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Letter of Reference/Nomination
It gives me immense pleasure to nominate Dr. Shirish H. Sonawane for Kosala National
award Instituted by IIT Roorkee. I know Shirish from last 8 years. He usually visits my
research group in Institute of Chemical Technology for the discussions on various
research tasks. He has completed a DSTFast track research project on“Sonochemical
Carbonation project on CaCO3 synthesis and its applications. During this project work,
many times he met me for the guidance on technical issues. Three of his Ph.D. students
also worked in my research group for National Academy of Science Fellowship. We
jointly published number of research paper on polymer nanoparticle synthesis and insitu
polymerization process. Jointly we have completed one research project on development
of nanocontainers for anticorrosion coatings. In which we have filed one patent.
In 2009, he has received prestigious BOYSCAST Fellowship sponsored by Department
of Science and Technology to work on Sonochemistry and Nanotechnology research area
in the Sonochemistry research group in University of Melbourne. Based on his research
work he has published two research papers in Journal of Physical Chemistry (ACS) and
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research (ACS). Dr. Sonawane has already
established his own research group in his institute. The receipt ofBOYCAST fellowship
means that his strong academic abilities have already been recognized bythe Indian
Scientific Organizations. He is an enthusiastic young researcher and has the potentialto
establish an expanded career in science and is capable of leading a large research team. I
visited his institute and interacted with his Ph.D. students.His contribution in
development of Chemical Reaction Engineering laboratory and research laboratory is
worthwhile. He is currently working on Environment and Forest project on Development
of low cost waste water treatment technology using hydrodynamic cavitation and
nanoparticles in collaboration with industry. Recently ISRO has sanctioned funds for him
for development of nano aluminum nanoparticles and its dispersion process for
propellent.
Corning Technology has donated a Rs.30 Lacs Advance Flow Reactor which is unique
facility available in India. He is now working with some pharmaceutical industries for
process development work.
He also has developed a good linkage with the industries for research work.With strong
engineering background and appropriate research approach, he contributed significantly
while designing and carrying number of experiments for our novel process development
for nanomaterial production-Hydrodynamic cavitation which is being commercialized
We have filed a patent on this innovative technology. I am helping him to make it
successful. He is working with some of industries such as Viral Floor care, Calchem
industries, BYK Chemie, Roxy chemicals for nanoproduct and process development.
It makes me proud to nominate Dr. Shirish H. Sonawane for Kohsala National Award
coatings then pollution is one of the important issue. Hence the proposal is very much
relevant to materials for the environment. Shirish has expertise in green processing and
Professor Aniruddha B Pandit, FNA, FTWAS
Professor an Dean, Chemical Engineering Department
Institute of Chemical Technology Matunga Mumbai
Annexure II
Significant contributions by the nominee during his/her/their career in India.
i. Overall focus of the work
Dr. Shirish Sonawane’s (nominee) major contributions in the engineering field are
centered on the development of various high–throughput processes in nanotechnology
and water treatment. Dr. Sonawane’s work has led to the development of new process
technologies that are commercially relevant. His work specifically focused on process
intensification techniques, hydrodynamic cavitation process, various sonochemical
processes, and microreactor–based processes. He further applied these processes for
high–quality nanoparticles production and treatment of complex wastewaters.
ii. Large–scale impact
Starting from the lab–scale research to develop novel processes, the nominee transferred
them to pilot–scale and made them ready to license for the local small–medium
enterprises (SMEs). The two pilot plants, one in Bengaluru and one in Ahmadabad, are
used for the production of nanoparticles and the wastewater treatment, respectively. The
nominee was granted 5 Indian patents, which notably benefited various industrial
organizations. He has filed additional 17 patent applications that are currently under
examination. Developing the indigenous process technologies has been the nominee’s
focus, which has greatly impacted the chemical engineering industry in India. Dr.
