IIT-H Students Win Excellence Award in Taiwan
They worked on formation of ultra-thin semiconductors under certain conditions.
Hyderabad:Four first-year BTech students of the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT Hyderabad) won the Excellence Award at the TECO International Contest 2026 in Taiwan, after being selected as the only Indian team among the 20 global finalists from 267 applications. They worked on formation of ultra-thin semiconductors under certain conditions.
The team comprising Mahak Gadia and Raqi Mohammad of Industrial Chemistry, Udit Maini of Mechanical Engineering and Yug Nikesh Gandhi of Engineering Physics, were supervised by Dr Ashish Kulkarni, assistant professor, department of chemistry, and worked with Pavakah Energy, a deep-tech startup incubated at iTIC, IIT Hyderabad.
At the competition, organised by the TECO Technology Foundation and National Taiwan University with support from the Taiwanese government, the education ministry and the Taipei City Government, the students demonstrated the formation of perovskite thin films under high-humidity conditions and at 70°C on a 25 cm² mini-module. The presentation was made before an international jury at National Taiwan University. The award carries a ₹1.5 lakh cash prize.
The project focused on simplifying fabrication of perovskite layers — ultra-thin semiconductors — under realistic conditions, the institute told Deccan Chronicle. The team demonstrated the process in open-air conditions with relative humidity exceeding 60 per cent, pointing to possible applications in scalable manufacturing of next-generation perovskite solar technologies. They are used solar cells and LEDs, among others.
Dr Ashish Kulkarni said the achievement was significant because the first-year students competed alongside postgraduate researchers from across the world. “Their success demonstrates what young students can achieve when they are given the right opportunities, mentorship and a platform to pursue ambitious ideas,” he said.
The contest was attended by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te as chief guest. The team was formed following the students’ classroom interactions with Kulkarni and received support from Pavakah Energy while IIT Hyderabad’s Semiconductors for Tandems and Applied Research (STAR) Lab was being established.
