Jacob obtained his BSc degree (1964) from St Joseph's College, Mysore University, and BE degree (1967) in Metallurgy from Indian Institute of Science (IISc). He pursued research in materials extraction and solid-state sensors for liquid metals at Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, under the guidance of FD Richardson and JHE Jeffes. He received the DIC from Imperial College and PhD from London University. Jacob worked at the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science at the University of Toronto as a Research Associate under LM Pidgeon (1970) and later with CB Alcock. Subsequently he joined the faculty and was Associate Professor when he left Toronto in 1983 to become a Professor at IISc, Bangalore. He was conferred the DSc (Engg) degree by London University. Jacob was Chairman of the Department of Metallurgy (1988-92) and Material Research Centre (1993-97) and held the KSIIDC Endowed Chair (1994-97). He was a Visiting Professor at Tohoku University (1998-99, 2007), Japan at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (1992-93); and at Pennsylvania State University, USA (1993) was a consultant to many foreign companies, currently he is Honorary Professor of IISc and Distinguished Professor, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).

Academic and Research Achievements: Jacob has made outstanding contributions to thermodynamics of metal and ceramic systems, solid-state sensors for high-temperature technology, solid oxide fuel cells, system and process modelling, conceptual design of new processes and high-temperature corrosion. He has published 364 research articles.

Other Contributions: Professor Jacob served many professional societies. He was Vice-President the Materials Research Society (2003-07). He was on the Metal Sciences Divisional Council, Indian Institute of Metals (1986-87); Thermodynamic Activity Committee, Materials Science Division, American Society of Metals (1980-84); and so on. He served as Member (1999-01) and Chairman (2001-04) of Programme Advisory Committee for Materials, Minerals and Mining Engineering, DST and as Research Council Member of CGCRI (2004-07) and Central Electrochemical Research Institute (2007-10). He was on the Editorial Boards of 11 international journals including International Journal of Engineering Science; High Temperature Materials and Processes, Zeitschrift fur Metallkunde, Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion.

Awards and Honours: Professor Jacob received the International Hofmann Memorial Prize (1982), National Metallurgist Prize of the Ministry of Steel and Mines (1986), Indranil Award of the Mining, Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India (1991), Materials Research Society of India Medal (1992), Extraction and Processing Science Award of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, USA, (1993), Professor Rustom Choksi Award of Indian Institute of Science (1997), Brahm Prakash Memorial Medal of INSA (1998), GD Birla Gold Medal of Indian Institute of Metals (2000), Materials Scientist of the Year Award of the Materials Research Society of India (2005), and Syed Husain Zaheer Medal of INSA (2007). He is a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, the National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad, Indian National Academy of Engineering, and Indian Institute of Metals.