Listening to Professor M M Sharma, the greatest Indian Chemical Engineer

Professor M M Sharma is a renowned Chemical Engineer from India, a legend, taught several students in Institute of Chemical Technology,  Mumbai. Reliance Industries Chief also was his student.

My desertation work in final year Chemical Engineering course in the year 1987-88 was on manufacturing hydrogen from natural gas which was found in KG basin few years before.  As a part of this during literature review,  I  came across several papers in different journals by Professor M M Sharma on CO2 absorption in monoehanol amine. 

My professor told us that, "Chemical Engineering is about creating more contact area" for chemical processes to proceed.

Last month, after 38 years of working, I retired from government organization. Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend a talk on "Innovations in Chemical Industry" by the Professor and organized by Chemical Engineering Chapter. Never did I imagine that I could see him in my life. 

In his talk, while describing several Iinnovations that have taken place in the last few decades, he stated that, "Wars are destructive, but productive for innovations". Many things came due to necessity during wars.

During the program, we came to know that Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), CSIR, India had contribution to develpping biodegradable plastic in 150-180 days. It's technology was transferred to Greenworksbio Products (GBPL), Hyderabad-based sustainable packaging firm that partnered with IICT to launch 19 commercial bioplastic products, including eco-friendly cutlery and packaging.

The program overall was good and the best part is to see Professor M M Sharma in person.