Awards

National Metallurgist Awards by Ministry of Steel

The Ministry of Steel, Government of India confers National Metallurgist Awards to recognize outstanding contributions in the metallurgical field, covering Operations, Research & Development, Waste Management and Energy Conservation.

1. Lifetime Achievement Award

Shri Sashi Shekhar Mohanty

Shri Sashi Shekhar Mohanty with an illustrious career in Steel and Mining Industry, having exemplary contribution to the Indian Steel Industry over a remarkable career spanning more than 47 years in Metallurgical field ,has been instrumental in development of ground breaking operating practices, process improvements, efficiency enhancements and technological upgradations that has contributed immensely to the present steel scenario. All these efforts resulted in the cost reduction of more than 1 Billion USD for the indian steel industry.

As Director (Technical) SAIL,Sri Mohanty has championed the product development in multiple sectors including the Infrastructure, Engineering, Railways, Space, Automotive and Capital Goods. Sri Mohanty led SAIL team to develop the special steel for Aircraft Carrier, Warships, Submarines and Main Battle Tanks- Arjuna un with collaboration of DMRL, Indian Navy, Indian Army and Ordnance Factories of Govt.of India

As Director of Projects and Business Planning of SAIL, he spearheaded the project management in SAIL in expansion and modernization of steel facilities of 14 Billion USD projects increasing the steel capacity of the country by 8 million tons per annum.

Shri Mohanty’s visionary efforts have advanced collaboration between Steel Industries, academia and research Institutes creating a foundation for future growth and innovations. His commitments to technological advancements and initiatives in establishing Steel Research Technology Mission of India (SRTMI), a pioneer in joint collaboration of Industry and Govt. of India, is testimonial to the leadership in R&D horizon in metal industry.

He has played a pivotal role in enhancing the R&D capabilities of SAIL, translating industrial application of R&D breakthrough into tangible results in the operations. To his credit, he has about 50 Technical Publications in National & International Journals and 3 patents. He has been a driving force behind the Environment Sustainability, Waste Management Programme, Energy Conservation efforts, eco-friendly practices reducing the carbon footprints upto 10 percent thus greening steel industry.

As a Chairman of Metallurgical Engineering Division Council (MTDC) of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Govt. of India, he was instrumental in establishing and regulating standards for different steel products for various applications creating a quality oriented domestic steel market.

Shri Mohanty has been bestowed with several distinguished awards including the distinguished Alumnus Award of NIT, Rourkela and VSSUT, Burla Sambalpur. He has been awarded the Platinum Award and SMS Demag award of Indian Institute of Metals.

He is a fellow of National Academy of Engineers, Institution of Engineers, Quality Circle Federation of India, American Institute of Steel & Technology (AIST) and Institute of Directors (IOD).He is a former president of Indian Institute of Metals, past chairman, CII Odisha, Chairman of QCFI, Bhubaneswar. He has identified challenges and opportunities in metal and mining sectors and guided many cross functional teams towards practical solutions.

As a Director on Board, International Coal Ventures Limited (ICVL), he was instrumental in acquiring a coking coal assets of 2.5 billion tonnes reserves in Mozambique thus fulfilling long term objective of raw material security.

As a Vice-President, Sectoral Council for Skill development (Steel), Government of India, he is instrumental in preparing the workforce with appropriate skill set for the future ready steel industry.

He is a leader who embodies the highest standard of corporate leadership, professionalism, and innovations in the steel sector. His transformative contribution and unwavering dedication have a profound effect on growth trajectory and sustained success.

Ministry of Steel, Govt. of India is proud to honour Shri Sashi Shekhar Mohanty with the Lifetime Achievement of Award for the year 2023 for his valuable contribution to the metallurgical and materials field during the last five decades.