Sonawane implemented several short–term, time–targeted research programs that
addressed the problems in taking the laboratory research to the industry and he tackled
them with the help of his post–graduate students, thus creating a complete practical
framework for the technologies developed during his time.
iii. Specifics of research
Conventionally, nanoparticles were synthesized by “beaker–chemistry”, which lacked
quality control required for scale–up. Dr. Sonawane developed a sonochemical process,
modified it to suit the synthesis of various types of nanoparticles. He demonstrated the
synthesis of nanosized Mg(OH)2 for fire retardancy, CaCO3 for commercial composites,
Ca3(PO4)2 for rheology modification, pigments for coatings, TiO2 for sensors, ZnO for
anticorrosion, Bi2O3/ZrTiO4 for photoanodes, nanocontainer based release in polymer
coatings for corrosion inhibition and several others.
Further, the nominee ventured into hybrid hydrodynamic cavitation–based processes to
effectively treat the wastewater containing recalcitrant and harmful contaminants. He
adopted an integrated approach of combining hydrodynamic cavitation with various
advanced oxidation processes and designed continuous processes with high efficiency
and throughput. The nominee demonstrated the applicability of this work in the removal
of various dyes and pesticides. A number of customized hydrodynamic cavitation
processes for specific applications are scaled up for SMEs.
Recently, Dr. Sonawane started a cutting–edge research program focused on the
development of microreactor–based processes to synthesize technologically–challenging
organic chemicals and high–precision nanomaterials. He demonstrated the controlled
synthesis of extremely exothermic compounds such as performic acid, peracetic acid,
peroxypropionic acid, and pharmaceutical intermediate Tetrazol. He also extended the
application of microreactor–based processes to continuously produce an iron oxide,
silver, nickel, zinc sulfide, platinum, palladium, and copper chromite nanomaterials.
iv. Dissemination of research and its impact
The nominee’s publication profile shows the depth of his research impact in his field. He
has published over 200 articles in reputed SCI journals such as Nature Scientific Reports,
Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, Chemical Engineering Journal, Industrial Engineering
Chemistry Research, Journal of Hazardous Materials and Chemical Engineering and
Processing–Process Intensification, to name a few. Scopus citations of 3200 and H–index
of 35 show that Dr. Sonawane is one of the highly cited experts in his area of research.
Nonetheless, he also published 19 book chapters and 2 books with renowned publishers
such as Elsevier and Taylor & Francis. He has also delivered 40 invited talks within India
and abroad. The nominee has supervised 15 PhD and 8 M.Tech students who are well–
placed in the chemical engineering industry. Currently, he supervises 8 PhD students,
which are funded through various grants.
Dr. Sonawane established a mini center of excellence on ‘Sonoprocess Engineering for
Nanomaterials’ in 2013 to provide a research platform for international research groups,
local industry, and various research scholars within India. This mini center has been very
successful through which, the nominee initiated productive collaborations with Germany
(Dr. Gorak), Australia (Dr. Ashok Kumar), Portugal (Dr. Pinho), and Russia (Dr. Potoroko).
Moreover, Corning Industries generously donated Advanced Flow Reactors worth of
30,000 Euros to this mini center of excellence to boost the industry–academia
collaboration. The center is frequently used by Neuland Labs, Reddy’s Lab, Biocon,
Indian Oil, and Hetero Drugs for their ongoing process intensification studies.
Dr. Sonawane is an avid promotor of start–up culture in academia and actively supports
students’ ideas through technical, collaborative, and moral inputs. Currently, he mentors
two start–ups namely, Flowrhex Technologies (process intensification) and Reaction Box
(microreactor–based technologies).
v. Public and privately–funded projects
Dr. Sonawane’s research programs are well–funded by various government agencies and
industries in India. He has successfully completed projects funded by DST (Fast Track
Scheme), SERB, ISRO, DRDO, and Ministry of Environmental, Forest and Climate
Change (MoEF). Currently, he is running the projects totaling 5 crores funded by Ministry
of Electronics and Information Technology, MoEF, and DRDO. He is building a pilot–scale
plant of water treatment funded by the Clean Technology division of MoEF.
