The Nepal Weekly 
June 28, 2022
Young scientist Roshan Pandey, the recipient of Young Talent on Small Hydropower in South Asian Country Award, wants to dedicate his life to impart training to engineers in hydropower sector with a view to producing middle and highly skilled manpower within the country.
He is one of the ten Asian young scientists and three Nepali scientists to get the honour from renowned university in China in 2021.
In 2021, 10 engineers from South Asia were awarded as Young Talents fellow from South Asia on Small Hydro power from Hohai University of China. Among them three were from Nepal including Roshan Pandey from Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), and Neeraj Adhikari and Raj Kumar Chaulagai from Institute of Engineering (IOE), Tribhuvan University. The three Nepalese scientist have also got the opportunity to participate in the online training for young engineers in South Asia under “China-Pakistan Belt & Road Joint Lab on SHP Technology” jointly undertaken by NRIRE/HRC and Hohai University of China.
The academic course lasted for four and half months, starting from late September 2021 to mid-January 2022, which was based on the joint talent training cooperation between NRIRE/HRC and Hohai University, the highest institution of hydraulic engineering and water resources in China. A total of 3 young water conservancy engineers of Nepal have successfully completed the training through academic education, forum exchanges, special lectures, etc.
Considering the impact of the global COVID-19, 19 online professional courses were arranged for these young participants to choose from Hohai’s English online teaching platform, that included Safety Management of Water Conservancy Project, Finite Element Method, Numerical Simulation Methods and Applications for Engineering Turbulence, Wind Power and Tidal Power, Technology and Application of Modern Measurement, etc. In order to strengthen the training effect, during the training period, NRIRE/HRC also organized participants to attend several seminars on different topics such as Remote Centralized Control Operation Management Technology of Small Hydropower, Standard for Small Hydropower Technology, Technical Standards for Small Hydropower in South Asia, etc., invited domestic and foreign experts to lead these participants to carry out project-related research, and shared them with special lectures on Technical Renovation for Small Hydropower Station, Centralized Monitoring of Small Hydropower, Compilation and Management of Small Hydropower Standards in China, International Standards for Small Hydropower: Present Situation and Prospect, etc.
The training has not only improved relevant technical capability and problem-solving ability of the young experts, but also further promoted the exchanges and cooperation between China and Nepal in technical know-how, management and operation & maintenance of SHP. The training benefits SHP better play as a clean and renewable energy in Nepal.
“As hydropower sector of Nepal is growing at a faster pace in the recent time, the country would soon be confronted with shortage of middle level and highly skilled manpower required for the sector,” points out Pandey talking to The Nepal Weekly. Engineers having thorough knowledge of small and medium hydropower are important for enhancing capacity of the hydropower projects and carrying out maintenance works and problem solving, according to Pandey.
Capable engineers are required to enhance capacity of hydropower project, to identify and solve problems facing small and hydropower sector. “We need to train our engineers so that they can handle any type of problem and address our needs,” he added. Engineer Pandey, who has been involved in research for small hydropower sector for the past eight years under NAST, was also involved in constructing Yantrika, a robot used for welcoming guests, distributing masks and sanitizer during the Covid pandemic and ground monitoring works related to the nano satellite named as Nepal Sat-1 released in the spaced in 2019. Pandey is currently enrolled under the doctorate programme with the Tribhuvan University besides working as a research fellow in NAST.
