Manasi Mulay, a PhD student and a chemistry researcher from the University of Sheffield, has received a Lady Engineer Award from the Institution of Engineers in her home country of India. This is a top award for women working in engineering. The award was given earlier in the year as part of India's annual Engineer's Day celebrations, which is held on the birthday pioneering Civil Engineer Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.
Stating about the importance of the award Manasi said, "Awards like this are an encouragement to many young girls, including those from my hometown, who aspire to careers in STEM or research. This award means a moral responsibility to continuously improve myself and work for the greater good in the future".
Manasi’s Research
After completing an engineering degree at the College of Engineering, Pune, Manasi became an Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers. She came to Sheffield to complete a master’s course on nanomaterials in the University of Sheffield's Department of Materials Science and Engineering. She is now working on her PhD with Dr. Natalia Martsinovich in the Department of Chemistry. Manasi's project involves studying surface interactions of water pollutants with photocatalysts by computational chemistry methods such as density functional theory and ab initio molecular dynamics.
The Lady Engineer Award came through the Ahmednagar local of the Institution of Engineers, who recognized Manasi's work on sustainability and clean energy research, as well as her efforts to promote diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. "To be honest, I did not expect to get any award at this early career stage of mine. But also, it was probably a result of the continuous efforts I have been putting in so far,” said Manasi. She further added “It reminded me of my roots. And it is always a pleasure to be recognized by a place where you started from”.
"This award is a reminder that your efforts are being acknowledged, no matter how tiny those are in the ocean of innovation and expertise,” Manasi said.
