Postdoctoral Researcher
Ravi Tomar
Dr. Ravi Tomar is a SERB-TARE fellow at theDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and also working as Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, SGT University, and Associate Dean: Students Welfare,SGT University, Gurugram. He completed his Doctorate Degree from the Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi and his work was devoted to the synthesis, characterization and application of Cerium-based catalysts. He didhis Master of Science at the School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, where his thesis was focused onbase-free oxidation of Aldose Sugars in Aldonic Acids using Supported GoldNanoparticles. He has also been awarded Master of Technology from theDepartment of Chemistry, University of Delhi. His current research focus is on the synthesis of various materials, andionic liquids and on the exploration of their applications in the variousfields. He has served as Guest editor in current organic chemistry and currentorganic synthesis and reviewer in various peer-reviewed journals. He haspublished more than 25 paper and book chapter in reputed journals. His Hobbies include music, travelling, volleyball etc.
Ph.D.
Pranit Samanta (2019)
Pranit completed his B.Sc (Chemistry Hons.) in 2012 and B.Tech from University of Calcutta in 2015. He pursued his M.Tech from the Department of Chemical Engineering, SVNIT, Surat in 2019. His master’s thesis work involved “Stacked Osmotic Microbial Fuel Cell for Simultaneous Recovery of Water and Bio-electricity from Wastewater”. At present in CRE group, his research work emphasizes on zeolite based catalytic alkylation process. He loves playing badminton, and photography.
Guguloth Venkanna (2019)
Venkanna obtained his bachelor's degree from the department of chemical engineering, VNIT Nagpur in 2015. His bachelor project involved study of thermal, mechanical and rheological properties of poly-carbonate nano-particles. His summer project involves\d the conversion of plastic waste into CNTs using Ni/Mo/MgO catalyst. He completed his master's from the department of chemical engineering (catalysis technology, NCCR) IIT Madras in 2017. His thesis work was development of photo electrocatalyst for the reduction of carbon dioxide to value added products. He had worked as a programme associate in Avanti Fellows. He joined CRE group in 2019 where he is working on photo electrocatalyst development for efficiently converting carbon dioxide to value added chemicals. His hobbies includes playing kho-kho and reading.
Iqra (2019)
Iqra completed B.tech and M.tech from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar. Her masters project was focused on fabrication of Ion exchange membranes for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). She has worked as faculty in department of chemical engineering NIT Srinagar from 2017 to 2018. She joined IIT Delhi in 2019, jointly supervised by Prof. K. K. Pant and Prof. M.A. haider. Her research area focuses on Methane Dehydroaromatization (MDA) process using zeolite supported metal catalyst. She like sketching and cooking in my leisure time.
Shashank Shekhar (2019)
Shashank Shekhar completed M.tech in 2019 from Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad. His master’s project was focused on “Mathematical Modelling of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Ternary and Quaternary System of Membrane Synthesis”. He has one year of industrial experience at Gujarat Ambuja Export Limited, Karnataka. He joined IIT Delhi in 2019, supervised by Prof. K. K. Pant, Prof. Shantanu Roy and Prof. Rakesh Joshi. His research integrates computational and experimental approaches to investigate methane decomposition as a pathway for COx-free hydrogen production and the generation of value-added carbon materials. He employs first-principles calculations to examine reaction mechanisms on mono- and bimetallic transition metal catalysts, and develops microkinetic models using DFT-derived energetics to predict turnover frequencies and surface coverages. To boost computational efficiency, he leverages machine learning techniques to simulate data, accelerating catalyst screening and revealing performance trends. On the experimental side, his work focuses on catalyst synthesis, characterization, and performance evaluation. Additionally, he is actively involved in an industrial collaboration with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL), India, to explore hydrogen production using fluidized bed reactors.
