Prof. Mayank Shrivastava

Studies have indicated several misconceptions about Ph.D., its journey, and opportunities post-Ph.D. This leads to students, despite having the ability, often not pursuing Ph.D. or many leaving India in search of Ph.D. opportunities elsewhere. Likewise, for young Ph.D. researchers also, it is important to clear misconceptions. We have embarked to address this by directly engaging with students. Keeping this in mind, in this talk, I will walk the students through (1) What is Ph.D., (2) What the general myths related to Ph.D. are, (3) Global opportunities, in general, post-Ph.D. in India, (4) Why one should do Ph.D., and in the end (5) Who should pursue Ph.D.

Biography:

Prof. Mayank Shrivastava is a Full Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and co-founder of AGNIT Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd., which is a deep-tech start-up in the semiconductor space. He is also instrumental in setting up Gallium Nitride prototyping Fab worth 300 

Crores. He is also the past chair of the Micro & Nanoelectronics program of IISc Bangalore, which in his tenure became one of the most sought-after master’s programs in the country. Besides, he consults various semiconductor firms in the USA, Germany, and India.

He received his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. For his Ph.D. work, he received Excellence in Research award and the Industrial Impact award from IIT Bombay in the year 2010.

He joined the Indian Institute of Science as a faculty member in the year 2013. Prior to joining IISc, he held positions in Infineon Technologies, Munich, Germany; Infineon Technologies, East Fishkill, USA; IBM Microelectronics, Burlington, USA; Intel Mobile Communications, Hopewell Junction, USA; Intel Corp, Mobile and Communications Group, Munich, Germany, between 2009 and 2013. His Ph.D. work and research contributions during the industry tenure have resulted in several key semiconductor devices, which capture a reasonable real state in advanced SoC and automotive chip products in the market today.

Prof Shrivastava’s work has resulted in over 250 peer-reviewed international publications of high repute (around 55 of these papers are in IRPS and IEDM, the two most prestigious conferences of IEEE EDS where most of the breakthroughs are reported, and around 100 are in journals such as IEEE Transactions) and 57 patents. Most of these patents are either licensed by semiconductor companies or are in use in their products. He has guided/trained over 40 PhD students, over a dozen postdoc fellows, and over 100 master’s students and research staff.

He is among the first recipients of the Indian section of the American TR35 award (2010) and the first Indian to receive IEEE EDS Early Career Award (2015). He is also an Editor of IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices. Besides, he is an IEEE Electron Device’s Society (EDS) Distinguished Lecturer and an elected member of the IEEE EDS Board of Governors. He has also served on the technical and executive committees of over a dozen international conferences around the world.

Overall, he is a recipient of over 25 national and international awards, recognitions, and honors of high repute, such as the prestigious DST Swarnjayanti Fellowship (2021), Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation National Fellowship from INAE-SERB (2021), and the VASVIK award (2021), the National Academy of Sciences, India, (NASI) Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award – 2018; Indian National Academy of Science (INSA) Young Scientist Award - 2018; Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) Innovator Entrepreneur Award 2018 (Special commendation); Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) Young Engineer Award - 2017; INAE Young Associate (since 2017); Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc), Young Associate, 2018 – 2023; Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Young Faculty Fellowship. Besides, he received best paper awards from several international conferences like Intel Corporation Asia academic forum, VLSI design Conference and EOSESD Symposium.

Prof Shrivastava broadly works on applications of emerging semiconductor materials like Gallium Nitride (GaN), atomically thin two-dimensional materials like Graphene and TMDCs, in electronic and electro-optic devices working closer to its fundamental limits (like the ability to handle extreme powers, ability to work at THz like ultra-high frequencies, or ability to compute information in unconventional ways). Besides, his group also works closely with semiconductor industries on developing novel device concepts for advanced CMOS and automotive nodes.

Prof. Shrivastava has also contributed to shaping India’s Semiconductor objectives via the white paper written for policymakers (as an outcome of the Electronics and Semiconductor vertical of VAIBHAV Summit, which he was leading), roadmap, and technology-specific inputs given to the ministry from time to time, critical inputs to the govt. and helping to establish connections with

the semiconductor industry. Other than Semiconductors, he also writes and speaks on topics such as primary and higher education, the coaching system in India, brain drain, why Ph.D., industry affairs in India, entrepreneurship, etc. besides encouraging/motivating tens of thousands of young minds every year. More details are available at https://faculty.dese.iisc.ac.in/mayank/