Dr. Narayana Prasad Padhy, Director, MNIT Jaipur, is a Professor (HAG) of Electrical Engineering and served as Dean of Academic Affairs, Founder Head Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Professor In-Charge Training and Placement, NEEPCO, and Institute Chair Professor at IIT Roorkee.
Coming from a very humble family background, his initial schooling was in Odia medium. He received his graduation in Electrical Engineering, Masters (Power Systems Engineering) with Distinction, and Ph.D. (College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai) in 1990, 1993, and 1997 respectively. He worked as an Assistant Professor at BITS Pilani, India, for a year, after which he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, as a Lecturer in 1998. He was promoted to the position of full Professor in 2008 and worked for over the last 13 years as Professor.
Dr. Padhy researches in the area of Power Systems Engineering and Smart Grid. He has successfully supervised 16 research scholars and is currently guiding 27 research scholars. Besides authoring four textbooks and securing three patents, he has authored over 200 papers and articles in international journals, with an overall citation of 7600 plus (h-index=43, i-index 114). His popular NPTEL online course on “Introduction to Smart Grid” has over 43,000 views. He is a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE), The Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK (FIET), Institution of Engineers, India (FIE), Fellow Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers, India (FIETE). As Senior Member of IEEE and Power and Energy Society, IEEE USA, he has actively contributed to various IEEE professional activities as Chair, PES Network Charging Working Group and Chair, IEEE Roorkee Subsection. He also served as Vice-Chair, CIGRE National Study Committee on C4: Power System Technical Performance. He is actively involved in the Mission Innovation (MI) 2.0 - Green Powered Future Mission, engaging with about two dozen countries on the international platform.
Dr. Padhy has served as a Visiting Professor/Fellow at Canadian and UK universities. His research engagements supported institutional tie-ups with eminent US universities (MIT, Texas A&M, and WSU), UK universities (Bath, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Durham), DTU Denmark, and industry partners like TERI, BSES Delhi, Tata Power and ABB. He has successfully established the AC-DC Hybrid Microgrid (ADMIRE) Lab at IIT Roorkee and dreams of deploying India’s first Smart Academic Campus (SAC). He has successfully executed 6 international/national research projects and is currently leading 6 international research projects, with a funding of over INR 200 million. He serves as a knowledge partner/consultant to various Smart City projects of central and state governments.
Dr. Padhy has been recognised nationally and internationally by various awards and honours. These include Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Research Fellowship from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany (2009), IEEE PES Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award from IEEE Power & Energy Society, USA (2018), and BOYSCAST Research Fellow Award for Young Scientist elected from Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India (2005). His services to the Smart City and Smart Grid Technology development have been recognised by several awards.