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Ashutosh Sharma obtained BTech (Chemical Engineering) (1982) from IIT Kanpur with distinction, MS (Chemical Engineering) from the Penn State University (1984) and PhD (Chemical Engineering) (1987) from State University of New York at Buffalo. During his PhD, he worked with Professor Eli Ruckenstein on problems related to thin liquid films, stability of the tear film and dry eyes. He had a brief stint at Suny Buffalo Medical School (1988-90) as Research Faculty and worked there on dry eyes and epithelial stem ceels and wound healing. He joined IIT Kanpur (1990), was promoted to the rank of Professor (1997), was Head of Chemical Engineering (2003-05), and is an Institute Chair Professor (2006-) at IITK currently on deputation starting January 2015 to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India..
Academic and Research Contributions: At IIT Kanpur, Sharma has worked on both theory and experiments related to a wide spectrum of problems on soft materials, colloids and interfaces, confined systems and functional materials. His latest areas of interest include thin films and coatings, smart and functional interfaces, soft adhesion and novel adhesives, wetting, nano-composites in energy, health and environment, meso-patterning of polymers, ceramics, hydrogels and carbon, carbon MEMS, nano-mechanics of interfaces and meso-scale systems, self-assembly and self-organization. His studies led to a fundamental understanding of instabilities and pattern formation in soft thin films and several novel strategies based on self-organization for large area, sub-micron patterning of polymers by control of external fields, templating and stress engineering. He authored over 300 peer reviewed research publications and has mentored over 60 MTech, 20 PhD students and 10 post-docs.
Other Contributions: Professor Sharma set up a DST Unit on Nanosciences at IIT Kanpur with major fabrication and characterization facilities. He has seved as a Member of the board/council of over 15 institutions such as the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (Mohali), National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (Tiruvananthapuram), TIFR Hyderabad, etc. He edited two books, and has been on the Editorial boards of Carbon (2014-), ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (2013), ACS Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research (2013-), ASME Journal of Micro- and nano-Manufacturing (2012-), Chemical Engineering Science (2007-09), Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering (2006-08), Indian Chemical Engineer (2006-) and Journal of Colloid and Interface Science (2000-02). He is an Associate Editor of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (2014-).
Awards and Honours: Professor Sharma has been a recipient of the Infosys Prize (2010), The TWAS Prize (2008), SS Bhatnagar Prize (2002), The Syed Husain Zaheer Medal of INSA (2011), Lifetime Achievement Award of the Indian Science Congress (2010), Homi J. Bhabha Award of UGC (2007), Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2006), Professor MM Sharma Medal and Chemcon Distinguished Speaker (2006), the Herdillia Award of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (2003), and Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Kanpur (2007). He was also awarded JC Bose Fellowship of the Department of Science & Technology (2006-). He has been elected Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, the National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad and the Indian National Academy of Engineering. More information on Ashutosh Sharma: DST Unit of Excellence on Soft Nanofabrication (2012-2016) and DST Unit on Nanoscience (2006-2011) at IITK |
