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Dr Ashutosh Kumar honoured by Indian National Academy of Engineering

19 January 2026
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Dr Ashutosh Kumar being presented with his award

We are delighted that Dr Ashutosh Kumar, former PDRA in the Department of Engineering, has been awarded a highly prestigious Young Engineer Award 2025 by the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) and has also been inducted as a Young Associate of the INAE.

This award recognises outstanding achievements/contributions made by young engineers with strong potential for future professional growth impact in any branch of engineering.

Dr Kumar is now Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi. While at Durham University he worked with Prof. Paul Hughes and Prof. David Toll on British Academy and EPSRC funded projects in Nepal, Ghana and South Africa. He continues to collaborate with Prof. Toll and Prof. Ashraf Osman on projects in India relating to landslides, road construction and climate adaptive barriers. He has been made a Visiting Fellow of Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR).

Some recent joint publications between Dr Kumar and Durham University colleagues:

  1. Kumar, A., Hughes, P.N, Sarhosis, V., Toll, D.G., Wilkinson, S., Coningham, R., Weise, K., Acharya, K.P., Joshi, A., Davis, C., Kunwar, R.B. and Maskey, P.N. (2025) Investigations within World Heritage Monument Zones of Kathmandu after the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake, Natural Hazards Review, https://doi.org/10.1061/nhrefo.nheng-2145.
  2. Sana, E., Kritika, Kumar, A., Robson, E., Prasanna, R., Kala, U. and Toll, D. G. (2025). Investigation of landslides triggered by unprecedented rainfall events during 2023 monsoon in Himachal Pradesh, India. Landslides, 22(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-025-02471-5.
  3. Rana, A., Kumar, A., Azizi, A., Osman, A. and Toll, D.G. (2025). Assessment of an amended soil as a climate adaptive barrier: element testing and physical modelling. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 43, Article 100693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2025.100693.
  4. Kumar, A., Azizi, A., Toll, D.G. (2024) Deterioration of a compacted soil due to suction loss and desiccation cracking, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2023-0453.
  5. Sana, E., Kumar, A., Robson, E., Pradanna, R., Kala, U. and Toll, D.G. (2024) Preliminary assessment of series of landslides and related damage by heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh, India, during July 2023. Landslides. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-023-02209-1.