IIT Kharagpur Alumni Honoured by NRI Welfare Society of India

Kharagpur: Two alumni of IIT Kharagpur have been conferred top awards by the NRI Welfare Society of India.

Alumnus Dr. Sundeep Mukherjee has been named the recipient of the Hind Rattan Award, one of the highest Indian diasporic awards granted to non-resident Indians by the NRI Welfare Society of India. He belongs to the 1998 batch and did B.Tech. degree in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering. At present he is an Associate Professor at the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas (UNT).

As per a UNT report, Mukherjee has been collaborating with Indian academia to create Indo-U.S. Joint Center for Development of Durable Advanced Materials for Bioimplants.
The day witnessed another alumnus, Dr. Ajit Behera receiving the Yuva Rattan Award, honouring the youth for their service towards the Nation at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra of Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

Dr. Behera received PhD from IIT Kharagpur in 2016. His specialisation in the Dept. of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering dealt with Multi-layered NiTi thin film Shape Memory Alloy.

Behera is currently an Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at NIT Rourkela. He is associated with the Process Metallurgy Group and Surface Engineering Group at the Institute and works in the areas Ni-Ti Smart materials, 4D Additive Manufacturing, Plasma Surface Engineering, Processing of smart materials and superalloys, Characterisation of Materials, Utilisation of Industrial Waste. He has over 30 research publications and is currently working on various industry projects.

The Awards were conferred on the eve of Republic Day, January 25, 2020 at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations.