Engineering Chirality of Materials for a Healthier Future by Asst Prof Prashant Kumar | IAS Discovery Science Seminar

About the talk

Chirality, where an object and its mirror image are non-superimposable, is a fundamental property seen in structures like left- and right-handed screws and amino acids - the building blocks of life. Harnessing and manipulating chirality from the molecular to micrometer scale drives innovations in quantum computing, spintronics, enantioselective catalysis and biomolecular sensing.

My research focuses on designing 3D chiral nanostructures by combining the electronic properties of metals with the chirality of amino acids. Imparting chirality to non-chiral materials like semiconductors and dielectrics has led to optically active materials, advancing machine vision and biomolecular detection.

This talk will highlight how nanoscale chirality can address critical challenges in health and technology while advancing material science frontiers.

Our distinguished speaker

Assistant Professor Prashant Kumar specialises in materials characterisation, colloidal chemistry, and diagnostics. Using advanced electron microscopy, he visualises atomic-level dynamics of soft materials and integrates chirality to couple organic-inorganic systems with biological matter for innovative diagnostics. His groundbreaking research has been featured on Nature’s cover.

He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He completed his Ph.D. in Materials Science at the University of Minnesota, specialising in analytical transmission electron microscopy to explore the atomic-scale intricacies of soft porous materials.

Co-Organisers

IAS@NTU and the Graduate Students' Clubs of MAE, MSE and SPMS.