Dr. Mihir Kumar Purkait received his Ph.D and M.Tech in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IITKGP) after completing his B.Tech and B.Sc (Hons) in Chemistry from University of Calcutta. He has also done his post PhD research in MIT (USA). Prof.
Purkait is a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) UK, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET) UK, Fellow of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (FIIChE) India, Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science & Technology (FAScT) India, and Fellow of Institute of Engineers (FIE) India. He is the director of 2 incubated company (viz. RD Grow Green India Pvt. Ltd. and Vixudha Bio Products Ltd.). He is also a technical advisor of Gammon India Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation, Bethkuchi for their water treatment plant. He is currently the Chair Professor for National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM) Govt.
of India, an initiative to provide safe drinking water to every rural household. He has also received several awards like; BOYSCAST Fellow award (2009-10) from the DST, Young Engineers Award in the field of Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Engineers (India, 2009), Young Scientist Medal award from the Indian National Science Academy (INSA, 2009), and Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation national fellowship from Indian National Academy of Engineering. His current research activities are focused in four distinct areas namely i) advanced separation technologies, ii) waste to energy, iii) smart materials for various applications and iv) process intensification. In each area, his goal is to synthesize stimuli responsive materials and to develop a more fundamental understanding of the factors governing the performance of the chemical and biochemical processes. He has more than 20 years of experience in academics and research and has published more than 300 papers in different reputed journals (Citation: >13,000, h-index = 66, i-10 index = 160). To his credit are 12 patents and 10 books. He has completed 34 sponsored and consultancy projects from various funding agencies and has guided 18 Ph.D students.