2. National Metallurgist Award

Dr. T.P.D. RAJAN

Dr. T.P.D. Rajan is a renowned metallurgist who has significantly contributed towards the development of lightweight aluminium alloys, metallic composites, functionally graded materials and their engineering components by near net shape manufacturing technologies in collaboration with Indian industries and strategic organization. He has immensely contributed to the national mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat through various indigenous technology development programmes in advanced metallic materials and manufacturing. As the principal investigator of various research and development programmes, he had indigenously developed Aluminium-Silicon Carbide metal matrix composite thermal management materials and components having lightweight, high thermal conductivity and low coefficient of thermal expansion for Light Combat Aircraft in collaboration with Aeronautical
Development Establishment. Aluminium composite first gear housing, piston ring and functionally graded armour plates were developed for battle tanks of Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE), DRDO. Aluminium alloys and Copper coating on epoxy-carbon composite were developed for radio frequency reflector antennas for space applications in collaboration with Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO. Boron carbide reinforced aluminium composite were developed for neutron shielding applications in association with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

Dr. Rajan has established an industry sponsored “Centre of Excellence for Lightweight Material technologies” at CSIR-NIIST, funded by automobile component manufacturing company, ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems, Chennai for the technology and product development of lightweight aluminium alloy and composite materials, thermal management materials and multimaterials for automotive applications. National facilities for the development of thermal management materials and for squeeze casting of aluminium alloy and composite components by near net shape manufacturing techniques for strategic and automotive applications were established with funding from Department of Science and Technology and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research respectively. As principal investigator of Indo German Science and Technology Centre project, he had developed carbon fibre reinforced aluminum composites in association with RWTH Aachen University, Germany. In collaboration with automotive industries, he had developed Aluminium-SiC functionally graded brake rotor discs, Al-SiC-Graphite hybrid functionally graded cylinder liners, Aluminium alloy scroll compressor components, Squeeze cast aluminium compressor heads and manifolds for automobile applications. Wear resistant, self-lubricating and anticorrosive smart coatings were developed for aluminium alloy components and structures.

Dr. Rajan has published more than 100 peer reviewed international journal publications, 15 book chapters and obtained few patents. He is recipient of IIM Nalco Gold Medal conferred by The Indian Institute of Metals (IIM), Award for Excellence in Corrosion Science and Technology conferred by NACE International, IIF Industry Research Award, Chandran Menon Memorial Award for Applied Research and Innovative Technology and Soli-Commissariat Award conferred by The Institute of Indian Foundrymen and INAE-Innovation Project Award for the Best Ph.D. thesis in Engineering at all India level conferred by Indian National Academy of Engineering. He has won various IIM Metallography and EMSI Micrograph awards. He is in the World’s top 2% scientists list published by Stanford University under materials for the years 2020 to 2022. He is recipient of UKIERI Honorary Visiting Researcher and DST Young Scientist Fellowship. He is life member of various professional bodies and currently Chairman of The Indian Institute of Metals, Trivandrum Chapter, Vice-Chairman of The Institute of Indian Foundrymen, Kerala Chapter and former Chairman of the Materials Research Society of India, Trivandrum Chapter. Dr. Rajan did his M.Tech. in process metallurgy from NITK, Surathkal and PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from CSIR-NIIST.

Dr. Rajan is conferred with the National Metallurgist Award 2023 in recognition of his outstanding contributions towards the national mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat through indigenous development of various lightweight metallic materials and engineering components for Indian industries and strategic sectors.

3. R&D in Iron & Steel Sector Award

Dr. D Satish Kumar

Dr Satish Kumar is a distinguished metallurgist and researcher with expertise in Materials Science, Material Characterization, Thermo-Mechanical Simulation, Steelmaking, Waste Utilization, and Physical and Mathematical Modeling. He completed his B.Tech from NIT Raipur (Formerly GEC Raipur), M.Tech from IIT Kanpur and PhD from NIT Surathkal. He is working with JSW Steel for past 20 years, has played a pivotal role in the successful execution of key R&D projects aimed at Productivity Improvement, Cost Reduction, and Waste Utilization at India’s largest integrated steel plant. He possesses expertise in guiding an idea from concept through lab-scale development to pilot testing and ultimately full-scale technology implementation. His works include pioneering advancements in coating technologies, high-strength automotive steels, innovative processes in steelmaking, utilization of steel slags for cement and construction, the replacement of conventional materials with sustainable alternatives, and integration of machine learning models with processes in steel production which has set new benchmarks for performance and environmental protection.

