Paul Ratnasamy

Paul Ratnasamy is an Indian catalyst scientist, INSA Srinivasa Ramanujan Research Professor and a former director of the National Chemical Laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He was honored by the Government of India in 2001 with the country's fourth-highest civilian awards, the Padma Shri.

Biography Paul Ratnasamy was born on 11 June 1942 in Chennai, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. on his thesis, Catalytic properties of alumina based materials in 1967.

Achievements and positions During his tenure as the director, NCL started the Catalysis Division as a dedicated facility for advanced research on the subject.

Ratnasamy is credited with several scientific and technological innovations. as his associate, alumina surface models and, together with S. Sivasanker, models of Co-Mo-alumina hydrodesulfurisation catalyst which are considered as valid models. The method deploys a technique where the hydrocarbons in the oils are unlocked by removing the oxygen and releasing it in the form of carbon dioxide, instead of in the form water, which requires the use of expensive hydrogen. This has been sourced by AliphaJet and marketed by them under the name, BoxCar™. He has served on the editorial boards of such international journals as Journal of Catalysis, Applied Catalysis, Catalysis Letters, Topics in Catalysis, Cattech, Zeolites and Microporous and Mesoporous Materials. He has attended many seminars and conferences and delivered keynote addresses on Catalysis Two years later, he was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Engineering Sciences, in 1984. Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, awarded him the K. G. Naik Gold Medal in 1989. He received the Om Prakash Bhasin Award in 1992, the TWAS technology award from the Third World Academy of Sciences and the Viswakarma Medal by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), both in 1994. In 2001, the Government of India honored Ratnasamy with the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award. The International Zeolite Association conferred on him their annual award in 2004. He is also a recipient of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Award, Firodia Award, Bhangur Award, FIE Foundation Award.

Catalysis Today, a peer reviewed journal, honoured Ratnasamy on his 70th birthday by dedicating their December 2012 issue to him. He is an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), the Third World Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, India and the Indian National Academy of Engineering. Recently, the Petrotech Foundation had bestowed its Life Time Achievement Award (Category - R & D) for 2016 to Paul Ratnasamy.