Professor Ganapati D. Yadav: Versatility and Humility Is Thy Name■ ASCENTGanapati D. Yadav, known to family and close friends asYogesh, is an exceptional, multifaceted, and versatile academi-cian who has carved a place for himself as one of thepreeminent engineering scientists in India. Many adjectivescome to our minds when one thinks of Yogeshcheerful,modest, committed, passionate, daring, pragmatic, ingenious,intuitive, and never-say-die philosopher. He ranks as one ofIndia’s finest university leaders. His stewardship of his almamaterhis karma bhumi, a reverent Sanskrit word for one’splace of workthe Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT)bears a torch for others in his homeland and overseas. He isself-less, inspiring, and untiring. Over the years, he has renderedyeoman services to the chemical sciences and engineeringprofession, the chemical and allied industry, and the govern-ment of India in various capacities. His unbelievable ability toraise funds for his alma mater and education, research, welfare,and professional bodies such as the Indian Institute of ChemicalEngineers (IIChE), the Catalysis Society of India, andMaharashtra Academy of Sciences have been instrumental inrevitalizing these institutions. Uniquely, he is also the brainsbehind the creation of a unique museum, called the DhirubhaiAmbani Hall of Fame, at the ICT, which showcases andpromotes the achievements of the chemical sciences andindustry in India and around the globe. We are truly honored tobe able to call him Yogesh, one of the names of Indian deityLord Krishna!

■ DAILY ROUTINEIf you have received an E-mail from him in the early hours ofthe morning much before the dawn, do not be astonished! Wehave not understood when he takes rest (or if he does) since hisday begins at 4:00 am with exercise, followed by serious studiesand research, and paper writing. Much of Mumbaiwhich is a

city that surpasses New York for its commotion and hubbubis still asleep by the time he has completed his daily writing.Yet, despite being the Vice-Chancellor of one of India’s bestuniversities (a position that is equivalent to President in theU.S. collegiate system), he still finds time to do active researchand write papers! He travels around the planet to bolster theresearch and education enterprise of his institute, yet hisresearch and administrative duties are never neglected. He isone of the finest practitioners of e-governance that we haveknown.

■ FORMATIVE YEARS

Born on September 14, 1952 in a peasant’s family in the smallvillage of Arjunwada in the Kolhapur district of MaharashtraState, Yogesh has secured his current stature throughintelligence, creativity, hard work and self-belief. He is officiallynamed Ganapati because of the coincidence of his birth onGanesh Chaturthi, which is a very important religious festival inIndia. He very proudly states that all important decisions in hislife were taken by himself, though only after receiving theblessings of his parents. He truly worships his parents, since itwas they who saw a spark in him at a very young age andencouraged him to chart new paths with the sole condition thathe would share his joys, sorrows, triumphs, and adversities withthem, no matter where his journey took him. This journey hasseen him create a unique place for Indian chemical engineeringon the global scene and has sustained the glamor of thismarvelous profession in an impoverished country such as India.Having been associated with him in various capacities over the

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years, we have been fortunate to witness his personal andprofessional ascent.

■ SCHOOLINGHe was educated up to seventh standard (equivalent to “grade”in the American education system) in the primary school at hisvillage of ∼1400 people, which had an inadequate number ofteachers and no school building. His teachers made use ofvillage temples as classrooms, with intermittent in flow ofdevotees interrupting classes with their walkthroughs. By thetime he entered the seventh standard, there were only fiveteachers and a building with three classrooms. Thus, he had thepleasure of studying in the same classroom with his elderbrother, who was in a higher standard! A single teacher wouldteach two classes at the same time and ask students from oneclass to not pay attention to the subject that was meant for theother class. Therefore, he was lucky to receive lessons of ahigher standard free! After the seventh standard or vernacularfinal examination in Marathihis score was the highest in thedistricthe enrolled in Swami Vivekanand High School, whichis again a high school having somebody’s old home as thebuilding at Shelewadi, a neighboring village some 5 km away;he made the journey to and from school each day on his barefeet. When he was in the ninth standard, one of his high schoolteachers, Mr. Bal Gangatirkar, suggested to his parents thatYogesh needed to be in the company of real scholars, and notin a rural school that lacked the teachers and facilities necessaryfor a good education. The decision to send Yogesh to KolhapurCity was rather quick and our dear friend Yogesh left his homeat the tender age of 14 to continue his studies at the elitePrivate High School (quizzically named, because it is a publicschool). He once again remained the top-performing studentand his versatility was evident in art, poetry, debates andelocution competitions, and sports. Like most villagers, Yogeshalso is an avid athlete. Yet, cricket, which is a quasi-religion inIndia, did not appeal to him. Cricket, being an expensive game,had not yet pervaded the village life then. Indian wrestling,volleyball, and track and field’s high jump event, in addition tokabbadi and khokho (the latter two are traditional Indiansports), were his true loves. He was again the top performer inthe school and among the top 60 students in the entire state; hehad the honor of receiving several scholarships and aGovernment of India merit scholarship for higher studies. Heremained a decorated athlete during his university days andeven represented the University of Mumbai in volleyball.

■ INFLUENCE OF TEACHERSYogesh’s teachers have played a vital role in his life. Themessages of Raghunath M. Kulkarni, Digambar G. Ganagatirkar,and the great encyclopedic chemical engineer Professor MMSharma, who were his teachers from his primary school,secondary school, and university, respectively, were the same:

“Serve all your life in whatever path you choose. You cannotchange the whole society but certainly you can make adif ference. Always look at the larger interest and perspective.”

■ COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONIn Kolhapur, when he was a student at Private High School,Yogesh could not afford to stay in a hostel or boarding house.Instead, he found accommodation as a paying guest with a localfamily. He would rise each morning at 4 am to cook his meals,do all the chores of the household, and even study! It was this

stint as a paying guest that laid the foundations of hisformidable work ethic. He led a simple life back then (and he,actually, still does!) and his monthly expenses were no morethan $4 (US). Studies, sport, poetry, literature, and elocutionfilled his days, and Yogesh excelled at each. It was that point intime when he met Mr. Digambar G. Gangatirkar, a humble andrespected revered teacher and Head Master of Private HighSchool, who inspired him to reach for the stars but have bothfeet firmly on the ground. Mr. Gangatirkar’s lessons still guideYogesh to this day.After 11 years of schooling in Marathi medium up to SSC, he

joined the Rajaram College, Kolhapur in 1968, for his Pre-degree and Inter Science Pre-professional programs, and he isone of the few who qualified for the IIT entrance examinationtwice in 1969 and 1970. Accidentally, and by shear luck, hecame to know about UDCT a day before the closure ofadmissions, while he had come for IIT counselling but he choseto join the UDCT/ICT Bachelor of Chemical Engineeringprogram only because it was a four-year program, incomparison with the IIT B.Tech. degree program, which wasfive years. His parents believed that, financially, they would beburdened with five years of education in Mumbai. His parentsdesired that he become a civil servantmore precisely, adistrict collector, who wields much power and prestigewhereas one of his brothers believed (and still feels) thatYogesh can efficiently run government. But deep down, they allknew that Yogesh was, at heart, a lifelong “vidyarthi”: a student.Because of his extraordinary scholastic achievements andstudious nature, many of his village folks fondly used toaddress him as Vidyarthi. He believes that the villagers havealways taught him many important lessons in life, such as therecycle and reuse of resources, frugality, and a love for nature.His mother taught him “frugal” engineering, now a famousterm, in using and recycling natural resources. It is little wonderhe is now a practitioner and advocate of green chemistry andengineering.

■ CHEMICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATIONChemical engineering was the most preferred discipline in Indiathen, because of the growing petrochemical and chemicalindustries. Upon joining the chemical engineering program atICT in July 1970, his class was addressed by a young professorand head of the Chemical Engineering Division who gave animpressive lecture on the value of chemical engineering and thechemical industry. What stood out from that talk was that theUniversity was spending nearly INR 4000 per annum on eachstudent, compared to the fee of ∼INR 250 (approximately$30−35 US at that time), which they were paying! An earlyintroduction to the art of raising funds, perhaps? That youngprofessor was none other than the legendary Man Mohan(MM) Sharma, with whom Yogesh has been closely associatedfor over 44 years.After attaining his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree

in 1974, he chose to pursue graduate studies under theguidance of Professor MM Sharma. That was a turning point inhis life. Professor Sharma’s ways of interacting with students,keeping track of the latest literature, and encouraging them totake up new topics of research have shaped Yogesh’s ownapproach to academics. Not only did Yogesh become one ofMM Sharma’s most trusted students, but later, also a valuablecolleague. When he was involved in removing the slums fromthe footpaths and risking the lives of his family, Sharma wastruly overwhelmed and quipped once, “Yogesh can lay down his

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life for the sake of ICT. Such is his devotion.” He says that he haswitnessed MM Sharma’s spectacular rise, his encyclopedicknowledge of a variety of subjects, his method of handlingresearch and administration, and, above all, his fairness to oneand all from the closest quarters imaginable, and these lessonshave benefitted him immensely throughout his career. Hisleadership has been seen right from his student days. Duringthe long strike by the employees of the University of Mumbaiin 1977−78, he organized student volunteers to run theinstitute including working the library, maintaining the watersupply, watering the garden, cleaning classrooms andlaboratories, and helping the University administrationimmensely. The then-Director Professor E. H. Daruwallaappreciated his leadership qualities and gave him a letterstating that he was authorized to do so. It is a fortuitouscoincidence that, later, in 2009, he took over as the Directorand R.T. Mody Professor of Chemical Technology; theInstitute Professor’s position, which was created for theHead, which had been lying vacant since 1971 becauseDaruwalla had not accepted it, for some strange reasons.After the ICT was converted to a Deemed University onSeptember 12, 2008, the Director’s position was converted tothat of Vice Chancellor (equal to President in the NorthAmerican collegiate system) and R.T. Mody DistinguishedProfessor. Meanwhile, Yogesh also had a one-year appointmentas Headillia ChemicalsUDCT Diamond Jubilee Fellowduring 1995-96 and was appointed to the newly createdChair, Darbari Seth Professor of Inorganic ChemicalTechnology in October 1996. Mr. Darbari Seth, Chairmanand Managing Director of Tata Chemicals, was a doyen ofinorganic chemical industry and his well-wishers had donatedfunds to honor him and, once again, Professor MM Sharma wasentirely instrumental for it. After becoming the ViceChancellor, Yogesh sought additional funds of INR 35 millionin 2013 to support this position, which is now renamed as TataChemicals Darbari Seth Distinguished Professor of ChemicalEngineering.

■ DOCTORAL RESEARCHUnder the supervision of MM Sharma, he conducted hisdoctoral research dealing with studies in heterogeneousreactions, particularly gas absorption with chemical reactionand phase transfer catalysis (PTC). Sharma had a penchant forproblems having deep origins in chemistry, and he askedYogesh to survey literature under a seminar topic on theemerging area of PTC during 1975. He wrote a very criticalreview paper with suggestions on a number of researchproblems. It was published in the journal Chemical IndustryDevelopments in 1975 and became much sought after the articlewas cited in books and monographs of famous authors such asStarks and Liotta, Dehmlow, and others. It covered speculativereactions, one of them being solid−liquid (S-L) PTC ofisocyanates; quite surprisingly, it was reported as a Japanesepatent in 1977. He has continued to work on PTC and is oneof the foremost authors on a variety of multiphasic PTCreactions and mathematical models. A model stirred contactorwith two independent stirrers was used to study the effect ofdiffusivity on true gas-side mass-transfer coefficients in thatcontactor with a planar interface (Chemical Engineering Science,1979, Volume 34, pages 1423−1424) and it found its place inPerry’s Handbook. Absorption of chlorine in aqueous solutionsof phenols and aromatic sulfonic acids was another industriallyrelevant subject that was studied elegantly (Chemical Engineering

Science, 1981, Volume 39, pages 599−608). He proposed a newmechanism of S-L PTC and studied the synthesis of benzylesters (Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Process Design andDevelopment, 1981, Volume 20, pages 385−390). This researchwas commercialized and used by a few industries. Histheoretical work on gas absorption with instantaneous reaction,followed by desorption of the intermediate gas, was alsoacclaimed. Thus, the absorption of chlorine in aqueoussolutions of sodium hydroxide was studied in the model stirredcontactor, wherein desorption of hypochlorous acid is followedby its dissociation to chlorine monoxide (Chemical EngineeringScience, 1983, Volume 38, pages 1119−1133). One U.S.company has used this work for their production ofepichlorohydrin and has mentioned it in their patents.Although some of his doctoral work was patentable, it wasnot fashionable during those days and Yadav and Sharma weremore than happy to share his results with one of the industries.A joy of seeing his work becoming commercialized was morethan any other monetary reward. Things have changed sincethen, and now he has 69 patents (filed and awarded).He served as Associate Lecturer in Chemical Engineering

(1976−1980), dealing with the chemical engineering laboratoryand, particularly, the demonstration experiments. Sharma was agreat motivator in this regard, and many of the experimentswere designed by Yogesh. A monograph on “DemonstrationExperiments in Chemical Engineering’”, coauthored withPanagarkar and Niranjan, was published in 1982 by theChemical Engineering Education Development Centre, IndianInstitute of Technology, Madras, India. Since then, demon-stration experiments have become a routine part of theChemical Engineering curriculum in ICT and over 70experiments are arranged every year for the benefit of thestudents. He went to Loughborough University, in the UnitedKingdom, as Leverhulme Overseas Visiting Fellow (1980−1981) and worked on oil blob mechanics in porous media withG. Mason and on binary chromatography with B. A. Buffhamand published seminal papers. He returned to India, workedbriefly on a sponsored project by Bombay Oil Industries in1982, and then joined the group of F. A. L. Dullien atUniversity of Waterloo (1982−1986) and worked with JohnChatzis and Ian Macdonald. Indeed, during his initial stages, hewas supported by Donald Scott and Park Reilly. He madesignificant fundamental contributions to new methods ofenhanced oil recovery, multiphase flow in porous media, flowvisualization, network modeling and percolation processes. Atthe University of Waterloo, he also had association with DonaldScott on modeling the flash pyrolysis of biomass to producebio-oils. He was very actively involved in the affairs of theIndo-Canada Association in the Kitchener, Waterloo area,which was comprised of ∼150 families. Now, he has returned tothe area with significant research on biorefinery and the con-version of biomass to value-added chemicals.

■ JOINING UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI AGAINDuring his visit to Waterloo in 1984, MM Sharma advisedYogesh to return to India whenever there would be a vacancy ofa faculty position in UDCT Mumbai, and Yogesh did just thatin 1986. The selection committee recommended him for ahigher salary, which the university could not give without thepermission of the State Government; thus, Mr. KishoreMariwala offered him a job as a consultant to Bombay OilIndustries, with which he was associated for 5 years. After 3months of waiting, he joined the UDCT Mumbai as a Reader

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(somewhat equivalent to the position of Associate Professor inthe U.S. collegiate system) on October 22, 1986. Mariwalahas been a great friend and admirer ever since. After join-ing the UDCT, MM Sharma provided him with anotheropportunity in 1987 to work full time for 2 months as asummer industrial consultant with Polyolefins Industries,Ltd. (PIL). The involvement was so great that he continuedwith them as a consultant on a retainer basis for next 7 years,dealing with rubber chemicals. It was a great period oflearning and practicing for Yogesh. He has been activelyperforming industrial consultation ever since for a variety ofindustries located in Mumbai, Vapi, Ankleshwar, Hyderabad,and Delhi.

■ THEME OF RESEARCH

After returning to India, he wrote five proposals to variousagencies which funded them. The initial work on pore structureanalysis was supported by Department of Science andTechnology (DST), followed by new methods of enhancedoil recovery supported by ONGC with additional funding fromMHRD, AICTE, and CSIR. He was supported by ProfessorM. A. Nabar, Head of Chemistry Department of BombayUniversity, who recognized his interest in chemistry andpermitted him to guide research at doctoral level in Chemistry.Upon the untimely death of R. A. Rajadhyaksha, several of hisstudents joined Yogesh’s group. He had to build all of thefacilities in petroleum engineering from scratch and developmicromodels for flow through porous media. Thus, SagarTrailokya, K. C. Narayan, Pramod Kumbhar, Manoj Kharkar,Vijay Yadav, Ashok Dixit, Bhagyashri Dixit, K. N. Subramanian,Shripad Gumaste, N. Kirthivasan, M. S. Krishnan, TusharThorat, and Suguna Naik had the pleasure of participating inlaboratory buildup. They all are holding senior positions inindustry now. His research activities thus shifted to sulfatedzirconia, acidic clays, ion exchange resins, heteropoly acids,modified metal oxides, zeolites, and coal. Over the past 40years, he has made innovative and original contributions, bothby theory and experiment, to catalytic science and engineering,green chemistry and technology, chemical engineering,biotechnology, and energy engineering. He was the first topropound the practice of green chemistry and engineering inIndia, including education and research, and has developedpollution-free technologies, which have been internationallypatented; some are practiced in industry. He has providedbreakthroughs in design, synthesis, and industrial applicationsof novel catalytic materials. All work has been carried out inIndia since 1986. Over the years, he has crafted a distincttheme on science and engineering of pores, (nano)particles,and interfaces, with or without functionalization, in searchof clean and green processes where he has elegantly usedthe fundamentals from different disciplines ranging fromchemical engineering, chemistry, catalysis, materials, energy,and biotechnology. Thus, on one hand, he dealt with novelmethods of oil recovery from depleted reservoirs to thedesign and development of new catalysts by manipulatingpores and networks, and superimposition of catalytic centerswith controlled accessibility or by creation of multipleinterfaces to increase yield and selectivity of the desired prod-uct in a complex reaction network. Thus, his work hasresulted in exceptional research productivity, bolstered withinternational recognitions, awards, honors, and prestigiousfellowships.

■ RESEARCH PROFILE IN INDIAAfter returning to India as Reader in Chemical Engineering atthe UDCT in October 1986, he continued to work in oilrecovery methods with support from the Oil and Natural GasCorporation (ONGC), which has been patented and alsostudied coal structure and gasification, fractals and catalysis. Healso started consulting with renowned chemical industries. Hereceived a large number of research grants and has maintained avery active research group since 1990.

■ PIONEERING THEORY AND EXPERIMENTSHe published the pioneering theoretical and experimental proofof the celebrated phenomenon of inversion in rates andselectivity in Friedel−Crafts reactions, which was debated in theliterature of leading organic chemists (e.g., in the journalTetrahedron Letters, in both 1993 and 1995). This work hasproved the genesis of inversion in reactivities is due topreferential adsorption and that clays are not microrobots, aswas claimed previously. A theoretical model was validated usingseveral solid acids. . He has introduced new concepts in PTCand his research on tri-liquid PTC, the role of the omega phase,and cascade-engineered PTC is seminal (see work in thefollowing journals: Langmuir in 2002, Industrial & EngineeringChemistry Research in 1998, Catalysis Today in 2000, and Journalof Molecular Catalysis A in 2003). He also happens to be theone of most productive researchers in the field of PTC. He hasalso contributed to the basic work on the role of microwaveirradiation in catalysis including mathematical modeling(Journal of Molecular Catalysis A, in 2005). The role ofenzymes in conjunction with microwaves has been exploited forthe separation of chiral pharmaceutical compounds in over 40papers during the period of 2002−2014.

■ SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ACCOLADESMany of his papers deal with the intertwining of chemistry,chemical engineering, and materials technology. The journalGreen Chemistry (RSC, U.K.) had listed his paper that waspublished in 2000 as one of the most influential papers in 2002and 2004. Now, he has been appointed as a member of theEditorial Board of this high-impact-factor journal. He was foundto be the topmost scientist in India in the field of catalysis,based on the SCI database and peer-reviewed papers in 2008.He was the only engineer to have ranked in the top 20scientists of India as a highly productive and cited scientist witha variety of contributions to research, in a survey conducted byCSIR in 2008 and also by DST for their PURSE program. Thehallmark of his research is its fundamental analysis with a focuson industrial adoption and commercialization. Some of hiswork has found extensive use in many of India’s chemicalmanufacturing corporations. He has remained, over the years,an active consultant to several industries, and his advice hasbeen successfully commercialized.

■ NOVEL FUNCTIONALIZED MATERIALS ANDMULTIPLE INTERFACES

His laboratory has reported a series of novel mesoporous solidsuperacids called UDCaTs, MUICaTs, and ICaTs, leading to47 patents. He has devised elegant selectivity engineeringprinciples in multiphase reactions using inert nanoparticles,new solid superacidic catalysts, multiple liquid phases such astri-liquid PTC. He also developed novel redox materials,UDCaT-3 (published in the journal Advanced Synthesis &

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Catalysis, 2008) and silver- and platinum-based OMS-2 and Fe-TiO2 materials, and he holds several patents and has writtenmany papers. His group was the first to synthesize a solidsuperacid called UDCaT-5, which has a stronger acidity thanthe hitherto known sulfated zirconia (Journal of Catalysis, 2004)which was further improved as an FLSZ catalyst (Journal ofCatalysis, 2012). Novel base catalysts have been synthesizedand patented, and the work has appeared in periodicals such asCatalysis Today (2013), Journal of Molecular Catalysis A:Chemical (2012), and Chemical Engineering Journal (2013). Thesynergism of heteropoly acids and their modified versions hasbeen propagated by his group in many industrially relevantreactions. The synergism of heteropoly acids and their modifiedversions and clays as nanocatalysts was reported for the firsttime in his leading paper in 1995 in the journal ChemicalCommunications, which is often cited. A large number of papershave been emanated in this area.

■ NOVELTY OF PHASE TRANSFER CATALYSISHis pioneering work in tri-liquid PTC has several dimensions;theory, practice, and modeling using population balances (see,for example, the works cited in the following journals: ChemicalEngineering Journal, 2012; Applied Catalysis, 2012; ChemicalEngineering Research and Design, 2012; and AIChE Journal,2012). A new reactor was designed to study tri-liquid PTC. Anovel concept of pseudo-PTC has been proposed (OrganicProcess Research & Development, 2012). He has also contributedto the basic work on role of microwave irradiation in catalysisincluding mathematical modeling.

■ WASTE MINIMIZATION AND RENEWABLERESOURCES

The practical applications of Yogesh’s research range frompharmaceutical to perfumery chemicals as a green concept withwaste minimization. Indeed, this has now been taken to thedesign and development of a novel microchannel reactor. Theuse of octahedral molecular sieves as base materials indeveloping novel monometallic and bimetallic catalysts havebeen pursued elegantly (see the periodicals Chemical Engineer-ing Journal, 2012; and ChemCatChem, 2013). Bioglycerol as arenewable source has been valorized using novel catalysts andhas been covered in a series of patents and also published (seeworks in the following noted periodicals: Industrial &Engineering Chemistry Research, 2012, 2013; Clean Technologiesand Environmental Policy, 2012; Catalysis: Science andTechnology, 2013). Novel catalysts based on polyurea havealso been developed and used under supercritical conditions(Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 2011; Industrial & EngineeringChemistry Research, 2013).

■ BIOCATALYSIS AND PHARMACEUTICALSAnother attribute of his work in last 5 years is the separation ofchiral pharmaceutical compounds using enzymes in non-aqueous media and microwave irradiation, which has resultedinto important papers recently in such journals as ProcessBiochemistry, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Journal ofMolecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic, Bioresource Technology,Biomedical Research International, Biochemical EngineeringJournal, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Interna-tional Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering, ChemicalEngineering Research and Design, and Chemical EngineeringScience, which are all high-impact-factor journals.

■ ENERGY ENGINEERINGIn the field of energy engineering, a novel hydrogen productiontechnology has been developed based on experiments since2008, and it has resulted into three patents; pilot-scaleexperiments are underway with the sponsorship of ONGC.Currently work is also in progress on hydrogen storage andheat storage media with ONGC.

■ INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONSHis interactions with international researchers have beeninteresting and in different areas of research: Hui Wang andAjay Dalai (Saskatchewan, Canada); Janos Kozinski (York);Flora Ng and Gary Rempel (Waterloo, Canada); SarbajitBanerjee (SUNY, Buffalo, NY, USA, and Texas A&MUniversity, College Station, TX, USA); Riitta Kiski (Oulu,Finland); M. Beller, B. Luecke, and K. Narayana (LeibnitzInstitute of Catalysis (LIKAT), Rostock, Germany); InmaculadaOrtiz, Raquel Ibanez, and Angel Irabien (Universidad deCantabria, Spain); Suresh K. Bhargava (RMIT University,Australia); Kenichi Komura (Gifu University, Japan), alongwith M. Lakshmi Kantam (IICT, Hyderabad, India); PhilCoates and Anant Paradkar (Bradford, U.K.); D. Ramkrishnaand Arvind Varma (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN,USA); Bala Subramaniam (Kansas University, Lawrence, KS,USA); Gloria Berlier (Torino, Italy); Yeol Sasson (CasaliInstitute, The Hebrew University, Israel); and Dennis Millerand J. J. Jackson (Michigan State University, East Lansing,MI, USA).

■ PRODUCTIVITYHe has published over 300 international publications in 67high-impact-factor international journals; of these journals, 226have an impact factor greater than 3. He has also authored/coauthored 2 books (1 in preparation) and holds 69international patents. His work on sulfated zirconia, heteropolyacids, clays, and ion-exchange resins is exceptionally well-recognized and has been cited in over 6500 papers ofinternational repute, including the following: ACS SustainableChemistry & Engineering, Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis,AIChE Journal, Applied Catalysis A: General, Applied Catalysis B:Environmental, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, AppliedClay Science, Biochemical Engineering Journal, Biomed ResearchInternational, Bioresource Technology, Biotechnology Progress,Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Catalysis Surveysf rom Asia, Catalysis Communications, Catalysis Letters, CatalysisScience Technology, Catalysis Today, Chemical Communications,Chemical Engineering Journal, Chemical Engineering Research &Design, Chemical Engineering Science, ChemCatChem, Chemo-sphere, Chimica & Industria, Chimica Oggi, Chirality, CleanTechnology and Environmental Policy, Computational Biology andChemistry, Current Catalysis, Current Science, Enzyme andMicrobial Technology, Faraday Transactions, Green Chemistry,Indian Chemical Engineer, Industrial & Engineering ChemistryResearch, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Process Design andDevelopment, International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineer-ing, International Reviews in Chemical Engineering, Journal ofEnvironmental Management, Journal of Fluorine Chemistry,Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, Journal of Catalysis,Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Journal ofChemical Thermodynamics, Journal of Colloid and InterfaceScience, Journal of Membrane Science, Journal of Microscopy(Oxford), Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, Journal of

