Dr. Shyam Narayan Jha President ISAE has been working in ICAR since 30 years at various capacities, including Head of Department, Project Coordinator of All India Coordinated Research Project on Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology, Director (A) at ICAR-CIPHET Ludhiana, ADG (Process Engineering) and now as DDG (Agricultural Engineering). He is responsible for all activities of Agricultural Engineering and allied subjects.

Dr. Jha antecedent is unblemished and is pioneering research on nondestructive evaluation of food quality and makhana processing in India. He is the first principal investigator of ICAR mega-project on Secondary Agriculture. He developed novel quantitative maturity and quality indices for mango and apple and predicted them using near infrared spectroscopy and colour, respectively. The continuous efforts of 30 years of Dr. Jha have brought makhana and its value added products, an indigenous crop of Bihar, in limelight at National/international level and started research on sensor technology in Indian Agriculture. According to Stanford University USA report published in PLOS Biology, Dr. S. N. Jha, based on citations matrices, is amongst the top 2% scientists across all disciplines of research in the world.

His Design of Evaporative Cooled Storage Structure for hot and dry region for short period storage of fruits and vegetables, first indigenous pilot plant for tomato processing, and ventilated and insulated freight container for trucks and train for long distance transport of fruits and vegetables are well taken by different stakeholders. Four granted patents, 5 registrations, 4 patents in process are to his credits. Ten technologies developed by Dr. Jha and his teams are adopted by different stakeholders. Concept of quantitative quality indices given by him has opened a new vista of precision post-harvest technology in general and food safety and quality in particular in India.

Dr. Jha is bestowed with numerous awards and recognitions including Gold medals of Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers and Horticulture Society of India, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and Chaudhary Devi Lal Outstanding AICRP Awards of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Recognition award of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), NRDC, Govt. of India Societal Innovation prize, and fellowships of various academies and professional societies. There are more than 275 research papers/books/conferences/patents and 24 awards/fellowships/scholarships to his credit. His books Nondestructive evaluation of Food Quality: Theory and Practice and Rapid Detection of Food Adulterant and Contaminants: Theory and Practice published by Springer and Elsevier Science respectively are high in demand throughout the world. He has served as editor of Journal of Agricultural Engineering for more than 10 years and presently he is editor of Journal of Institution of Engineers Series-A for more than 4 years continuously.

Dr. Jha has travelled world-wide and worked in various International institutions and has also contributed significantly in National and International issues/policy making, formulating central sector schemes of Agricultural Processing in the country and is member of numerous scientific panels/ Governing bodies/ policy making committees/organizations/ Agricultural Universities/Institutions, He is presently working as DDG (Agricultural Engineering) at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi and is elected President of ISAE w.e.f 07 December 2021. For more detail one can visit www.snjha.in