Saha Debarshi

“Kill the lights”, commanded Dr. Morshuis, as I nervously peered out at my friends huddled in the ‘hoogspanningshal’ (High voltage laboratory) from the Faraday cage perched atop two post insulators. As the hall engulfed in darkness, a hissing sound made its presence felt and as I looked up – theory came to life! Flashes of lightning (from a million-and-more volts multi-stage impulse generator) struck the cage, and at that precise moment – I knew that the High Voltage specialization track, within the domain of the MSc Electrical Power Engineering program, was indeed the best place to pursue my graduation thesis.

I am currently working as a doctoral researcher with the Polymer Technology group, at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, TU Eindhoven – researching upon novel polymeric dielectric materials, especially carbon nano-dielectrics. In effect, the time I spent at TU Delft, researching upon the electrical behavior of polymer nanocomposites set the stage for my doctoral research and the ability to work with three engineering competences daily: polymer technology, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. The highlight of my time at TU Delft was indeed the world class education I received, but most importantly: the ability to deconstruct a real world problem down to its elemental concepts, and combine theory with practice.

A day in the life of a doctoral student starts off with designing experiments, performing them, patiently gathering results, and then comes the anxious part – trying to make sense out of the tangle! It also involves supervision of bachelor graduation projects, closely working with Master candidates on their research and tackling interesting challenges head on: for me, every time, the latter reminds me strongly of the close knit community we have in Delft, and the two highlights of the TU: excellent teamwork & cutting edge science. Delft is a beautiful city with character – be it Lichtjesavond, the Markt, or Delftse Hout among countless others, to build many memories!

Graduation year: 2015
Bachelor programme: Electrical Engineering (B.Tech, India)
Master programme: Electrical Engineering (TUD)
Track: Electrical Power Engineering
Specialization: High Voltage Engineering
Current position: Promovendus (Doctoral Researcher), Polymer Technology, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, TU Eindhoven
Previous company: Prysmian Netherlands B.V. (Graduate Research Intern)
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debarshi-saha-692383b3/