Some of the key achievements of Dr. D Satish Kumar are as listed below

Development of unique Zn-Al-Mg coating for cold rolled sheets having > 6000 hrs of SST corrosion resistance
Development of High Strength Automotive steels such as HS780, DP980 and TRIP through thermo-mechanical simulation first time in India – leading to import substitution
Development of Ferritic rolling for IF grade Steel
Development of Plastic injection process in Electric Arc Furnace
Development of new tundish and SEN design by water modeling for benchmark caster yield
Development of Blowing Process for High Manganese Hot Metal in BOF Steelmaking
Development of an innovative swirling lance for Hot Metal De-Sulphurization
Development of a single step De-Si and De-S process at Hot Metal Pre-Treatment.
Process development for use of steel slags in cement making and construction.
Setting up plants for converting BF and LD slag into fine aggregate replacing river
sand
Use of mill-scale briquettes in LD converter as alternative coolant replacing iron ore
Development of dry slag atomization for Blast furnace
Development of On-line Machine learning based models for property prediction in steelmaking, rolling and agglomeration leading to cost reduction

He was also instrumental in establishing state of the art R&D facility at JSW Vijayanagar works, with development of expert teams in characterization, modeling and new product development. Dr. D Satish has published 170 technical papers in international journals and conferences. He has filed 30 patents and registered 10 copyrights. He has supervised more than 25 B.Tech and M.Tech students. He worked on many collaborative projects of industrial relevance with IITs, IISc, NITs, CSIR labs, and Technology suppliers. He is in the project review committees of Ministry of Steel and other industrial bodies and editorial board of many Journals. He is the recipient of National Young Metallurgist of the Year (2007) – Awarded by Ministry of Steel, Govt. of India, Sail Gold Medal as Co-Author (2012) – Awarded by Indian Institute of Metals, Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Service Award’ in 2016, 2023 and 2024 – Awarded by IOD, National Energy Efficiency Innovation Award (2021) – Awarded by Ministry of Power, Govt. of India. His works has led to significant advancements in cost reduction, quality and productivity improvements, energy savings, process optimization, and environmental protection. The Award for R&D in the Iron & Steel Sector is presented to Dr. D Satish Kumar in recognition of his exceptional and ground breaking contributions to the development and implementation of numerous technologies in Steel Industry.

4. Young Metallurgist (Environment) Award

Dr. Sai Gautam Gopalakrishnan

Dr. Sai Gautam Gopalakrishnan has been awarded as the ‘Young Metallurgist’ in the Environmental category for the year 2023, owing to his outstanding contributions, thus far, on materials design and discovery for energy applications. Sai is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), where he began in July, 2020. Sai is an expert on using computational and machine learning techniques for materials design and discovery in the energy storage and energy harvesting domains. Sai and his group have made several significant contributions in discovering new materials, such as electrodes for beyond-lithium-ion batteries and semiconductors for beyond-silicon photovoltaics. Sai’s group also works on improving the fundamental understanding of existing candidates, such as building temperature-composition phase diagrams and quantifying ionic mobility in solids. Further, his group spends significant efforts in quantifying uncertainty via benchmarking computational and machine learned predictions versus available experimental data.

Sai started his academic career by doing a dual degree (i.e., B.Tech. + M.Tech.) in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM; 2008-13). During his Masters thesis, Sai ventured into computational materials science, under the guidance of Prof. K. C. Hari Kumar, to study the thermochemical and physical properties of transition metal carbides and nitrides. Subsequently, Sai pursued a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; 2013-17), under the guidance of Prof. Gerbrand Ceder. During his PhD, Sai worked on materials design and discovery for magnesium batteries, a key pathway in developing beyond-lithium-ion architectures. Following his PhD, Sai pursued postdoctoral research (2017-20) under the mentorship of Prof. Emily A. Carter at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University. At Princeton, Sai unearthed new candidate materials for solar thermochemical water-splitting and improved understanding of defect behavior in sulfide-based photovoltaics.

