By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 14 Feb: The ‘International Conference on Advances in Chemical Engineering’ concluded successfully at the Bidholi Campus of UPES. The event, organised by the ‘Department of Chemical Engineering’, School of Engineering (SoE), and ‘Research & Development (R&D)’, was sponsored jointly by the ‘Department of Science & Technology – Science & Engineering Research Board’ (DST-SERB) and the ‘Uttarakhand State Council for Science & Technology’ (UCOST). Luminaries from academia, industry and government agencies attended the 3-day event. Padma Vibhushan awardee Dr Man Mohan Sharma was the ‘Key Note Speaker’. Around 300 researchers, scholars, academicians and industry representatives from across the globe participated in the conference. In the opening ceremony, Mentor ‘AdChe 2020’, Prof Santosh K Gupta, Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, UPES, welcomed the guests, speakers and delegates. In his Keynote Address Prof Man Mohan Sharma touched upon Smart Crystallisation in the Pharma Industry, Efficient Impellers for Optimum Mixing, Opportunities in Smart Separation Techniques in converting Crude Oil to Petrochemicals. “Bio-chemical Engineering is once again going to be the future in the world. With alternate energies viz. Solar, Wind, Nuclear, etc., a tectonic shift will soon take place in refining of crude oil. Instead of refining it only for fuels, the emphasis will now be on petrochemicals. Electro Chemical Engineering is bound to make a strong comeback with the rise is the availability of Solar & other alternate energies. Design of Reactors and Equipment for Smart Chemical Engineering will hold a lot of opportunities while nano-precious metal based catalysts will hold the key to Smart Chemical Engineering,” he shared. Prof Sharma is also a ‘Fellow of the Royal Society of UK. Among other eminent speakers, Padma Bhushan awardee Prof JB Joshi shared ways through which science and technology could help improve the standard of living at the bottom of the pyramid and solve social issues. Prof Rakesh Agarwal of Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, USA, stressed on the use of renewable energy sources extensively for development. Prof Jayesh R Bellare, IIT Mumbai, spoke on ‘Role of Nano Technology in Homeopathy’ and how chemical engineering helps in developing medicines. Prof Aniruddha B Pandit, VC – ICT, Mumbai, spoke about the treatment of alkyl resin wastewater for reuse opportunities. Prof Yogesh M Joshi, IIT Kanpur, dealt with the different shades of Thixotropy – a time-dependent shear thinning property. Prof Deepak Kunzru, Ahmedabad University, gave a detailed understanding of what monoliths are and how economical can certain processes be. Prof Sadhan C Jana, University of Akron, USA, addressed air quality around the globe. Prof Vilas G Gaikar, ICT Mumbai, talked about conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol by solar photo catalysis. Prof Devang V Khakar, IIT Mumbai, talked about Discrete Element Method (DEM). Prof Madhumita B Ray, Western University, Canada, addressed the global water supply issue. Prof Ajay K Ray, also from University of Western Ontario, spoke on SMB Adsorptive Separation, advantages of Chromatography, Limitations of Batch Chromatography, etc. The conference witnessed numerous Paper & Poster Competitions on various areas of research by students. The Valedictory Ceremony witnessed closing speeches by Dr SJ Chopra, Chancellor UPES; Prof SK Gupta, and Conference Convener Prof Vijay Parthasarthy, Head, Department of Chemical Engineering. Conference Chair Dr Kamal Bansal attributed the success of the event to the tireless contributions by Secretaries Dr Pranava Chaudhari and Dr. Nilanjana Banerjee; Mentors Prof Santosh K Gupta and Prof DN Saraf; Conveners Dr Jitendra K Pandey and Dr P Vijay and the Organising Committee. Briefing the media, Arun Dhand, Senior Director, UPES, shared that the conference was a huge success.
