, passive building design and hybrid photovoltaic thermal (HPVT) systems, climate change, energy security, etc. He has one patent on solar still dated 1983. He has guided more than 100 PhD students and published over 700 research papers in journals of repute with h- index as 86 and citations more than 30,000. He has authored more than 20 books associated with reputed publishers, namely Pergamon Press (UK), CRC Press (US), Narosa Publishing House, Ahsan (UK), Alpha- science (UK), Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), etc. He was a co- recipient of the "Hariom Ashram Prerit S.
S. Bhatnagar" Award in 1982. Professor Tiwari has been recognized both at national and international levels. He was the Energy and Environment Expert at the University of Papua, New Guinea from 1987 to 1989. He was also a recipient of European Fellow in 1997 and been to the University of Ulster (U.K.) in 1993. He has also been nominated for an IDEA award in the past.
He is responsible for development of "Solar Energy Park" at IIT Delhi and Energy Laboratory at University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby. Dr. Tiwari has visited many countries, namely Italy, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Greece, France, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, etc. for invited talks, chairing international conferences, as an expert in renewable energy, presenting research papers, etc. He has successfully co- coordinated various research proj-ects on solar distillation, water heating systems, greenhouse technology, hybrid photovoltaic ther-mal (HPVT), etc., funded by the government of India in the recent past.Dr. Tiwari was editor of International Journal of Agricultural Engineering for three years (2006-2008).
He is associate editor for Solar Energy Journal (SEJ) in solar distillation since 2007. He is also editor of International Journal of Energy Research. Recently, he has also been appointed senior editor of Electrical Engineering, Electronic and Energy, Elsevier, for a period of three years.He is a member of various scholarly societies and editorial boards for various journals. Professor Tiwari has received various recognitions like best paper on jaggery drying (2014) from ICR and energy conservation in passive solar buildings for hot and arid zones in India (1995) from NBCC. He has also won the best book (Greenhouse Technology) award in 2002. Professor Tiwari has been conferred "Vigyan Ratna" by the government of UP, India, on March 26, 2008 and the Valued Associated Editor award by the Journal of Solar Energy. He organized SOLARIS 2007, as well as the third international conference on "Solar Radiation and Daylighting" held at IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India in 2017.
He is also president of Bag Energy Research Society (BERS: www.bers.in), which is responsible for energy education in rural India.At present he is actively looking (i) the ongoing project on GiSPVT funded by DST at his home town Ballia (UP) at Margupur, Chilkhar Ballia and (ii) an international joint project with King Saudi University (KSU), Saudi Arabia under banner of Bag Energy Research Society (BERS) for which he is founder President.Dr. Tiwari has been world ranked at 449 with C- score of 3.76131963 for Sriramswoop Memorial University (SRMU), Dew- Road, Lucknow and at 1603 with C- score of 3.34672147 for IIT Delhi among top 2% world scientists from India by Stanford University, UK.
Dr. Neha Gupta obtained her PhD from IIT Delhi in the field of semi- transparent photovoltaic thermal system after completing her M. Ekistics (Hons.) and B. Architecture from Jamia Millia Islamia University. She has also completed courses such as "application of renewable energy sources", "Non- conventional sources of energy" and "Solar architecture" from IIT Delhi. She is an active researcher in the area of building integrated semi- transparent photovoltaic thermal systems having several publications under her name with an h- index of 8 and is also an active reviewer for various international journals of repute. She has also presented papers at various national and international conferences.
Her research work in this field has been recognized internationally and has the potential to help achieve self- sustainable energy- efficient buildings in rural areas for both hot and cold climatic conditions and enable them to meet energy security at an affordable price. She became the first architect in 3 years to receive the prestigious "Young Engineers Award" by Institute of Engineers, India, for her contribution in research and design of sustainable mass rapid transport systems. For her research work in the field, she has also been twice acknowledged with the professional membership of International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and accreditation of World Research Council (WRC). She was also awarded with the Research Ratna Award as a distinguished researcher in building integrated semi- transparent photovoltaic systems. She is currently working with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the premier metro rail organization in India, where she has undertaken several projects on sustainable mass rapid transport systems and green homes including the decorated Noida-Greater Noida metro corridor where her work received special appreciation from the Managing Director, Noida Metro Rail Corporation. Prior to this, she has also worked with UP Public Works Department as an architect (gazetted officer) and as an assistant professor with Jamia Millia Islamia. She was conferred with the prestigious "Director Award" at DMRC and was invited as a speaker in the field of passive design and solar architecture by the organization. Her work has also been regularly acknowledged with special mentions in several DMRC newsletters and she has been bestowed with multiple rewards for her work in the field of green design.
Her core motivation for research in this field is driven by her passion to design self- sustainable energy efficient buildings for the rural areas of India. The concept has already started being explored in the developed nations around the world but is still at a very nascent stage in a country like India where it can help provide energy security at an affordable price.