At IISc, Sai runs a successful research group, consisting of 1 Institute of Eminence post-doctoral fellow, 5 solo-advised PhD students, 2 co-advised PhD students, 2 M.Tech. students, and 2 undergraduates. So far, Sai has mentored 6 M.Tech., 4 B.Tech., 1 M.Sc., and 1 B.Sc. theses. Sai has obtained several research grants from various extramural organisations, including the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Defence Research and Development
Organisation, the Science and Engineering Research Board, and the National Supercomputing Mission. He also collaborates extensively with industries, evidenced by his ongoing projects with Shell India, Schaeffler India, and Tata Consultancy Services.

Overall, Sai has published a total of 75 peer-reviewed papers (39 after joining IISc) in prestigious international journals, filed 2 provisional US and 1 Indian patents, and given a total of 75 invited/contributed presentations at prestigious international conferences and research institutions. His scientific impact is summarised by 4900+ citations, a h-index of 31, and an i10-index of 52, as per Google Scholar (on 12 th August, 2024). Some of Sai’s accolades include the ‘Prof. Priti Shankar Award for Teaching’ by IISc (2024), the ‘Young Battery Researcher Award’ given by the International Meeting on Energy Storage Devices (2023), selected as an ‘Associate’ by the Indian Academy of Sciences (2022-25), the Best PhD thesis award at MIT (2017), and the Sri V. Srinivasan Memorial Prize/Gold medal at IITM (2013). Apart from research, Sai is an active reviewer of several prestigious journals, including nature-family, ACS, RSC, APS, and AIP journals, teaches 3 Masters-level courses, and is an active contributor to several committees at the departmental and institutional levels.

5. Young Metallurgist (Metal Science) Award

Dr. Biraj Kumar Sahoo

Dr. Biraj Kumar Sahoo is a leading researcher working in the field of steel design & development, materials processing and characterization. Dr. Sahoo has been instrumental in over 40 R&D projects, profoundly influencing industries such as steel, oil & gas, power plants, manufacturing, and strategic sectors. Through collaborative projects with prestigious organizations like ISRO, RDCIS-SAIL, Tata Steel, Indian Navy, NMRL-DRDO, and Indian Air Force, he has significantly contributed to advancing industrial and strategic capabilities.

His dedicated efforts have led to successful process development and implementation, earning him 10 Indian patents, 30+ publications in peer-reviewed journals, and several accolades. Among his notable contributions is the development of third-generation medium- Mn advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) for automotive applications, which exhibits exceptional strength and crashworthiness (strength-elongation product: 30-50 GPa%), enhancing passenger safety while potentially reducing automotive weight, fuel consumption, and CO 2 emissions. He also led the development of a novel two-stage batch annealing cycle for industrial production of low-carbon deep-drawable steel that exhibited high plastic anisotropy (r m =2.45), along with good strength and elongation.

In the strategic sector, Dr. Sahoo developed a super-martensitic stainless steel having exceptionally high yield strength along with extraordinary cryo-toughness for critical cryogenic applications in space vehicles. He also carried out exhaustive material health examinations of various in-service/retired naval ship components and devised a rejuvenation annealing protocol that significantly extended the operational life of these components. Furthermore, Dr. Sahoo has led numerous metallurgical failure investigations, identifying root causes of failures and implementing remedial measures for aerospace, railway, power plant, and industrial components, leading to substantial improvements in safety, productivity, and a marked reduction in recurring failures.

In recognition of his remarkable contributions to advanced steel development and materials processing, Dr. Biraj Kumar Sahoo is honoured with the “Young Metallurgist (Metal Science) Award-2023”. His work has seamlessly bridged scientific understanding with practical applications, making a lasting impact on multiple sectors and contributing to the vision of “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat”.