Prof. SinghAfricamechanize

singh

Prof. Singh

Biography

At present Prof. Singh is working as Adjunct Professor in Agricultural Engineering at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and as consultant with Center for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM) of the United Nations – Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP).

Gajendra Singh was born in village Bhogpur, District Bulandshahr, U.P., India. He attended Primary School in village Sikri and completed High School and Intermediate from Khurja. He graduated in 1966 from the U.P. Agricultural University (now G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology), Pantnagar in India. He received his Master’s degree from the Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, USA in 1968 and Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in 1973.

Prof. Singh served as the first Vice Chancellor of Doon University, Dehradun during 2005-08. He was responsible for the design and development of physical infrastructure from scratch, development of academic structure including draft statues, rules and regulations and recruitment of faculty and staff. For curriculum development he organized brain storming session for each school with leading experts from all over the country.

Prof. Singh has served as a consultant to the Asian Development Bank (ADB); the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN; the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); the European Union (EU); the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UN-ESCAP); the International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). These consultancies have included broad areas as review of reseach and academic institutions, agricultural and rural development, agricultural machinery and mechanization and management.

Dr. Singh served on the faculty of the G B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, India from 1973 to 1975. He first joined the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) as an Assistant Professor in 1975. In 1978, he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 1984 to full Professor. During August 1977 to June 1984, he served as Chairman of the Agricultural & Food Engineering Division of AIT. He served on the faculty of the Rutgers University, New Jersey, from November 1984 to July 1986 and was awarded tenure.

During September 1986 to September 1988, Prof. Singh served as the Vice President for Academic Affairs of AIT. He was responsible for overall academic planning and administration including appointments and promotion of faculty and senior staff, allocation of financial resources and human resources development. He did the ground work for the establishment of the School of Management, and programs in Telecommunications and Biotechnology. He served as Professor up to 2004 and as Dean, AIT Extension during 2001-2004.

Prof. Singh served the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi as Deputy Director General (Engineering) from December 1994 to December 1997. He was responsible for the management of six ICAR research institutes and for policy and planning of research and education in agricultural engineering, fibre technology and agricultural statistics at national level. He was also the in-charge of developing the Agricultural Research Information System (ARIS) Network linking state agricultural universities and ICAR research institutes.

Prof. Singh’s areas of research are agricultural and rural development, agricultural machinery and mechanization, application of systems techniques to agricultural systems and development of management information systems for agriculture and rural communities. He has worked on a number of sponsored research projects funded by USAID, IDRC of Canada, the Netherlands Government, Royal Thai Government, ICIMOD, GRID-UNEP and CDG-SEAPO.

Prof. Singh has more than 200 publications to his credit including papers in journals, invited papers, papers in proceedings; research reports, consultancy and technical reports; co-author of one book, five chapters in books, and one manual; and presented more than 200 papers at national and international meetings and conferences. He has served on the editorial board of five journals. He has supervised 17 doctoral candidates and 79 masters’ students from all over Asia.

Prof. Singh is fellow of: National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS-India), International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR), American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE), Institution of Engineers (India), and Soil Conservation Society of India.

Prof. Singh was awarded the 1990 American Society of Agricultural Engineer’s Kishida International Award for outstanding contributions to food and fiber production, improved living and education; the 1991 Emil Mrak International Award by the University of California, Davis for distinguished career; the 1994-95 Gold Medal by the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers; the 2006 Massey Ferguson Educational Gold Medal Award by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers; and the 2009 Eminent Engineer Award by the Institution of Engineers (India). He was elected as the first President of the Asian Association for Agricultural Engineering (AAAE) established in December 1990 and was re-elected to serve for the second term. He served on the Board of Trustees of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers during 1998-2000 and on the Executive Board of the International Commission of Agricultural Engineering during 1995-98 and again since 2013. Recently he served as the President of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers for 2010-12. At present he is the Patron of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers.

Prof. Singh has lived and worked in Thailand, India, USA and Malaysia and have traveled extensively including USA, UK, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Ethiopia and Vietnam.

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Prof. Singh