PRESIDENT, MARATHI VIDNYAN PARISHAD

Education:

Born on May 28, 1949 in Masur (Dist: Satara), Maharashtra, he obtained Bachelor and Doctorate degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai.

Experience and Contributions:

Prof. J.B. Joshi has done truly outstanding work in the area of multiphase reactor design. He has succeeded admirably in developing design procedures for multiphase sparged and mechanically agitated reactors. His success has arisen out of a conceptual breakthrough and has brought about fresh thinking in this difficult area in which several renowned scientists all over the world are actively involved. A unique blend of theory, modelling, experiments and intuition has resulted in a rational basis for the design, scale-up and implementation of a large number of commercial size reactors in India and throughout the World.

He joined the faculty in 1972 in the University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT, now ICT) and held the position of Director during 1999-2009.

His progress as an independent researcher has been phenomenal in all respects: teacher, scholarly writer and also as the most wanted consultant in the Chemical Industry in India and abroad. This is evident from the list of his publications (more than 400) and extraordinary citations [9700, Google Scholar] to his credit. He continues to be very productive and has graduated 69 Ph.D.'s, 59 Masters and supervised 20 Post-doctoral students.

His major contributions include:

  1. He has developed in-house codes for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for multiphase dispersions and complex geometries. These codes have many superior features which better describe the physics of fluid motion as compared with the available commercial codes.
  2. He has made detailed flow/ temperature/ concentration measurements using laser-Doppler anemometer (LDA), particle image velocimeter (PIV) phase Doppler particle analyzer, hot film anemometer (HFA) and ultrasound Doppler anemometer. For the first time, he has performed the LDA measurements in multiphase dispersions and developed an algorithm for the prediction of fractional gas hold-up and bubble size distribution. He has extended the PIV technique to shadography for measuring motion of dispersed phases (bubbles, drops and particles).
  3. Using these first two steps and using the mathematical tools, he has developed a methodology for estimating detailed knowledge of the entire range of length, velocity and energy scales of turbulent structures in large number of Chemical Process Equipment.
  4. He has developed relationship between the flow patterns (mean and turbulent) and the design parameters such as axial mixing, mixing time, heat and mass transfer coefficients, etc.
  5. He has been developing insights into the published theories of heat and mass transfer and used these for equipment miniaturization (reduction in capital cost) and intensification of ongoing operations (reduction in operating cost).
  6. Professor Joshi has analysed probably the most complex case of multiphase reactions, namely the absorption of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in water, alkaline and acidic solutions.
  7. Prof. Joshi has been able to enhance the productivity and selectivity of a number of a manufacturing processes including those competitively offered on the global basis. He has invented novel designs which are far superior in performance and less expensive in capital and operating costs. Prof. Joshi (together with colleagues) has developed novel designs for cooker and stoves with thermal efficiencies of 50 to 60% as compared with conventional numbers in developing world in the range of 12 to 20%. In the developing world more than 300 billion dollar worth energy is used in household cooking. He has licensed and commercialized the technologies. Prof. Joshi has been very active in promoting science awareness in society holding about 200 workshop and 100,000 participants per year.

As the Director of Institute of Chemical Technology (1999-2009) he succeeded admirably in the formidable and mammoth task of coveting the University Department to Autonomous University Institution and finally to full-fledged University. During his tenure all the academic parameters increased by factor of atleast two (number of international publications, citations per year, number of Ph.D. admissions per year). As a consequence, the Institution ranked among top ten in the World. He was also responsible for phenomenal growth in external revenue generation (ERG) with compounded growth of 25% per year through research contracts, consultancy projects and donations. In 2009, such ERG was almost ten times the Government Grant, perhaps the highest ratio among state funded institutions.

Awards and recognitions:

Prof. Joshi is the recipient of numerous awards and honours. Notable among them are:

  • Padma Bhushan
  • Shantiswarup Bhatnagar Prize for Engineering Sciences
  • Amar-Dye-Chem Award for Excellence in Research and Development – Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • Herdillia Award
  • Vaswik Award
  • Dr KG Naik Gold Medal
  • Chemtech Foundation Award
  • Goyal Foundation Award
  • Dr. Anji Reddy Innovation Award
  • Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers Award

Academic recognitions:

  • DAE - Homi Bhabha Chair Professor, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai
  • J. C. Bose Fellow in the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
  • Fellow of Indian National Science Academy (FNA)
  • Fellow of Academy for the Developing World (TWAS)
  • INSA Medal for Young Scientist
  • Fellowship of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore
  • Diamond Award of UDCT
  • Viswakarma Medal of INSA
  • Zyed Hussain Zaheer Medal of INSA