Dr. Sonawane is well sought–after consultant in the field of nano–based product
development and water treatment in India. He mainly works with Felix Industries,
Ahmedabad; K–Pack Systems, Bengaluru; Krishna Water & Chemical Services, Surat;
Roha Carbonates, Raigad; Jason Chemicals, Ahmedabad; Calchem Industries, Mumbai;
Hetero Drugs, Hyderabad; and Neuland Labs, Hyderabad.
vi. Awards and Fellowships
Dr. Sonawane has received several prestigious awards for his contributions to
engineering research. He is a recipient of prestigious Gandhian Young Technological
Innovation award GYTI-BIRAC, V.N.M.M. award of IIT Roorkee, Telangana Academy of
Sciences award, and Institution of Engineers India award. He is also a proud recipient of
DST’s BOYSCAST fellowship, European Commission’s Heritage Fellowship, and the
European Union’s Erasmus Mundus fellowship. The nominee also served as a visiting
professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal and provided the expertise on
nanotechnology–based water treatment. He is an elected fellow of Maharashtra Academy
of Sciences and a member of Indian Academy of Sciences. He is visiting professor to
South Ural State University Russia.
Annexure C-1 Details of Externally funded R&D Projects Handled:
As Principal Investigators
Title Duration Cost Funding agency
Process control of polymerization reactors 2008-10 1.50 Lacs
$2500 University of Pune
Ultrasound synthesis of functional nano latex 2009
5 Lacs $8333
BOYSCAST award, Government of India
Anticorrosive properties of nanocontainers using nanoparticles
2011-2013
10 Lacs $16666
Department of Science and Technology,
Government of India
Experimental and theoretical investigation of nanoparticle formation by ultrasound atomization process
2012-13 3.33 Lacs
$5500 Ministry of Human
Resource Development
Development of dispersion process of high solid containing propellant slurry with Al nanoparticles
2013-15 10.40 Lacs
$17333 Indian Space Research
Organization
Synthesis of nanohydrogel, and development of hybrid waste water treatment technique using cavitation technique and hydrogel
2013-16 58 Lacs $96666
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Prototype development of fuel cell 2014-17 104 Lacs $173333
Department of Information and
Technology, Government of India
Development of hybrid,self-healing coating using ultrasound assisted encapsulation approach for anticorrosion performance
2014-2017
34 Lacs $56666
Extramural Research & Intellectual Property
Rights, Defense Research and Development
Organization, India
Designing and assessment of a dynamic perfusion bioreactor for polymer guided bone regeneration by using mesenchymal stem cells
2014-2017
11.1 Lacs $18500
Department of Biotechnology,
Government of India
Development of cellulose acetate based membranes containing nanoparticles for fluoride removal from drinking water
2014-17 10 Lacs $16666
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India
Crystallization and Drying (Pedagogy IIT Kharagpur)
2015-17 8 Lacs $13333
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Development of hybrid waste water treatment system using ceramic membrane and Hydrodynamic cavitation (Prime minister Fellowship)
2016-17 7.2 Lacs
(Prime minister Fellowship) DST-CII and K Pack systems Pvt Ltd, Bangalore
Development of Pickling and polishing chemicals for coins
2015-17 3.4 Lacs India Govt. Mint, Hyderabad -Co
investigator
Development of starch based polyurethane nano-coatings for packaging application by sonochemical approach
2017-2019