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Molecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic, Journal of Natural GasChemistry, Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal of PhysicalChemistry A, Journal of Supercritical Fluids, Langmuir, Micro-porous and Mesoporous Materials, Organic Process Research &Development, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, ProcessBiochemistry, Reactive & Functional Polymers, RSC Advances,SPEReservoir Engineering, Synthetic Communications, Tetra-hedron Letters, The Chemical Engineer (UK), Topics in Catalysis,and Ultrasonics Sonochemistry.The h index of his publications now stands at 42, which is

truly outstanding for an engineer/scientist. The i10 index is152. He has guided 76 Ph.D. thesis candidates (ChemicalEngineering/Technology, Biotechnology & Chemistry) and 80Master’s thesis candidates, as a single guide. Currently, he issupervising a group of 39 graduate students, project scientists,and post docs on a spectrum of topics.

■ ROLE AS A LEADERAfter his appointment as Vice Chancellor and R.T. ModyDistinguished Professor, he has worked assiduously to raise thebar. He encouraged and got all departments in ICT supportedby UGC’s special assistance (SAP) program with over 100Ph.D. fellowships per annum, and many of the Departmentshave received funds for infrastructure, in the range of 5−8million rupees and the DST FIST support for the majority ofthem. The Chemical Engineering Department also received theunique honor of UGC National Resource Networking Centrewith funding of 100 million rupees. So, the Centers ofAdvanced Studies have been established in PharmaceuticalSciences and Technology, Food Engineering and Technology,and Green Technology. His leadership has seen phenomenalgrowth of the ICT, which is rated as the best in chemicalsciences and engineering and is ranked among the top five inthe world with several awards, such as CHEMTECHFoundation’s Best R&D Institute, Number 1 rank in ChemicalEngineering in India, and No. 4 in the World in ResearchPublications.The most important contribution that he made to the ICT

was getting the Maharashtra Government’s Elite Institute Statusand Centre of Excellence, like IITs, IISc, IISERs, which wasannounced in the State Assembly. It is an extraordinarily uniquedistinction for any institute in India that has grown from aUniversity Department to Deemed University to an eliteinstitute like IITs. The State Government will soon allotadditional satellite campus. ICT also was declared as theNumero Uno TEQIP funded institute among 127 during Phase1 and the Lead Institute in Phase II. The Tata ChemicalsAICTE-CII Best Industry Linked Institute Award in ChemicalEngineering was bestowed twice in a row for 2012 and 2013among all institutes in India. ICT, with a campus of only 16acres, houses modern laboratories with 710 doctorates, 450Master’s students, and 1100 undergraduate students. It isrecognized as a model for industry−institute collaboration.Several prestigious universities from the United States, theUnited Kingdom, Australia, France, Canada, and New Zealand,as well as leading industries from across the globe and fromIndia, have signed MOUs with the ICT to promotetechnological research and development. He has beenresponsible for getting munificent donations for the ICT forfaculty endowments, student and nonteaching staff support,and infrastructure, and the Institute now has a modernambiance and facilities on par with the best in India andabroad. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded

four projects of $100K US during the last two years, and theDBT-ICT Centre for Energy Sciences, headed by ProfessorArvind Lali, is making waves, because of the development ofindustrially relevant technologies. Yogesh is extremely proud ofhis colleagues, students, support staff, and alumni for theircontributions to the institute. He states that his job is toencourage his colleagues and students to be individualcenters of excellence in their areas of specialization, so thatthe institute grows rapidly. The UGC has recognized ICT forits uniqueness by granting 12 faculty positions. Many ofthe students and faculty have won prestigious awards andaccolades. He has been championing the cause of the UDCTAlumni Association, which has been a great source of support.He had been interacting with hostel students from 1991 to2008 as Warden and also Head Warden, having introducedseveral facilities.

■ ACCOLADESHe has received numerous honors and distinctions for hisinnovative contributions to green chemistry and engineering,catalysis science and engineering, chemical reaction engineer-ing, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and energy engineering.He is a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA)and the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), amongothers. He has been honored by the Government of India’sDepartment of Science and Technology with its prestigiousJagdish Chandra Bose National Fellowship and is currently theonly active university faculty member in the state ofMaharashtra to be elected as Fellow of The World Academyof Sciences (TWAS) in Trieste, Italy. He was bestowed withthe D. M. Trivedi Lifetime Achievement Award of IndianChemical Council (formerly ICMA) (2013), Indian ChemistryCouncil (2014), and the Dr. B. P. Godrej Lifetime AchievementAward of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE)(2013). The Indian Specialty Chemical ManufacturersAssociation (ISCMA) and PSN College of Engineering TNhave bestowed upon him the Best Researcher Awards for 2012.Other notable international recognitions bestowed upon himinclude the Fellowships of The Royal Society of Chemistry(RSC), U.K., and The Institution of Chemical Engineers(IChemE), U.K.; the Canadian Catalysis Foundation’s Cross-Canada Lectureship Award; the University of Amsterdam’sJohn van Geuns Lectureship; the Park Reilly DistinguishedSpeakership of the University of Waterloo; the JohansenCrosby Visiting Professorship in Chemical Engineering atMichigan State University; the Distinguished Asian VisitingScholar at Purdue University; Visiting Professorship at theLunghwa University of Science and Technology, Taiwan; andAdjunct Professorship at the Royal Melbourne Institute ofTechnology and University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He iselected Chairman of APCAT-7, the Asia Pacific Conference onCatalysis, and is also on the Governing Council of APCAT, theconfederation of catalysis societies from Asia Pacific region. Heis a member of the International Advisory Board, The State KeyLaboratory for Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics,and The Chinese Academy of Sciences.In India, Yogesh has been awarded with prestigious honors,

such as IIT-Roorkee’s Khosla National Award; RPG LifeSciences’ Padma Vibhushan Prof. MM Sharma Medal andChemcon Distinguished Speaker Award of IIChE; Institutionof Engineer’s Eminent Engineer Award; Ashland PadmaVibhushan Prof. CNR Rao Medal & Chemcon DistinguishedSpeaker Award; Best Teacher Award of the Government of

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Maharashtra; Dr. Anji Reddy Innovator of the Year Award;Anna University’s National Award for the Most OutstandingAcademician; and VASVIK Foundation Award for Excellence inResearch in Chemical Sciences and Technology.The American Chemical Society (ACS) elected him to the

Editorial Board of its new journal, ACS Sustainable Chemistryand Engineering. He is Founder President Elect of the ACSIndia International Chapter. He has served/been serving oneditorial boards of international journals of considerable repute,such as Applied Catalysis A: General, Journal of MolecularCatalysis A: Chemical, Catalysis Communications, GreenChemistry, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, Interna-tional Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering, Clean Tech-nologies and Environmental Policy, Current Catalysis, Journal ofEnvironmental Science and Engineering, and Advanced PorousMaterials.

■ CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEVELOPMENT OFPROFESSION

His contributions to the development of the ChemicalEngineering profession in India are incomparable. During histenure as President of the IIChE in 2001, he reinvigorated thebody by incorporating 51 national awards through endow-ments. These awards have been named after some of the bestchemical engineers, technologists, and chemists, such asC. N. R. Rao, MM Sharma, L. K. Doraiswamy, R. A. Mashelkar,G. S. Laddha, R. Kumar, K. Ventaraman, B. D. Tilak, B. P.Godrej, A. V. Rama Rao, G. S. Sidhu, Y. Nayaduamma, andG. P. Kane. CSIR laboratories such as CSCMRI, NCL, IICT,NEERI, and CLRI have also helped him to establish awards intheir names. Ambuja Cement created 10 awards for Ph.D.students, and many more. This has rejuvenated the IIChEtremendously. He has the unique distinction of being Chairmanof the National Organizing Committee of the Indian Instituteof Chemical Engineers Annual Congress called CHEMCON onsix occasions.He also has served as Director of the Asia−Pacific

Confederation of Chemicals Engineering Institutes. He hasalso been a member or chaired several national andinternational committees of GOI ministries and autonomousbodies such as MHRD, DST, DBT, UGC, AICTE, CSIR,FICCI, CII, the PSA’s on Green Chemistry, the PlanningCommission’s Pan India S&T Committee, and the Govern-ment of Maharashtra’s Rajiv Gandhi S&T Commission PeersGroup, Maharashtra State Innovation Council. He was also themember of the DST’s Special Peer Review Committee forEvaluation of Reports on the Bhopal Gas Disaster, and has ledtwo delegations of Indian scientists to South Korea andGermany. He is Chairman, Research Council, CSIR-CSMCRI,and member of RC of IICT, Hyderabad and NIIST,Trivandrum. He also serves as Chairman, Advisory Councilof DST-National Centre for Catalysis Research, IIT-Madras.He is a member of Maharashtra Innovation Council and haschaired the Expert Committee to prepare a report on “Analysisof Vacancies in Professional Courses and Remedial Action Planin 2014”. He is also a member of UGC’s Steering Committeeon Universities with Potential for Excellence. He has developeda museum and hall of fame, with the support of RelianceIndustries, on “Chemical Sciences and Engineering and ItsImpact on Modern Society”.As a Vice Chancellor, he has the distinction of having the

great R. A. Mashelkar as the Chancellor, who has tremendousfaith in his capabilities as a leader and scientist. Yogesh

attributes his success to Mashelkar’s mentorship and trust. Hisdevotion to the ICT is beyond words. He spent over a year ingetting the footpaths of ICT cleared of slums and unauthorizedstructures and squatters. He took the initiative in beautify-ing the locality through the participation of industries andresidents. The entire campus has been metamorphosed. Manybeautiful thought-provoking posters are displayed to encouragestudents and visitors. He has been a dreamer and believes thatthe ICT should become a central university or institute ofnational importance with funding like IITs. The ICT has beenmetamorphosed in terms of renovation and development oflaboratories and offices. His own office is fully transparent. Hehas many plans for the Institute, including additional satellitecampus.Yogesh is also a vociferous advocate of the chemical sciences

and industry in print and on radio and television. He has beenchampioning the rejuvenation of the chemical industry throughadoption of sustainable clean and pollution-free technologies.He has traversed the world to give over 450 lectures, includingprestigious award lectures, keynote addresses, and plenarylectures.

