Researchers

Research staff, associates and fellows — the people carrying the Centre's projects from a question to a result.

Ankit Kumar

Researcher

Centre of Excellence for Unified AI-Enabled Craft Ecosystem Platform at IIT Kharagpur, supported by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Machine Learning (ML)
High Performance Computing (HPC)
+3 more research interests: Explainable AI (XAI), Trustworthy AI (TAI), Hardware Optimization and Acceleration

Sayoni Mondal

Researcher

Centre of Excellence for Unified AI-Enabled Craft Ecosystem Platform at IIT Kharagpur, supported by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles, Government of IndiaSince 2026

Geomorphology
socio-cultural landscapes
human–environment interactions
+11 more research interests: environmental sustainability, handicrafts and craft communities, sustainable livelihoods, GIS and spatial analysis, and place-based approaches to development., Her current research particularly focuses on the intersections of craft, culture, community, spatiality, sustainability, and technology.

G. Manojit Rao

Researcher

Centre of Excellence for Unified AI-Enabled Craft Ecosystem Platform at IIT Kharagpur, supported by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India

Debajyoti Swain Acharya

Researcher

Microbiology and microbial ecology
Microbial behaviour associated with natural and traditional materials
Microbial safety and quality of handicraft products intended for food contact
+11 more research interests: Scientific investigation of traditional material selection, processing, and finishing practices, Sustainable and environmentally friendly handicraft practices, Integration of traditional artisan knowledge with modern scientific approaches, Preservation and scientific documentation of traditional crafts and indigenous knowledge, Application of microbiology in sustainable agriculture and traditional practices, Interdisciplinary research connecting microbiology, handicrafts, sustainability, innovation

Madhur Singh Pradhan

Researcher

Literature & Cultural Studies
Gender Studies
Translation Studies
+5 more research interests: Craft & Traditional Knowledge Systems, Science Behind Craft, Art, Culture & Society, Interdisciplinary Humanities Research

Manash Ranjan Nayak

Researcher

Centre of Excellence for Unified AI-Enabled Craft Ecosystem Platform at IIT Kharagpur, supported by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India

AI
LLM
VLM
+1 more research interests: Intelligent Algorithms

Ankur Kumar Das

Researcher

Centre of Excellence for Unified AI-Enabled Craft Ecosystem Platform at IIT Kharagpur, supported by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India

Toolkit recommendation and virtual spatial space planning

Kumarjit Ray

Researcher

Computer Science and Engineering

Software-Defined Networking (SDN)
Internet of Things (IoT)
Edge–Fog–Cloud Computing
+3 more research interests: Digital Twins, and Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWAN), particularly LoRa.

Meenakshi Samanta

Researcher

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS)

Narratology
Folk Literature and Children's Literature.

Arindom Aich

Researcher

Computer Science and Engineering

AI/ML
IoT

Subham Mondal

Researcher

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS)

Visual Art & Technology
New Media Art
Interactive Art
+4 more research interests: Digital & Multimedia Art, Aesthetic Experience, Art & Human Interaction, Emerging Technologies in Art

Nandini Talukder

Researcher

Rishikant Mallick

Researcher

Bikramjit Das

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS)

Saurav Kumar

Researcher

Centre of Excellence for Unified AI-Enabled Craft Ecosystem Platform at IIT Kharagpur, supported by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Intelligent Software Systems
Distributed Systems
+3 more research interests: Cloud Computing & Cloud-Native Architectures, Data Engineering & Scalable Data Systems, AI Systems Engineering

Researchers

Researchers at the Centre

Ankit Kumar

Sayoni Mondal

G. Manojit Rao

Debajyoti Swain Acharya

Madhur Singh Pradhan

Manash Ranjan Nayak

Ankur Kumar Das

Kumarjit Ray

Meenakshi Samanta

Arindom Aich

Subham Mondal

Nandini Talukder

Rishikant Mallick

Bikramjit Das

Saurav Kumar