Born on 3rd March 1950 at Mortacca, Madhya Pradesh, India, Professor Kamanio Chattopadhyay received his Bachelors of Engineering Degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Burdwan University in 1971 and M.Sc.(Eng.) and Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University in 1973 and 1978 respectively under the supervision of Professor P. Ramachandra Rao. Appointed faculty member (Lecturer) at Banaras Hindu University in 1975, he later joined Indian Institute of Science in 1983 as an Assistant Professor. He is currently a Honourary Professor at the Materials Engineering Department. He was also the Divisional Chairman of the Mechanical Sciences Division at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He served as Visiting Professor at Carnegie Mellon University where he worked closely with Professor H.I.Aaronson. He was also visiting professor at Tohoku University and Kyoto University on several occasions and had spend time as Visiting Scientist at the University of Oxford and Cambridge, University of Illinois, KFA, Julich , Forshung Zentrum, KarlsRuhe, University of Clausthal, Chinese Academy of Science, Shenyang and Yonsei University, Korea.
Recipient of the prestigious Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award in 1995, he is also a recipient of The Medal of the Materials Research Society of India, the Birla Gold Medal of the Indian Institute of Metals, the National Metallurgist Award of Government of India for life time contribution to the metallurgical profession and the Life Time Achievement Award of the Electron Microscope Society of India. He is a fellow of all the science and engineering academies of the country including Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Indian Academy of Science (IASc) and Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE). He is also a life fellow and the Vice President of the Indian Institute of Metals.
Currently the National Coordinator of the National Microgravity Research Programme, he is involved with several science related agencies in various capacities. He served as the Chair of the International Committee on the Rapidly Quenched and Metastable Materials and the Chairman of the International Committee on Nanostructured Materials. He was a member of the International Committee on Quasicrystal, International Affair Committee of the Materials Research Society, Boston and member of the award committee of the Americal Society for Mining and Metallurgy.
Professor Chattopadhyay was an editor of the Journal of Materials Science published by Springer. He also served as a Guest Editor of the International Journal of Materials Science and Engineering, Elsevier and was a member of the editorial boards of Engineering Materials, Transtech Publisher and Materials Science and Technology, Materials Society, U.K.
Research Accomplishments
The research work of Professor Chattopadhyay primarily aims at synthesizing newer materials through nonequillibrium processing and understanding their structure and stability at different length scales. The processing techniques utilized by him include techniques of rapid solidification and undercooling of the melt, mechanical alloying of solids, laser ablation and laser/electron beam processing. These efforts have also led to the discovery of decagonal and ordered quasicrystals, new metallic glasses for magnetic and structural applications and nanocomposites of metals and alloys. His current work includes synthesis of embedded multiphase nanoparticles and high temperature materials like silicides through nonequillibrium routes, thermoelectric materials and development of ultrahigh strength materials using multicomponent concentrated alloys. A significant amount of effort is currently directed to understand technically important processes like dissimilar welding and cladding where the system experiences a very large departure from equilibrium. His current research thrust revolves around developing new high temperature materials.
As a foremost practitioner of the electron microscopy in the country, Professor Chattopadhyay utilized this tool elegantly in conjunction with other techniques to unravel the complex structure of the materials that he could synthesize in his laboratory. The discovery of decagonal quasicrystal, ordering in quasicrystals and complex crystals which are closely related to quasicrystals (known as approximant crystals) are a testimony to his novel approach and skill. He is widely known for his work on phase transformation of metal and alloys and in particular small particles. He is regarded as one of the leaders in the utilization of in-situ electron microscopy and his work on understanding the melting behavior of small particles of metals and alloys is highly regarded and extensively cited.
Professor Chattopadhyay’s recent work include phase separation in liquid and glasses and in understanding the peritectic reaction in melt for which he has utilized host of techniques including levitational undercooling and recently microgravity in the first Indian microgravity experiment on board the India’s first recoverable SRE vehicle. Currently his group has made major contribution to understand the atomic level processes occurring at dissimilar joint interfaces and the mechanical behavior of bulk metallic glasses.
Professor Chattopadhyay leads the Indian effort in microgravity research. He is currently spearheading a large energy program which includes a major consortium of Indian and American academic institutions and industry under the joint umbrella of US and Indian science agencies and another large Indian programme for developing efficient solar energy systems on behalf of Government of India and Government of Karnataka.
Collaborations
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Publications
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Please click here to see glimpses of KC60, Prof. Chattopadhyay's 60th birthday celebrations.
Please click here for Metastable Microstructures and Electron Microscopy, a symposium organised on Prof. Chattopadhyay's 65th birthday and superannuation