■ FAMILY LIFE

When he left his home at the age of 15, his parents had a simplemessage for him:

“You will be on your own and you have to f ight all your life’sbattles on your own. We will not be there any time with youbut our blessings will always chase you. So follow the path oftruth and maintain your character. Include us in yourhappiness and sorrow.”

So when he chose his life partner, Vasanti, who is also analumnus of the ICT, contrary to what his friends and othersbelieved, his parents were the happiest lot. On the family front,he has been a very proud husband and father. All members ofhis family are chemical engineers and doctorates and the newestmember, his daughter-in-law, is an architect. His wife, Vasanti,has a Ph.D. in Chemical Technology and has her own business.Throughout his life, Yogesh has been extremely hard-workingand Vasanti has been extremely understanding; the proverbialsaying, “Behind every successful man there is a woman”,proves that her support has been very vital in all of hisprofessional activities. The other lady who influenced himwas his mother. Vasanti has been a great motivator to theirsons. His sons Vikramaditya and Gautam are both chemicalengineers. Vikramaditya is a graduate of Waterloo University,with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from MIT and apostdoc from Harvard. He is now an Assistant Professorin the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineeringat University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Hiswife, Manali, is an architect. Gautam studied at the Universityof Western Ontario, Canada, and holds a Ph.D. fromPurdue; he is now is a postdoc at City College University ofNew York. Yogesh is extremely proud that his family mem-bers have allowed him to work assiduously and provided himimmense joy.He is greatly influenced by Swami Vivekananda and Vedic

literature and is a poet. He has written a very melodiousuniversity song for the ICT and frequently quotes fromliterature. Success is autocatalytic and failure is temporary is hisphilosophy. One of the posters, titled “Reach the Stars”, aptlydescribes this versatile innovator:

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“The Rich. The Poor. The Marginal. The Privileged. TheUnderprivileged. They studied here. They studied here. Theymade it big. Do not ask how to do it. Do it. UnderestimateNOT, who you could be. Think Big. Dream Big. Do notdismiss your dreams. To be without dreams is to be withouthope; to be without hope is to be without purpose.”

So, dear readers, you now realize why we are delighted andprivileged to present this Festschrift in honor of our long-standing friend and fantastic person, whose life’s mission hasbeen to serve the profession with complete sincerity andhonesty, overcoming all hurdles and hurricanes. Now yourealize how a person with a rural background can succeedagainst all odds. He attributes his entire success to greatpersons who changed the course of his life: the teachers andstudents who worked with him, even though he was nobody.He modestly says that he has been singularly lucky in hislife. He successfully completed five years as the ViceChancellor recently and it is the desire of his professionalfriends, students, and colleagues to dedicate this Festschrift ofIndustrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, wherein he haspublished more than 30 articles so far. We thank all thecontributors, and especially Professor Donald Paul andProfessor Philip E. Savage, for providing us the opportunityto organize this special issue. We acknowledge excellent inputgiven by Vikramaditya and thank Yogesh for being so candidabout his formative life and career with interesting personalmatters, which many may put beyond the public eye. Wewould like him to grow in strength and continue to guide thedestiny of the ICT with his enthusiasm and untiring effortsand also in the interest of our profession. He has been fond ofquoting Sanskrit in many of his extempore talks and regalespoetry. We would like to quote a Vedic verse which has beenrehearsed on important milestones for seeking blessings forthe honoree.He is a swayambhua self-made manand he is very proud

of his rural roots, since the bountiful nature taught him to befearless, self-less, and creative.For the health, peace, progress and fortune of this humble

and ever-cheerful and smiling friend, we sing in unison:

Pashyet sharadah shatam

Jivet sharadah shatam

Buddhyet sharadah shatam

Rohet sharadah shatam

Pooshet sharadah shatam

Bhavet sharadah shatam

Bhuyet sharadah shatam

Bhuyasee sharadah shatat

“ ,

,

,

,

,

,

,

”

(English translation: May he see through a hundred autumns,May he live through a hundred autumns; May he know througha hundred autumns; May he rise through a hundred autumns;May he remain established through a hundred autumns; Mayhe grow through a hundred autumns, Even more than ahundred autumns!)

Suresh K. Bhargava*Centre of Advanced Materials & Industrial Chemistry,School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, GPO Box2476, Melbourne 3000, Australia

M. Lakshmi Kantam*CSIRIndian Institute of Chemical Technology,Hyderabad-500 007, IndiaBenjaram M. Reddy*Inorganic & Physical Chemistry Division, CSIRIndianInstitute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad-500 007,India

■ AUTHOR INFORMATIONCorresponding Authors*E-mail: suresh.bhargava@rmit.edu.au (S. K. Bhargava).*E-mail: mlakshmi@iict.res.in (M. L. Kantam).*E-mail: bmreddy@iict.res.in (B. M. Reddy).NotesViews expressed in this editorial are those of the author and notnecessarily the views of the ACS.

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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie504552x | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 18589−1859618596