Aakash Bhardwaj (2019)
Aakash obtained his bachelor's degree from the department of chemical engineering, Institute of Technology Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya (ITGGV) Bilaspur (C.G.) in 2017. His bachelor project was focussed on "Production of Bio-ethanol from potato using algae and Saccharomyces Cerevisiae". His summer project and training involved the production of ethanol and rectified spirit from sugar molasses in Bajaj Hindustan Sugar Limited, Gola, U.P. He completed his Master's from the department of fuel and mineral engineering, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad in 2019. His master's project was focussed on the Recovery of heavy metals from effluents of Indian Leather and Tanning Industries by Ion Flotation. During his master's programme, he has done winter training project in Hindustan Copper Limited, Malajkhand, Balaghat, M.P. and summer training project in Uranium Corporation India Limited, Jaduguda, Jharkhand. He joined CRE group (joint supervision, Prof. Sreedevi Upadhyayula and Prof. Shantanu Roy) in 2019, where he is currently working on "Integrated carbon dioxide absorption and conversion to methanol using slurry reactor". He enjoys cooking, playing cricket and travelling.
Abhishek Sahoo (2020)
Sahoo completed his Integrated M.Tech (Energy Engineering) from the Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi in 2020. In his final year of master’s project, he worked on "Assessment and analysis of Kinetics and Thermodynamics parameters for Scalability of Biomass Pyrolysis" in IIT-Guwahati and IIP-Dehradun under the supervision of Prof. K. Mohanty and Dr. T. Bhaskar respectively. He joined ChemE, IITD in 2020 and jointly supervised by Prof. K. K. Pant and Dr. T. Bhaskar. His hobbies include solo travelling, cooking, and gaming.
Shally Gupta (2020)
Shally completed her B.Tech. from Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) Jaipur. and M.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. Her master's work was focused on the synthesis of metal-doped carbon-based nanomaterials for fuel cell and heavy metal removal applications. Before joining the CRE lab, she has four years of industrial experience at Tata Research Development and Design Center (TRDDC), Pune as a researcher.Her work at TRDDC was related to the development of functional coatings and metals recovery from hard disk magnets. Currently, she is pursuing PhD under the University of Queensland-IIT Delhi joint PhD program. Her PhD work is focused on metal recovery from electronic waste. She enjoys listening to music, playing table tennis and football.
Nidhi Kushwaha (2021)
Nidhi has completed her B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from Banasthali Vidyapith in 2018. During her bachelor’s, she worked as an intern in GAIL and ONGC. She completed her M.Tech in Fuel Engineering from IIT(ISM) Dhanbad, in 2021. During her post graduate studies she worked on “Production of hybrid fuel from Refuse derived fuel and biochar”. She has also worked on waste management and in the application of machine learning in heterogeneous catalysis. She is fond of English Literature.
Shivangi Pathak
Shivangi completed her B.Tech from Kurukshetra University in Chemical Engineering and M.Tech from IIT Delhi in Atmospheric Sciences. Her master's project involved working on the impact of aerosols vertical profile on its radiative forcing and climate over India. She joined Ph.D. in Dec 2019, supervised jointly by Prof. Priyanka Kaushal and Prof. K. K. Pant. She has been endowed with the Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) as a lateral entry. Her research area focuses on removing polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from petrochemical industries using activated biochar.
Ravi Kumar
Ravi Kumar is a Ph.D Research Scholar in CRDT, IIT Delhi under combined supervision of Prof. Priyanka Kaushal and Prof. K.K. Pant. He has rich experience of more than 6 years at Coal India Limited (CIL) as an Assistant Manager. His contribution and tireless efforts has helped in solving various challenges related to technological innovation & implementation, production enhancement, health & safety, environmental conservation etc. both in Underground as well as Opencast Mines of Coal India Ltd. He obtained his Bachelor of Technology in “Mining Engineering” and Master of Technology in “Safety Engineering and Disaster Management” at IIT Kharagpur in 2014. His areas of interest are integrated solid waste management, Biomass energy, clean energy technology related areas.
Rahul Kumar
Rahul did his B. Tech from University School of Chemical Technology, GGSIP University in Biochemical Engineering and M. Tech in Biochemical Engineering from School of Biochemical Engineering, IIT BHU. In his B. Tech included Algal cultivation in Modified Conventional Bioreactor, Photobioreactor Designs, CFD Simulations and Analysis which resulted in Major Publications in International and National Journals. His M. Tech work includes cultivation and optimization of fungal species (Mushrooms) and designing reactors based on rheological parameters for cultivation. Currently, He has been registered as full-time PhD student in IIT Delhi, jointly supervised by Prof. K. K. Pant and Prof. Anushree Malik. He has recently been awarded Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship. His research work includes the production of filter material from Algal Biochar. Cultivation of Microalgae in Wastewater, Biochar Production and Modification for Air Purification applications. Rahul Enjoys high end PC Gaming, Streaming Online, Travelling and is a Foodie.
