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Honorary Fellowship of IIChE Has Been Awarded to the Vice Chancellor of MAKAUT
Kolkata, 3rd January, 2022: Honorary Fellowship of Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) has been awarded to Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), WB Prof. (Dr.) Saikat Maitra. A very limited number of personalities having significant contribution to the profession and society are entitled to this Fellowship. Persons of eminence and high officials of the Union and State Governments, whose public duties bring them into close relationship with Chemical Engineering and Chemical Industries are awarded Honorary Fellowship of IIChE. At the same time individuals who have rendered eminent service in advancing Chemical Engineering are elected Honorary Fellows of the Institute.
In appreciation of spectacular academic accomplishments of Prof. (Dr.) Saikat Maitra in the field of Chemical Engineering and admirable professional achievements, Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers awarded this Fellowship to him.
Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) was born on the eve of the Indian Independence during the days fomenting with nationalistic aspirations. Dr. Hira Lal Roy, the great visionary and pioneer of Chemical Engineering education in India, along with a few other stalwarts felt the need for such a forum within the country to spread Chemical Engineering education and to foster the interest of the Chemical Engineering profession in general. A modest beginning was made on 18 May 1947 at a room in Jadavpur University, Kolkata, with 30 members, little fund and nominal infrastructure. IIChE has come a long way since. Today, with around 29,000 members on its roll, the Institute has emerged as the apex professional body of Chemical Engineering professionals in India and has developed a distinct profile of its own. As a matter of fact, IIChE is always moulding itself and playing a proactive role to keep up with the dynamic needs of the economy and the society.
The Institute also invited Prof. Maitra for delivering the Inventaa C K Murthy Memorial Lecture on the occasion of CHEMCON 2021. The lecture was delivered by Prof. Maitra on 30th December, 2021 on “Harnessing the Power of Big Data in Chemical Industry”.
The 74th Annual Session of Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers CHEMCON – 2021 was organized from December 27 – 30, 2021in Bhubaneswar, India. The theme was “Sustainable Utilisation of Resources for Chemical & Mineral Sectors”.
Born in 1964, the academic career of Professor Saikat Maitra has been impressive all the way. After doing B.Sc with Honours in Chemistry from Presidency College, Kolkata [1985], Professor Maitra joined Calcutta University to complete B.Tech (Chemical Technology) [1988], M.Tech (Ceramic Engineering) [1990] and Ph.D (Chemical Technology) [1996]. He did a Post Graduate diploma in Operation Management from IGNOU. He also completed a number of online specialization courses from different international universities, including, University of California (Irvine), University of Sydney, Yale University, University of Minnesota, HEC Paris, the State University of New York, University of Illinois at Urban Champaign, etc.
Professor Maitra began his professional career in 1988-89 as a Management Trainee at Steel Authority of India Ltd. Following brief stints at a number of industry houses till 1997. He joined the academia and research domain as a Scientist Gr. IV (2) at the Central Fuel Research Institute, Dhanbad (1997-2000). Professor Maitra was associated with the Government College of Engineering and Ceramic Technology, Kolkata in different capacities, i.e., Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor during 2000 – 2017. Additionally, he was associated with the University Technology Petronas, Malaysia as an Associate Professor (2008 – 2010) and as Principal-in-Charge at RCC Institute of Information Technology, Kolkata (2011). Since 2017, Professor Maitra has been the Vice Chancellor of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal. All this while, he visited a number of renowned universities and laboratories abroad. He also delivered lectures at several high profile events.
Professor Maitra’s major areas of research include Geo-polymer-based cement and building materials from fly ash and other wastes, Separation processes based on membrane and adsorption technology, Synthesis of nano-materials by novel techniques, Utilization of solid wastes, etc. He has also been working on Environmental Science and Engineering. He has successfully completed 11 research projects and is presently working on another, sponsored by DST, Government of India. Professor Maitra jointly owns one patent and has applied for a second. He has supervised 12 Ph.D scholars and has contributed papers jointly or solo in 163 journals, authored 3 books and 3 book chapters.
Awards received by Professor Maitra include the Best Paper Award (2007) at the 14th West Bengal State Science and Technology Congress, Kolkata, the Best Paper Award (2007) at the 70th Annual Session of the Indian Ceramic Society, Vishakapatnam Chapter; Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Award (2012) by the Science Association of Bengal; and S.S. Bhatnagar Award in Chemistry (2019) at the Indian Science Congress.
Besides being an Honorary Fellow of IIChE, Professor Maitra is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India), Indian Institute of Ceramics and the Indian Chemical Society. He is a Council Member of the Indian Society for Technical Education and also a Research Council Member of Dalmia Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is a Life Member of Indian National Science Congress Association, Material Research Society of India, Indian Ceramic Society and Coal Ash Institute of India. Professor Maitra is also in the sub-committees of a number of chambers of commerce and industry bodies.
MAKAUT is proud to have Prof. Maitra as the Hon’ble Vice Chancellor and appreciate his achievements in academic fields.
