Purdue faculty to be featured in research panel during International Education Week

As part of International Education Week (Nov. 18-22), Purdue University’s Office of Global Partnerships, along with the John Martinson Honors College, will present an international research panel featuring three esteemed faculty members.

The international research panel is noon-1:30 p.m. Friday (Nov. 22) at the Innovation Forum in the Honors College Hall and Residences Hall North. The panel includes Dharmendra Saraswat, professor of agricultural and biological engineering; Paul Asunda, associate professor of engineering and technology teacher education in the Department of Technology Leadership and Innovation; and Sonak Pastakia, professor of pharmacy practice.

Saraswat was named a fellow of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers and worked as a faculty member at the University of Arkansas; a scientist at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India; and an assistant professor at Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, India, before coming to Purdue. He was recently a Fulbright Fellow at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi and is engaged in collaborative projects in India. In partnership with IARI colleagues and a PhD student, one of the projects is investigating the predictive potential of asymptomatic rice blast disease using proximal hyperspectral remote sensing. Preliminary findings have indicated that hyperspectral remote sensing has helped discover spectral shifts in the infrared region during the progression of the rice blast disease in asymptomatic phases. Further, the development of innovative spectral metrics has shown promise in predicting rice blast disease progression. This finding has shown potential for developing drone and satellite-based disease surveillance programs for rice blast disease, which causes 70% to 80% of yield loss globally, and the surveillance program could help farmers develop appropriate management responses before disease onset.

Asunda holds a joint appointment in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction and as an affiliate faculty member with the Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM. He primarily prepares preservice teachers with best practices around curriculum development, including assessment practices in STEM learning and workforce initiatives. While serving as vice president for the engineering and technology education division of the Association for Career and Technical Education, Asunda represented over 1,500 STEM educators and helped organize the division’s conferences. Asunda’s international work related to integrated STEM teaching through engineering design practices and teacher preparation has taken him to Kazakhstan, Peru, Tanzania and Kenya.

Pastakia is part of the College of Pharmacy and the Center for Health Excellence, Quality and Innovation. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, he typically spent 10-11 months per year on site in rural Kenya with the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare, which serves a population of over 24 million people. Pastakia has helped establish numerous programs, including a community-based care program to serve over 20,000 people, a pharmacy distribution system that provides antiretroviral medications to over 120,000 people living with HIV, and a supply chain system for essential medications at over 131 pharmacies. He also helps lead a vocational school for street youth.

Registration is requested, and lunch will be provided after the panel. A full schedule of International Education Week events is available online.