The third edition of the Prof J B Lal Memorial Lecture was organised online by the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee. The objective of the initiative was to commemorate the achievements of Prof J B Lal in the field of chemical engineering. Prof J B Lal was the founding head of the department of chemical engineering at IIT Roorkee, and the memorial lecture series was started during the academic session of 2018-19.
A Padma Vibhushan recipient and the first Indian engineer to be elected as a Fellow of Royal Society, UK, Prof Man Mohan Sharma, Emeritus Professor, University Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, was the key speaker on the occasion. Prof Sharma delivered a lecture on ‘The Exciting World of Chemical Engineering and the Life of a Teacher in a University.’ The event witnessed the presence of Prof Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee; Prof H P Veluswamy; Prof Prateek Kumar Jha; Prof Shishir Sinha; Prof Shushil Kumar; and Prof A K Sharma.
Widening scope
Speaking at the lecture, Prof Sharma said, “Chemical engineering is a comparatively new branch of engineering that has enhanced the quality of living. The scope of chemical engineering encompasses technology from the nano level to the meso level. Chemical engineers work in diverse sectors ranging from apparel, manufacturing, and much more. New frontiers in biotechnology-based products, particularly in downstream processing, new strategies in separations, nanotechnology, product engineering, formulation engineering, chiral engineering, utilisation of renewable raw materials, CO2 removal on large-scale from lean streams will require smart chemical engineering. The proliferation of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and widening scope of the subject can justifiably classify as it a liberal engineering discipline.”