By: Robert (Chris) Scoggins, originally pubished by the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University
Dr. Sunil Chirayath, director of the Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) and research assistant professor with the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been awarded an honorary professorship with Amity University in Noida, India.
“We have done five workshops in India like this in the last five years to help support nuclear science and engineering academic programs in India,” Chirayath said. “Amity has been kind in giving me this honor, one that I did not expect but appreciate immensely.”
Chirayath learned of the appointment while visiting the university as a part of a nuclear security curriculum review workshop. He was awarded the honorary professorship during a ceremony honoring the top 1 percent of high school graduate students at the university, where he gave a short speech.
According to Chirayath, the goal of the security curriculum workshop is to help promote the importance of nuclear security awareness by educating nuclear engineering academics in India by providing the faculty with appropriate resources and training in relation to nuclear security education. Nuclear security is defined as the prevention and detection of, and response to, theft, sabotage, unauthorized access, illegal transfer or other malicious acts involving nuclear material and other radioactive substances or their associated facilities. While many programs highlight nuclear safety, Chirayath strongly believes that a focus on nuclear security should be just as important, and that his new appointment will allow him to continue to build on this.
“This honorary professorship a recognition by a prominently ranked university in India and means something to me,” Chirayath said. “I’m also glad to have this relationship because we can continue to help build Amity University’s nuclear security program and benefit from a relationship with their students.”
The initiative for international collaboration between the nuclear engineering department and nuclear engineering programs in India began in 2008. Since that time the partnership program has expanded to 11 universities and has helped bring talented international students from India to study at Texas A&M.
“I am glad to have been given this recognition from our partners at Amity University,” Chirayath said. “I have been happy to help establish an international pipeline between us and other universities like Amity, and look forward to continuing to do so.”
For more on the trip, click here.