15 Lac Indo-Tunisia Bilateral Project sponsored by DST, Govt. of India
Ultrasonic crystallization of biopolymer for food and dairy industry
2016-2018
15 Lac Indo-Russia bilateral project sponsored by DST, Govt. of India
Development of nanostructure electrodes and its applications
2017-2018
9.8 Lacs
Telangana State Council of Science and Technology (TSCOST), Hyderabad, Telangana
State
A Novel Hybrid System for Textile Dye Waste Water Treatment
2017-2019
15 Lac
Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance
Council (BIRAC)-SRISTI- GYTI Award, A Government of India
Enterprise
Process Development for the production of Janus Nanoparticles for selected catalytic reactions
2018-2021
20.87 Lac SERB department of
Science and Technology GOI
Ultrasonic encapsulation of bioactive compounds to deliver in the food matrix
2018-2020
16 Lac Indo-Russia DST-RFBR
Annexure C-2 Details of Industry Sponsored Projects (Consultancy Works) during Last 10 years
Title Duration Cost Funding agency
Synthesis of nanoclay for polypropylene
using Indian Bentonite clay 2005-06
1.0 Lac
Roxy Chemicals
Rheological behavior of wet grinded CaCO3
slurry 2005-06 ----- Aquapharm India
Development of chemical Engineering
equipment 2007-08 1.10 Lacs
S.P. Engineers, Pune
Development of additives for diesel 2008-
2010
9.0 Lacs
Mulye and Associates,
USA
Development of paint using nano CaCO3 as
additives 2009-10 1 Lac
Viral Floor Care
Development of lithium ion batteries 2010-11 5 Lacs
AJ Organica
Synthesis PVC-nano CaCO3 dispersion 2010-
2011
1 Lac
Calchem Industries
Process development of superfine calcite
particles 2010-
2011
2 Lacs
Roha Carbonates
Nano aragonite pilot scale reactor 2012-13 1.8 Lacs
Felix Industries
Nano iron oxide pilot scale reactor 2012-13 3 Lacs
Felix Industries
Development of antiscalent polymer
membrane 2014-17
2 Lacs
Krishna Water
Treatment and
Chemicals, Surat
Development of inorganic nano pigments 2015-16 1 Lac
Jason specialty
chemicals, Nagpur
Feasibility analysis of hybrid waste water
treatment system 2015-16
0.30 Lacs
Megafine specialty
chemical Pvt Ltd,
Ahmadabad
Treatment of polymeric waste water 2016-
2017 0.86 Lacs
Felix Industries
Ahemadabad
Testing and Analysis of Performic Acid and
Peracetic acid through Advanced flow
reactor and microreactors
2017-
2018 0.65 Lacs
TROJAN
TECHNOLOGIES,
3020 Gore Road,
Canada N5V 4T7
Process Development of crystallization
process 2018 1.18
Hetero Drugs
Pvt Ltd Hyderabad
Scale up of Nano size Carbonate Particles 2018 1.5 Tansa Technologies
Hyderabad
Scale up of Cavitation based Crystallization
Process 2019 2.25
Hetero Drugs Pvt Ltd
Hyderabad
ANNEXURE IV: DETAILS OF PATENTS FILED AND GRANTED
Indian Patents filed
1. Shirish H. Sonawane, K. Anand kishore, S. Srinath, "Pickling and polishing chemicals
for blank coins and its process thereof, E-101/CHE/23479/2017.
2. Shirish H. Sonawane, Design and fabrication of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM)
fuel cell stack and its components, E-101/CHE/22190/2017.
3. Mohini S. Gaikwad, Shirish H. Sonanwane, Process for the preparation of L-Dopa from
L-Tyrosine
4. Shriram S. Sonawane, Vishal R. Parate, Sumit S. Pathak, Shirish H. Sonawane (2017)
“Development of Improved Pasta (Spaghetti) from Chemically Modified Gluten” Ref. No.:
201721005789, Application number.: TEMP/E-1/5734/2017-MUM, Date: 17/02/2017.
5. S. H. Sonawane, Uday D. Bagale, R. D. Kulkarni (2016) “Improved self healing
corrosion inhibition coating based on nanocapsule using sonochemical approach”
Application No. : 201641015326 A, Publication Date: 10/06/2016.
