Proud to Publish: Metrology for Inclusive Growth of India

In our Proud to Publish series we talk to our book editors about the books they were most proud to publish, commission or work on, in the past year. For this blog post we interviewed Priya Vyas, editor for Applied Sciences about the book she was most proud to publish in 2020. Priya has more than eight years of work experience in academic publishing. She is responsible for acquisition and publishing of books in our Engineering and Applied Sciences portfolio.

Read on to find out what book she has been most proud to publish within the field of Applied Sciences.

What book are you proud to have published in 2020 and why?

Year 2020 has been an eventful year comprising of a lot of new exciting opportunities and great challenges! Amid all the tough and strange times due to COVID-19 pandemic, this year also brought me the opportunity to work on some of the most interesting book projects. One such project was this book – Metrology for Inclusive Growth of India.

Tell us about the background of how this book evolved

This book is a commemorative volume marking the 75th Foundation day of the CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL). It presents critical analyses of the contributions made by CSIR-NPL, India, through its world-class science and apex measurement facilities of international equivalence in the areas of industrial growth, strategic sector growth, environmental protection, cybersecurity, sustainable energy, affordable health, international trade, policy-making, etc. The book has been edited by the Director of CSIR-NPL ̶ Dr DK Aswal. He is a condensed matter physicist of international repute and has made several outstanding contributions in the areas of molecular electronics, physics of organic films and their applications, thermoelectric power generators and gas sensors. He also serves as an outstanding scientist at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The chapter contributors are all the researchers and scientists working at NPL. The book proposal came to me in the month of June last year and we had to publish the work before December to ensure the availability of print books in early January for the launch event.

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the Time Keeper of the Country and is responsible for the highest level of time and frequency measurements in India at par with the international standards. It is a premier research laboratory in the field of physical sciences.

What happened next?

The book was was launched by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science and Technology, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, and Minister of Earth Sciences in the Government of India. The launch was part of the National Metrology Conclave organized by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), a constituent lab of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). The Conclave was held on the occasion of the 75th foundation day of NPL and was the kick off for the 75th Year celebrations for the Lab.

Also present for launch were Dr Shekhar C Mande, Director General of CSIR and Dr DK Aswal, Director of NPL and the editor of the book. The book was initially intended to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the Prime Minister was unable to attend in person due to prevailing COVID circumstances. He instead addressed the audience virtually via video conference. A few months back, the Prime Minister had written a congratulatory letter to Dr Aswal and had mentioned the book in the letter.

I am really glad that we got this great opportunity to associate with this institution and publish this significant work.

Click here for more information about this and other titles in our Physics & Astronomy collection. To add this title to your library contact us here.

If you are interested in publishing Applied Science books with us, please contact Priya Vyas.

About the author

Dr. D. K. Aswal, currently Director, CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi and Chairman, National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), India, is maintaining lien with his position as “Outstanding Scientist” at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, Mumbai. Dr. Aswal, during 2012–2015, has also served as Secretary, Atomic Energy Education Society (AEES), Mumbai, which is an autonomous institution under DAE. Dr. Aswal joined BARC through the training school batch of the year 1986 after completing M.Sc. in Physics (Gold medalist) from Garhwal University in 1985. He obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from Mumbai University and subsequently carried out postdoctoral research work at the Research Institute of Electronics, Hamamatsu, Japan.