Writer: Dhruv Gohil, Rakhi Vishwakarma
In recognition of his contribution to education and research, our Hon'ble Vice Chancellor, Prof. A.B. Pandit has been bestowed with the esteemed ICC D.M.Trivedi Lifetime Achievement for the year 2020.
Prof. A.B. Pandit needs no introduction when it comes to Chemical Engineering and allied fields. Falling under the bucket of the top 2% scientists in the world as announced by Stanford University, California, Prof. Pandit is the crème de la crème of the professionals in the field. He is also a member of the Board of Governors at IIT Bombay and the Heavy Water Board at the Department of Atomic Energy.
He completed his B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT BHU Varanasi in 1980 and earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from UDCT (now ICT Mumbai) in 1984. He worked as a Research Associate with Prof. J. F. Davidson at the University of Cambridge from 1984 to 1990. Upon returning to India, he joined ICT Mumbai as a research scientist and was subsequently promoted to the position of a Professor.
The remarkable areas of his commendable research include:
His work in the design of multi-phase reactors, bubble break-up, design of gas-liquid contactors, proposed hydrodynamic cavitation, new impeller designs and an alternative means of physico-chemical-biological transformations has been path-breaking. He is now working with tribal committees to harness solar energy, expedite the drying of farm products and optimize water disinfection.
Prof. Pandit has undoubtedly been a connoisseur of chemistry and chemical engineering, wherein he has fervently authored over 400 publications, 5 books and has been cited over 30,000 times. He has 16 patents under his name and is on the Editorial Board of 5 International Scientific Journals. He was elected as the Vice President of Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) in December 2020 before adding another feather to his cap this year by being conferred upon by the ICC D.M.Trivedi Lifetime Achievement Award 2020.
His arduous journey and countless accolades inspire young researchers to believe in themselves and prove to be the forthcoming leaders of the nation. This award is undoubtedly an achievement of a lifetime; but there are many more revolutions waiting to be made by the works of Prof. A.B. Pandit.
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai secures the 122nd rank in the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2021. The institute stands 4th amongst 63 Indian universities that participated in these rankings.
These rankings use 13 performance indicators specially calibrated to reflect the priorities of Asian institutions. They aim at providing a holistic approach towards judging universities and therefore, are grouped into five areas:
Time and again, these rankings have proved that ICT Mumbai works tirelessly to provide world-class education and research opportunities to its students.
"My journey in ICT has been one of the most interesting rides, with significant crests and troughs.
“The biggest challenge that I faced in these four years was when I was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis in 2017. It took a toll on my mental and physical health. It happened at a time when I was under grave pressure of doing well. I had been advised to take rest, on account of which I had to miss a lot of classes. But I still had all the notes from all the classes, from my close-knitted circle of friends. We might appear for tests with the same syllabus, interview for the same job; but that’s the wonder of friendships at ICT. We always lift each other up in the spirit of healthy competition and camaraderie.
“I remember the day we had a group presentation and I felt really overwhelmed just before it was my turn to present. It was a feeling I had never felt before because I don’t fear making presentations in front of a large audience. Even though I am laughing while typing this now, I had started crying back then, for no particular reason. But I got through it because of my professor who understood my delicate situation and let me appear for a test at a later time and my friends that stood by me and made sure that I felt better.
“I had a similar overwhelming feeling multiple times during my end-term exams. It was immensely uncomfortable for me to sit in one place and write for three hours at a stretch but I still managed to pass my semester without letting my grade drop too much. This was because my parents supported me and never let me fall through it all, aiding my recovery, which took nearly six months.
“One of the things I have learned in this pandemic is that positive psychiatry includes celebrating small wins.
“I celebrate the time that I have spent with my dear friends,
I celebrate the supportive, loving and caring family that I have,
I celebrate graduating from ICT with a degree that makes me more desirable for the personal care industry,
I celebrate the professors that gave me knowledge,
I celebrate learning not just technical things but also a lot about life,
I celebrate my experience through my graduate years, for its contribution in making me the person I am today, is irrefutable.
“This has truly been more of an emotional degree than a B.Tech degree for me; and I’m very grateful to everyone that has been a part of my journey."
ICT Mumbai’s endeavors extend well beyond the confines of the classroom and help young creators with sprouting knowledge to innovate technologies that will benefit mankind at large.
Mr. Rajat Goel, a second-year student pursuing his M.Tech (Food Engineering and Technology) and working under the mentorship of Prof. Rekha Singhal, is a great example of the same. He has been selected as one of the hundred delegates from all over the world to attend the Youth Ag Summit, 2021.
The Youth Ag Summit is a biennially organized conference where young leaders collaborate to develop sustainable solutions for food security and global agriculture; and hence work towards becoming global instruments of change. Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, rising food prices, and environmental stressors will have significant yet uncertain impacts on food security. Therefore, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set up by the United Nations General Assembly encourage us to eliminate hunger and poverty by devising sustainable solutions for food security.
Following the Summit, he will be participating in the first-ever virtual YAS University to develop his Thrive for Change project called 'Feeding the Planet Through Alternative Agriculture'. Hardships motivate people to do extraordinary work and Rajat has seen such affliction in his grandfather’s life which inspires him to address this issue of hidden hunger by sustainable growth of our produce. His vision is to develop alternative agriculture practices like the use of hydroponics, aeroponics, microgreen cultivation and work towards a food-secure world with a more sustainable future. He is working towards making agriculture more lucrative than a corporate job before his final project pitch in early 2022.
It is our pleasure to announce that two faculty members from ICT Mumbai-Marathwada Campus, Dr. Manoj B. Gawande and Dr. Girish M. Joshi have been elected as Life Fellows of the prestigious Indian Chemical Society by the council meeting held on July 30, 2021.
Currently led by Prof. Chittaranjan Sinha (Honorary Secretary) and Prof. G. D. Yadav (President), the Indian Chemical Society (ICS) is a premier scientific society of India founded in 1924 as National Forum for the community of chemists and members of allied disciplines in the country.
Dr. Gawande (FRSC) has undertaken several research stints in Germany, South Korea, Portugal, Czech Republic, USA, and UK. He has also worked as a visiting professor at CBCSPMS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2013. He has published over 135 research as well as review articles, with over 9300 citations! Last year, he has been included in the global list of the top 2% of scientists in the chemistry field by Stanford University.
Dr. Joshi has published more than 100 research as well as review articles in reputed international journals and one patent on his credit. He served as a visiting scientist to the University of Castilla-La-Mancha, Spain (2009, 2016). He is an editorial board member of MSE journal, Ukraine and Modern Plastic India (MPI). The popular book of Elsevier publishers entitled ‘Functionalized Nanomaterials-Based Devices for Environmental Applications’ was co-edited by him.
Aforementioned are just some of the exemplary works that afforded them this prestigious nomination. ICT Mumbai is proud of these faculty members for adding yet another feather to an already well-decorated cap of achievements!