Experts are ready to promote innovation and accelerate deployment of energy-efficient refrigeration for food and vaccine supply chains across India.
From left to right: Avinash Verma, Jacob Kurian, Anant Shukla, Aneeka Kamal Canchi, and Anil Kumar.
An expert team is now in place at the Telangana Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain and the Haryana Centre of Excellence for Crop Postharvest Management and Sustainable Cold-Chain – promoting innovation and accelerating the deployment of energy-efficient refrigeration for food and vaccine supply chains across India.
In the in-country Senior Management Team, India Lead Avinash Verma is joined by Telangana and Global Logistics Lead Jacob Kurian and Haryana and Post-Harvest Management Lead Anant Shukla. They are supported by Vaccine cold-chain Expert Researcher Aneeka Kamal Canchi and Technology Expert Researcher Anil Kumar. Further staff are planned to be recruited as the programmes are fully operationalised.
The team will deliver an integrated project plan and co-ordinate the India Centres of Excellence - driving engagement with strategic partners from government, industry, academia, and civil society. The programme is a joint initiative between the Centre for Sustainable Cooling (CSC), University of Birmingham, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and in-country State Government and industry partners.
I’m delighted that our senior expert team is now in place and look forward to working closely with them as the Centres are developed into a state-of-the-art research, training and innovation hub to deploy needs-driven and equitable system-level cooling and cold-chain solutions in Telangana and Haryana, across India as well as the global food and vaccine chains.
Professor Toby Peters from University of Birmingham commented: “I’m delighted that our senior expert team is now in place and look forward to working closely with them as the Centres are developed into a state-of-the-art research, training and innovation hub to deploy needs-driven and equitable system-level cooling and cold-chain solutions in Telangana and Haryana, across India as well as the global food and vaccine chains.
“Our new team has been hand-picked to deliver a systems approach focusing on non-technological and behavioural issues as well, recognising that technologies need to be financeable, integrated into processes and be accepted by end users, while some solutions can be achieved though changes or adaptations to operational practices."
The Centres are underpinned by Memoranda of Understanding signed between the Governments of Telangana and Haryana and the University of Birmingham and are the result of extensive foundational work. The University of Birmingham serves as the strategic and academic, training and research lead with a consortium of other top Universities including Heriot-Watt University, London South Bank University, Wageningen University and Research, Cranfield University and VU, Amsterdam. UNEP is providing strategic coordination, project management and partnerships engagement. The Centres will also work closely with the teams at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain.
Inaugurating the Telangana centre in August 2023, Honourable Minister for IT and Industries, Shri K T Rama Rao at the GMR Innovex Campus near GMR Airport, Hyderabad, commented: “The Centre of Excellence is a first of its kind initiative in India. It will have state of the art equipment and will serve as a one stop solution to address all challenges around cold chain ecosystem in the country. It will develop and demonstrate cooling technologies and solutions that meet the state’s needs and could be scaled up with global reach."
The Centres of Excellence will have a solutions development lab and demonstration centre, a model pack-house and community cooling hubs to support capacity building. It is expected to have a significant impact on the lives of farmers across India. Currently, many farmers are unable to sell their perishable produce because they do not have access to cold storage facilities and many vaccines are lost due to inadequate storage, among other factors.
The Centres will come up with solutions and business models that will help farmers preserve perishable produce and improved quality of goods. Adopting a ‘hub and spoke’ model, the Centre of Excellence will deliver upskilling and training programmes for farmers and local agri-businesses, agri-start-ups and entrepreneurs, equipment technicians and researchers.
For more information, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0)782 783 2312. For out-of-hours enquiries, please call +44 (0) 7789 921 165.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
The Telangana Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain team currently comprises of:
Given his area of expertise, Avinash specifically leads the work around vaccine cold-chain. Avinash is a Registered Pharmacist and has extensive expertise of global regulations pertaining to Pharma Good Clinical Practice, Good Manufacturing Practice, Good Storage & Distribution Practice and Drug Supply Chain Security (Track & Trace) built on extensive industry experience. He is a Subject Matter Expert in the pharmaceutical, biotech, vaccines & clinical trials, nutraceuticals & perishable foods, temperature-controlled packaging, cold chain management and operation pertaining to storage, distribution, packaging, temperature monitoring and Track & Trace. He is proficient in R&D, programme management, business development, operations, and supply chain management. He is a certified Independent Director with ESG expert certification. He has an MBA in International Business, Masters in Clinical Research and Bachelors in Pharmacy.
Jacob is responsible for the development and delivery of the Telangana CoE and both the local and global logistics strategies of the programme. He leads interactions with local and international partners for this centre, manages the workplan and deliverables, builds and maintains stakeholder support and other aspects required for successful operations. He has thirty years of experience in sustainable energy, climate change, and environmental management in international organizations, industry, consulting firms, and the Government of India, serving in project development, implementation, and evaluation roles. On sustainable cooling, he has supported development and implementation of relevant policy and regulatory frameworks and has complementary field level experiences He has a Masters in Environmental Management and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering.
Anant is responsible for the development and delivery of the Haryana CoE which includes both cold-chain and post-harvest management. He leads interactions with local and international partners for this centre, manages the workplan and deliverables, builds and maintains stakeholder support and other aspects required for successful operations of the CoE. He comes with a rich background of managing multiple stakeholders including ministries and government departments, civil society, academia, private and public sectors in multicultural settings across geographies. He led teams to implement technical and strategic national projects and developed policy guidelines and recommendations on energy, climate change and sustainable development. He has decades of experience in sustainable energy generation and efficiency in the policy and technical domains, including in-depth research in phase change materials and thermal energy storage. Anant has a PhD in Energy and Environment and MSc in Physics.
Aneeka is responsible for research, analyses, training, technical writing and community outreach primarily on vaccine cold chain for the Telangana CoE. She is a medical doctor with several years of experience in applied medial practice and research with specialization in infectious diseases, acute illnesses, occupational diseases, administration and supervision of vaccinations and training of medical staff. She has conducted workshops, health camps, vaccination drives and imparted continuous medical education (CME). Aneeka has a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and is a certified Basic Life Support Provider.
Anil is responsible for technology research, analyses, training, technical writing, and community outreach, primarily on the food cold chain and cooling for the Haryana CoE. He is a Mechanical Engineer with research experience in system-level experiments and numerical modelling of refrigeration and heat pump systems for industrial processes. He has contributed to various projects, including optimizing central cooling plants and conducting experimental studies on radiant cooling systems integrated with adsorption chillers and two-tank cold storage systems. Anil has a PhD in advanced refrigeration and heat pump systems and a Master of Technology in Thermal Engineering.
Professor in Cold Economy
Professor Toby Peters is an award-winning technology developer and industrial academic with more than 14 years of experience in energy storage /energy systems.
