Chandor Girl Gets PhD

 Cecilia Jane D’Silva, hailing from Chandor, was conferred the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree by the Università degli Studi di Cassino e Lazio Meridionale (University of Cassino and Southern Lazio), Italy; in Methods, Models and Technologies in Engineering in the discipline of Electromagnetic Fields.

Following her Masters in Telecommunication Engineering through the same university, she was invited to carry out research under the frameworks of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of United Nations (UN), and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE). The entire research was funded by MISE.

 Her research activities and thesis titled ‘Eco-compatible Microwave Phytosanitary Treatments,’ were conducted under the supervision of Prof. Fulvio Schettino, PhD. The study was aimed at finding an eco-friendly, quick, and effective phytosanitary treatment with microwaves; as many of the chemicals bring used for phytosanitary treatments are being banned in the European Union.

The thesis was presented with two case studies, the first being disinfestation of the Date Palm from Red Palm Weevil (an extended study from Red Palms), and the second being the disinfestation of greenhouse soil. She was involved in the development of the heating protocols and optimised applicators for the same; which were developed with measured data, empirical models, and prediction models. The two case studies were validated in Italy.

 In addition, she worked on other research activities in the areas of Electromagnetic fields and health effects (in vitro and in vivo), antenna designs, and related activities.

Daughter of Julio D’Silva (Asst. Editor Herald) from Mena-Covatem and Pearl D’Souza (Physics Lecturer in Carmel College), Cecilia grew up in Margao, where she obtained her Bachelors of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication from Don Bosco Engineering College, Fatorda.