6. S. H. Sonawane, Shabana Shaik and S. Srinath (2015) “Dispersion of nanoparticles
into binder & plasticizer matrix and its process there of” Application No.: 6001/CHE/2015
A, Publication Date: 27/11/2015
7. S. H. Sonawane, Prashant L. Suryawanshi and P. Rajesh Kumar (2015) “Partial
replacement of Pt catalyst using non-noble functional nanomaterials” Application No.:
5619/CHE/2015 A, Publication Date: 19/10/2015
8. S. H. Sonawane, Abhijeet Kulkarni and R Satish Babu (2015) “Continuous solution
phase production of beta peptide using spiral copper channel microreactor” Application
No.: 635/CHE/2015, Publication Date: 9/02/2015
9. S. H. Sonawane and Niraj Sikwal (2014) “Process for production of nano size iron oxide
pigment” Application No.: 490/CHE/2014, Publication Date: 03/02/2014
10. S. H. Sonawane, S. A. Kapole, R. D. Kulkarni, A. B. Pandit, B. A. Bhanvase, D. V.
Pinjari and P. R. Gogate (2013) “Synthesis of corrosion inhibiting nano pigment
comprising of nano pigment container for corrosion inhibitive coating” Application No.:
1539/MUM/2012, Publication Date: 22/06/2012
11. S. H. Sonawane, R. D. Kulkarni, S. Mishra, A. B. Pandit, S. Gumfekar, L. Ramjee, K.
J. Kunte, K.H. Kate (2011) “Synthesis of carbonate nanoparticles by new recycle reactor
using cavitation technique” Application No.: 3546/MUM/2011, Publication Date:
02/08/2013
12. S. H Sonawane, K. J Kunte and S. R. Shirsath (2011) “System for production of
carbonate nanoparticles and a process for synthesis of the same using the said system”
Application No.: 713/MUM/2011 A, Publication Date: 26/07/2013
13. S. H. Sonawane, Kalpana Joshi, S. A Ghodke and S. E Karekar (2011) “System for
encapsulation and release of fragrant molecules using nanocontainer submitted under
evaluation” Application No.3583/MUM/2011 A, Publication Date: 10/02/2012
14. S. H. Sonawane, S. Gumfekar, K. Kate, K. J. Kunte and L. Ramjee (2009) “System
for production of nanoparticles based on principle of hydrodynamic cavitation and
synthesis procedure of nanoparticles using the same and a process thereof” Indian Patent
No.: 700/MUM/2009
15. S. H. Sonawane, C. Kapadnis, B. A. Bhanavase, S. Gumfekar and K. Kate (2009)
“Method of insertion of gas in ultrasound reactor and synthesis procedure of nano
carbonate material using the same and a process thereof” Indian Patent No.:
699/MUM/2009
16. S. H. Sonawane, M. Parande, A. Bane and S. Phadtare (2007) “A process for making
intercalated and exfoliated nanoclay and nanocomposite” Indian Patent No.:
2307/MUM/2007
17. S. H. Sonawane, R. D. Kulkarni and S. Mishra (2004) “Utilization of nano-extenders
for part replacement of TiO2 for enhancement of hiding power of surface coatings” Indian
Patent No.: 11/MUM/2004
Indian Patents Granted
1. S. H. Sonawane, Bharat A Bhanvase, Pydi Setty and S. Srinath (2013) “System
for preparation of nano organic pigment dispersions using cavitation reactors” Application
No.: 233/MUM/2013 A, Publication Date: 29/01/2019
2. Shirish H. Sonawane, Yadagiri Maralla, Dr. G. Uday Bhaskar Babu, Mr. Komel
Ansari, Mr. Aditya Deshmukh (2018) “Particle size reduction of pharmaceutical
material/drugs using innovative crystallization process”, Application No.201841033163 A,
Publication Date : 14/09/2018.
3. Shriram S. Sonawane, Vishal R. Parate, Sumit S. Pathak, Shirish H. Sonawane
(2017), “Development of improved pasta (spaghetti) from chemically modified gluten”,
Application No.201721005789 A, Publication Date: 08/09/2017.
4. S. H Sonawane, K. J. Kunte and S. R. Shirsath (2011) “System for production of
carbonate nanoparticles and a process for synthesis of the same using the said system”
Application No.: 713/MUM/2011, Publication Date: 26/07/2013.
5. S. H. Sonawane, Kalpana Joshi, S. A Ghodke and S. E Karekar (2011) “System
for encapsulation and release of fragrant molecules using nanocontainer submitted under
evaluation” Application No.3583/MUM/2011, Indian Patent No. 286560, and Date of
Grant: 23/08/2017.