Occupation Metallurgist Name Prafulla Jena | Awards Padma Shri | |
Born 27 December 1931 Odisha, India | ||
Prafulla Kumar Jena is an Indian metallurgist and a former director of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (formerly Regional Research Laboratory) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Bhubaneshwar. He has held the TATA chair of the Distinguished Professor of the Department of Metallurgical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri in 1977.
Contents
Biography
Born on 27 December 1931 in the Indian state of Odisha, P. K. Jena completed his graduate degree in chemistry with honours and a master's degree in physical chemistry from Utkal University. He stayed back at the university for his doctoral research to secure a PhD and shifted his studies to University of British Columbia from where he completed MS in metallurgical engineering. He started his career as a senior scientist at the metallurgy division of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay but moved, later, to Banares Hindu University as a professor of metallurgical engineering. Before holding the Tata Chair of the Distinguished Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur at their department of metallurgical engineering, Jena served as the director of the Regional Research Laboratory (RRL) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (1972) and as the director general of CSIR (1986). He has also been a senior visiting professor at two overseas universities, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. A former president of the Natural Resources Development Foundation, Jena holds the chair of the Institute of Advanced Technology and Environmental Studies, an organization engaged technical consultancy and training in the fields of mining and mineral processing, management of waste and water resources and material development.
Legacy
The research of P. K. Jena focused on the upgradation of ores and minerals, and the recovery of metal values from industrial wastes and is known to have developed methods for recovery of coal fines from slime, iron values from tailings and the beneficiation of low grade iron and manganese ores. He is reported to have developed metallothermic reduction processes for Niobium, Tantalum, Vanadium, Tungsten and Molybdenum. He has also contributed in the areas of chloride metallurgy of non ferrous ores and extraction of nickel, cobalt, copper, lead, zinc, vanadium and manganese. His researches have assisted in developing new waste management processes as well as value recovery processes from industrial and mining wastes. His researches are documented in 240 published research papers and he holds 55 patents.
Jena's contributions are noted in the establishment of the Institute of Physics, Planetarium and Science Centre, Bhubaneswar and was its founder chairman. He has also been the founder president of the Natural Resources Development Foundation (NRDF), Bhubaneswar and is the founder chairman of the Institute of Advance Technology & Environmental Studies (IATES), Bhubaneswar. He has been the founder editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal, Journal of Sustainable Planet of the IATES, started in 2010.
Awards and honours
Jena is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Institution of Engineers, India and a fellow of the Indian Institute of Metals. He is a life member and former president of the Indian Science Congress Association, a former member of the Planning Board of Orissa and a former President of Orissa Bigyan Academy.
Jena received the National Metallurgist Award in 1969 from the Indian Institute of Metals and the civilian honour of Padma Shri from the Government of India in 1977. He is a recipient of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries Award (1982), Institution of Engineers (India) Award (1998), Odisha Bigyan Academy Senior Scientist Award (1999), BHU Distinguished Services Award (2008), Times of India Think Odisha Leadership Award (2010),and Rajiv Gandhi Professional Award (2012) and Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur Distinguished Scientist Award (2012). He has also received lifetime achievement awards from Ravenshaw Chemistry Alumni Association, Ravenshaw University (2008) and Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology.