An Associate Professor of Renewable Energy Engineering at Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Dr. NL Panwar focuses on bio-energy and its applications in household and industrial processes.

Dr. Panwar is an Associate Professor of Renewable Energy Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology.

Dr. Panwar had a simple childhood as his father was a farmer. He struggled a lot to study and complete his primary and secondary education. His zeal and dedication helped him complete his education smoothly and without any hiccups. In 1992, he cleared the PET in his first attempt and pursued mechanical engineering at Jodhpur. Then, in 1997, he cleared the GATE exams and joined the Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology in Udaipur. He worked on solar greenhouses and solar devices.

Encouraged by a senior, Dr. Panwar started writing research papers. His research was appreciated, and he was selected as an assistant professor at the university, where he worked in that capacity from 2005 to 2010. Then, under a quality improvement program, his institute sponsored him for a PhD at IIT Delhi. Currently, he is working under the vice chancellor of the university as a research scientist. He learned a lot from him, and during the lockdown period, he co-authored three books with him.

Dr. Panwar has earned numerous accolades, including the Shrimati Vijay-Usha Sodha Research Award for his PhD work and the Energy Conservation Award in 2018 by the Rajasthan Government. He was ranked among the top 2% of scientists in the world, with a 42nd position in India and 1,576th in the world in 2020.

Dr. Panwar feels grateful to have had good teachers and institutions after a long struggle in his childhood. He believes that if one is in an educational environment, one will be successful in life.

Between the traditional and digital teaching systems, he favors the former. According to him, in the digital era, information is readily available on the internet, but there is no real knowledge. Only with proper analysis of the information can one gain knowledge. He states that, with the changing times, intelligence is not being used effectively for the benefit of society.

Dr. Panwar looks up to several role models: one of his school teachers for dedication to work, his research guide for commitment, his father for perseverance, and some of his college teachers.

Talking about the future of renewable energy, Dr. Pawar says that it has a lot of potential. Since fossil fuels are limited in quantity and will run out someday, renewable energy sources, which are plentiful, should be utilized for household fuel needs in the form of biomass as well as for industrial needs such as producing hydrogen from biomass. Using biochar in water purifiers instead of carbon is another application of renewable energy resources. Dr. Panwar also says that it will increase the income and work opportunities for the farmers.

In Dr. Panwar’s view, for valuable work experience, skill development and hands-on training are needed along with education.

Dr. Panwar invests his time in religious and spiritual books and studies during his free time. Moreover, if given a time machine, he would like to revisit his childhood and school days.

His success mantra is to work with positivity without thinking of the results.