Dr. R. S. Gill, Associate Professor, joined Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) as an Assistant Professor on 23.08.2002 in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology (COAE&T). He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana (Punjab Technical University), an M.Tech. in Solar Thermal Engineering, and a B.Tech. in Agricultural Engineering from COAE&T, PAU, Ludhiana. He has 23 years of teaching and research experience and has taught both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Mechanical Engineering. He has guided 11 B.Tech. students in their research projects and served on advisory committees for M.Tech. and Ph.D. students. He is associated with the AICRP on Renewable Energy Sources for Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries (Solar Energy) and has completed three research projects as Co-Principal Investigator—funded by UGC, Himmotthan (Tata Trusts), and RKVY. Six of his developed technologies have got recommendation by the Research Evaluation Committee (PAU), and five have been commercialized through PAU’s TM & IPR Cell. PAU, Ludhiana.He has published 25 research papers in national and international journals, 4 conference papers, 1 technical bulletin, 1 book chapter, and 14 research reports. He has served as a reviewer for 35 international journals. Additionally, he has contributed to science communication by preparing 2 documentaries and publishing 13 popular articles and 4 book chapters through the Communication Centre, PAU. Dr. Gill served as the Programme Officer of the NSS Unit at COAE&T, PAU, from 2013 to 2019. Currently, he holds the position of Sports President at COAE&T, serves as the Chairperson of the Departmental Teaching Committee (Mechanical Engineering), and is a member of the college-level Teaching Committees. He is also a member of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) and the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE)

Professional Accomplishments

Research Projects completed

1. ‘Design and Development of an efficient Solar Air Heater for Agricultural Application’funded by UGC in 2015 as Co-PI.

2. ‘Solar Dryer for Apricot’funded by Himmottohan (Tata Trusts) in 2023 as Co-PI.

3. ‘Development of solar cum biomass based dryer for drying of agricultural produce’funded by RKVY in 2023 as Co-PI.

Research Publications: 

1. Gill R S, Hans V S and Singh R P (2021). Optimization of artificial roughness parameters in a solar air heater duct roughened with hybrid ribs. Appl Therm Eng. 191: 116871.
2. Gill R S, Singh S, Hans V S and Mittal T C (2021). Turmeric (Curcuma longa) drying in natural circulation solar dryer: an experimental evaluation. J Food Process Eng. 44(8): e13854.
3. Singh S, Gill R S, Hans V S and Mittal T C (2021). Experimental performance and economic viability of evacuated tube solar collector assisted greenhouse dryer for sustainable development. Energy. 241: 122794. 3.
4. Hans V S, Gill R S and Singh R P (2023). An improved solar air heater for post harvest applications. Agric Res J. 60(2): 255–261.
5. Kaur D, Singh M, Zalpouri K, Kaur P and Gill R S (2024). Enhancing physicochemical properties of papaya through osmotic dehydration with various natural sweeteners. Sci Rep. 14: 23797.