Mylapore Venkatarama Chellappa Sastri obtained PhD (1945) from University of Bombay. He was Professor, Materials Science Research Centre (1974-77), Professor and Head, Department of Chemistry (1961-74), IIT Madras; Chairman, Hydrogen Energy Task Force (DST) and Scientist-in-Charge, Hydrogen Energy Projects, IIT Madras (1977-80); and also Consultant Professor, Department of Energy, University of Madras.

Academic and Research Achievements: Sastri was deeply interested in physical chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, solid-state chemistry, materials science and energy science. He carried out pioneering studies on: (i) mixed adsorption of reactants on catalysts under near reaction conditions and identification of reaction intermediates in the synthesis of hydrocarbons, methanol and ammonia; (ii) solid-state chemistry, electronic properties and catalytic behaviour of ternary semiconducting oxides of transition metals leading to structure-activity correlations; and (iii) relative roles of electronic and geometric factors in heterogeneous catalysis. He conducted systematic studies of ternary oxides (vanadates, molybdates, titanates, ferrites, lanthanates and cobaltites), their syntheses and electrical and magnetic properties. He also worked on the development of semiconductor electrodes for hydrogen production by solar photoelectrolysis of water and metal hydride systems for hydrogen storage.

Other Contributions: Professor Sastri served as Member of the Editorial Board of International Journal of Hydrogen Energy; and was also on the Board of Directors of International Association for Hydrogen Energy.