MUMBAI: Prof. Rintu Banerjee has been appointed the new Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur, making her the first woman to hold this position at the first IIT in the country and the world. She is the Founding Head and current Chairperson of the P.K. Sinha Centre for Bioenergy and Renewables and has served as the Head of the Centre for Rural Development, Innovative and Sustainable Technology, and the Department of Agricultural & Food Engineering at IIT Kharagpur for three years.
Throughout her career, she has held various important positions, including Chairperson of the Centre of Excellence in Precision Agriculture & Food Nutrition, Nodal Coordinator for Australia and New Zealand for SPARC, and Coordinator for RuTAG.
Commenting on her appointment as the first female Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur, Prof. Rintu Banerjee stated, “It is my utmost privilege and honour to be the Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur. Previously, as the Dean of Research & Development, I aimed to develop opportunities for innovation and sustainable inventions with affordable technology. As the Deputy Director of the largest IIT in the country, my intent is to fast-track the economic progress of the country through innovative solutions provided by IIT Kharagpur, along with uplifting the Institute’s ranking both on national and international levels. With Industry 4.0 and digitronics making inroads using smart technology for ongoing automation of traditional industrial practices, the institution should boost its performance indicators to suit best in industry collaborations and indulge in developing a strong policy mission programme with the government that sensitizes people to ‘Make in India & Make for the World’.”
Banerjee obtained her PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Chemical Engineering Department at IIT Kharagpur. She has been involved in industry-academia collaborative research activities since the beginning of her career, resulting in the transfer of several technologies to different industries and numerous national and international patents. Recently, she successfully transferred her 1G & 2G Ethanol technology to the industry for commercialization.
She has published two books in the field of environmental biotechnology and OMICS-based approaches in plant biotechnology, and has handled several government, private, and industry-sponsored projects.
Prof. Banerjee has visited numerous countries as a Visiting Professor and for various scientific collaborations, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Egypt, Australia, the US, Taiwan, Japan, the UK, South Korea, Laos, Thailand, Dubai, Doha, Brazil, Canada, and Malaysia. She has received several awards, including the Panjabrao Deshmukh Award for Outstanding Women Scientist from ICAR, Best Woman Bioscientist from the Biotech Research Society of India, Young Scientist Award ’94 from the Association for Food Scientists and Technologists (India), Dr. Prem Dureja Endowment, Institute Chair Professor from IIT Kharagpur, Louis Pasteur Award, Madan Mohan Malviya Award, and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award. She was also recognized as the Most Inspiring Women Engineer/Scientist for the year 2014 by Engineering Watch, New Delhi, and has more than 12,000 citations to her name.
Throughout her career, she has held various important positions, including Chairperson of the Centre of Excellence in Precision Agriculture & Food Nutrition, Nodal Coordinator for Australia and New Zealand for SPARC, and Coordinator for RuTAG.
Commenting on her appointment as the first female Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur, Prof. Rintu Banerjee stated, “It is my utmost privilege and honour to be the Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur. Previously, as the Dean of Research & Development, I aimed to develop opportunities for innovation and sustainable inventions with affordable technology. As the Deputy Director of the largest IIT in the country, my intent is to fast-track the economic progress of the country through innovative solutions provided by IIT Kharagpur, along with uplifting the Institute’s ranking both on national and international levels. With Industry 4.0 and digitronics making inroads using smart technology for ongoing automation of traditional industrial practices, the institution should boost its performance indicators to suit best in industry collaborations and indulge in developing a strong policy mission programme with the government that sensitizes people to ‘Make in India & Make for the World’.”
Banerjee obtained her PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Chemical Engineering Department at IIT Kharagpur. She has been involved in industry-academia collaborative research activities since the beginning of her career, resulting in the transfer of several technologies to different industries and numerous national and international patents. Recently, she successfully transferred her 1G & 2G Ethanol technology to the industry for commercialization.
She has published two books in the field of environmental biotechnology and OMICS-based approaches in plant biotechnology, and has handled several government, private, and industry-sponsored projects.
Prof. Banerjee has visited numerous countries as a Visiting Professor and for various scientific collaborations, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Egypt, Australia, the US, Taiwan, Japan, the UK, South Korea, Laos, Thailand, Dubai, Doha, Brazil, Canada, and Malaysia. She has received several awards, including the Panjabrao Deshmukh Award for Outstanding Women Scientist from ICAR, Best Woman Bioscientist from the Biotech Research Society of India, Young Scientist Award ’94 from the Association for Food Scientists and Technologists (India), Dr. Prem Dureja Endowment, Institute Chair Professor from IIT Kharagpur, Louis Pasteur Award, Madan Mohan Malviya Award, and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award. She was also recognized as the Most Inspiring Women Engineer/Scientist for the year 2014 by Engineering Watch, New Delhi, and has more than 12,000 citations to her name.