IIT-Madras professor wins Nikkei Asia prize – The Hindu

Chennai News

T. Pradeep, a faculty in the chemistry department of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras was honoured with the Nikkei Asia Prizes 2020 in the science and technology category, a press release from the institute said.

The Nikkei Asia Prizes are conferred on individuals who have contributed to the region’s sustainable development and to the creation of a better future in Asia. They are awarded annually in three areas — Economic and Business Innovation, Science and Technology and Culture and Community.

Prof. Pradeep, was honoured with the Padma Shri earlier this year for developing a safe drinking water solution using nanomaterials. The technology has benefited over 1 crore Indians who have access to clean water at a cost of two paise per litre.

Institute director Bhaskar Ramamurthi said, “Prof. Pradeep has brought laurels to himself, his research team, the Institute and the country. Apart from the excellent scientific research pursued by the group led by him, Prof. Pradeep is making a huge contribution in the very critical area of clean water. The Institute is proud of the excellent work done by him and his team.”

The prize includes three million yen and a certificate. It will be presented in Tokyo later this year, at the 25th edition of the award ceremony.

Prof. Pradeep said, “My work is because of the intense devotion of my students, the environment we have at IIT Madras, my funding agencies and my country. It has been my dream to do something for my country.”

Past awardees from India include former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, N. R. Narayana Murthy, Prof. C. N. R. Rao, Kiran Majumdar-Shaw, Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Nandan Nilekani and Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak. Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh was also a recipient.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/iit-madras-professor-wins-nikkei-asia-prize/article31481574.ece