New Faces in Academic Fluid Power – M. L. Jain

By Eric Lanke
CEO, NFPA

I’ve written before about the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP)—the network of fluid power research laboratories, academic faculty, graduate and undergraduate students at seven universities—that is making a difference when it comes to preparing a better educated workforce for the fluid power industry. The CCEFP has created a 500% increase in the number of fluid power focused advanced degrees awarded in the United States, with almost half of its graduates going on to work in the fluid power industry. Some CCEFP graduates decide to stay in academia—and that’s a good thing, because they bring an interest and focus on fluid power to new institutions around the United States and around the world.

M. L. Jain is one of those graduates, a former visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and now a Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Shri G. S. Institute of Technology & Science in Indore, India.

When I asked Dr. Jain about his experiences in the CCEFP, what they meant for his academic career, and how he is helping to grow fluid power at his new institution, he said:

“The CCEFP gave me a chance to learn how fluid power plays a vital role in improving our daily life. In my case, that was the effective creation of a pneumatic orthotic device for correcting human drop foot abnormalities. At my current Institute, I am working with my students to use fluid power in other medical devices, such as an orthotic device to aid in the relief of human neck pain. We are also exploring other advances in fluid power for agriculture applications.”

Dr. Jain is just one of the many new faces in academic fluid power who is helping to bring hydraulics and pneumatics to a new generation of students.

Want to learn more? Visit www.ccefp.org.