Rev Frs Provincials of Jesuit Madurai and Chennai Provinces, respected
Dr Gowri (Vice Chancellor of Madras University), Rev Frs Secretary and
Principal of Loyola College, Former Directors and the present Director of
Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy (LIFE), Alumni of LIFE, Research Team
and Research Scholars of LIFE, officials, faculty members, students, and friends
– Greetings.
First of all, thanks for this great celebration of 25 Years of LIFE and for
the endowment in my name. It is a wonderful gesture.
It is a great day – A day to recall, recollect, and reaffirm the vision and
mission of Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy (LIFE). It is also a day to rejoice
over the academic and scientific contributions of LIFE and at the same time to
brace ourselves to meet the future challenges, opportunities, and needs of the
society.
When I came back to Loyola after my doctoral research in the USA, the
then Provincial gave me the mandate to initiate Research in Physics. There is
Jesuit tradition of immense research in Chemistry, Maths, and Botany – He
wanted Physics to take off. And I accepted the invitation cum challenge.
The pulse and backbone of LIFE is team-work. A group of committed
researchers, Dr Nagaraj, Dr Selvanayagam, Dr Swaminathan, to name a few,
had prolonged and extended discussions and the result is LIFE, a one-room lab
in the Life Sciences building has grown into a multi-storey building. LIFE was
formally inaugurated by the then General Superior of the Jesuit Order, Rev Fr
Peter Hans Kolvenbach. I am grateful to those, researchers and students, who
enthusiastically started off with LIFE and who are still interested in the progress
of LIFE. In a special way I remember the OPP batch who were helpful initially
to organize seminars. I gratefully acknowledge Dr Selvanayagam for the
various seminars organized, national and international, and the publication of
proceedings of the seminars. In fact, LIFE was known more by publications.
The former Directors of LIFE, Frs John Pragasam, Jeyaraj Boniface, and
Maria Packiam, Dr Selvanayagam, Dr Vincent, and at present Dr Shyla have
done their best to advance research in LIFE. The uniqueness of LIFE is the
inter-disciplinary approach, already in 1990s, with the focus on Energy,
Environment, and Ethics. Any research should be for the good of the common
people and it should be based on moral and ethical principles. LIFE has been
faithful to this motto all along.
Continuous research and research outcome remain like a lamp lit but kept
hidden in a bushel if they are not published. LIFE has done fairly well with
regard to publication of research papers, a few patents decorate the authenticity
of LIFE. A couple of LIFE researchers have done consultancy as well. In order
to promote paper publication, LIFE came up with the journal Convergence.
Ongoing research is the spirit of LIFE. This would mean, 4R’s: Read –
Reflect – Respond- Research. This has been the way I have grown. Years of
reading and reflecting have helped me respond through research and
publication. In this sense, age is no bar for research. I have been an
experimental scientist, but when, due to administration and international
assignments, I could not work in the lab, I switched gear with regard to lab-free
research.
Physics has helped me broaden my research area. As you know Physics
looks at reality as it is – It is not a derivative science. My excellent performance
in Maths in the school, made me get interested in physics as physics is the
applied maths. Physics took me through related vistas: my doctoral studies was
in chemical physics as I fitted band-model, normally applicable in organic
world, to the realm of organic photoconductors. In fact, for the first time, I
could come up with multiple band structure in Phthalocyanine, a blue-dye
material. Later, I could switch over to religion and science. My formation in
Germany in Theology and my training in the USA in Physics gave me insight I
and opened up new vistas to inter-disciplinary research.
And what have I learnt from Physics?:
First of all, physics has taught me how things work from first principles – not
from derived theories. Physics has revealed to me the beauty of the universe
starting from the minute subatomic particle and expanding into the infinite
cosmos. And study and research in Physics has strengthened my quantitative
reasoning and developed administrative problem solving skills and instilled in
me admiration for the nature and others.
– Basic structure in physics has helped me design administrative model of
subsidiarity principle, like the multiple band-model in organic photo
conductors.
– Openness of physics taught me to accept different theories and enhanced my
understanding to perceive others as they are, from their perspectives.
– Quantum Physics is about a galaxy of sub-atomic particles. This knowledge
opens wide my vistas of understanding all types of people, young and old,
great or insignificant, etc.
– Physics has taught me to think logically, write coherently, and speak
intelligibly; and it has finetuned me to understand religion(s) in perspectives.
– Physics is also a world of contradictions. Just to cite one examples, like
charges repel but within the nucleus like charges attract. This helps me
understand contradiction as complement.
– My book, published in 2006, entitled God of the Atoms is based on my
admiration and understanding of physics. My insight was about the
interconnectedness of the universe.
My current research is to understand the correlation between scientific
concept of consciousness, which comes from the evolutionary complexity of
nervous system, and the religious concept of soul. So far I understand that there
are levels of consciousness and when all these levels converge, what emerges
might be the soul – My search is on.
And finally, what is on my mind today. We have come thus far, and we have
to still go further. I had the following dreams and they have now become
wishes:
– LIFE should become an independent research unit.
– There should be permanent and insightful team of researchers.
– The research should be people-centric with effective application for ordinary
people.
– Convergence journal should be alive and active.
– LIFE should be placed on the national and global map.
While I congratulate the organizers to celebrate 25 years of research in LIFE,
I wish all the researchers the very best to keep going with renewed enthusiasm
and sharpened focus.