Aisha Noor (2021)
Aisha is currently enrolled as a UQIDAR PhD student. She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate in Biotechnology from Jamia Millia Islamia 2021. Before enrolling at the joint PhD program-UQIDAR under Prof. Kamal Kishore Pant and Prof.Anushree Malik , she did her master's project in nanotechnology. She worked on synthesizing different morphology of nanoparticles and ultimately using them to formulate medicines and biosensors. At CRE Lab, she will be working on novel topical formulations of antimicrobials to treat skin infection/disorders. Besides this she is interested in sports, traveling and learning new languages.
Neethu Joshikumar (2021)
Neethu holds a Master of Technology in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from T. K. M. College of Engineering, Kollam affiliated to University of Kerala. Her Bachelor project focused on preparation of Gasohol using bio-ethanol from sugarcane bagasse and design of batch fermenter which led to her interest in biomass conversion and sustainable technologies. She is a University of Queensland- IIT Delhi academy of research joint PhD candidate, joined CRE lab in January 2022 and is currently working on techno-economic and environmental assessment of conversion of biomass to value added chemicals. She has done projects in various fields such as biomass synthesis, material characterisation, effluent treatment, modelling of reactor and adsorber. In her free time she likes to draw, paint and read.
Abdul Rafey (2022)
Abdul Rafey holds M.Tech and B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). His masters work focussed on developing a model for prediction of methane emissions from landfill. He joined as a full time PhD student at IIT Delhi in August 2022 under the supervision of Prof. K.K. Pant. He has worked on several projects in the past including Synthesis of Heterogeneous Nanocatalysts at CSIR - National Chemical Laboratory, Pune; Industrial Training at Tata Chemicals, Haldia, West Bengal; and Municipal Solid Waste Characterization study at Bhandwari Landfill, Gurugram with TERI, New Delhi. His areas of interest include solid waste management, wastewater treatment and cleaner production.
Kaushik Kundu (2022)
Kaushik completed his M.Tech in Fuel Engineering from IIT (ISM) Dhanbad in 2019 and B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (formerly known as WBUT) in 2017. During his M.Tech he worked upon characterization and production of bio-coke from agricultural wastes. He joined as a full time PhD student at IIT Delhi in August 2022 under the joint supervision of Prof. K.K. Pant, Prof. H. Kodamana and Prof. R.R. Sonde. His areas of interest include thermochemical conversion of coal and biomass, cement technology, solid waste management and gas hydrate dynamics. His hobbies are travelling, playing cricket and listening to music.
Chetan Upadhyay (2025)
Chetan completed his B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry from the University of Delhi and M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Hyderabad. He has previously worked as a Project Associate at CSIR-NCL Pune, where he focused on catalytic CO2 utilization using in-situ spectroscopic techniques. He later joined IIT Delhi as a Junior Research Fellow under the CCU (Carbon Capture and Utilization) project, where he worked on the synthesis and characterization of cost-effective catalysts for CO2-to-methanol conversion. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Kamal Kishore Pant and Prof. Divesh Bhatia, with a research focus on catalyst deactivation studies in fixed-bed reactors. His interests include coordination chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, and reaction engineering. Outside the lab, he enjoys photography, movies, and music.
Jyoti (2025)
Jyoti has earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Chemistry from St. Xavier's College and Lovely Professional University, respectively. During her master's studies, she focused on synthesizing nanomaterials for antibacterial and electrochemical sensing applications. She later interned in Prof. Vinoth Kumar's lab at Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan, where she developed sustainable food packaging materials with antibacterial properties to improve food preservation. Currently, Jyoti is pursuing Ph.D. through the University of Queensland - Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (UQ-IITD) Joint PhD Program, under the supervision of Prof. K.K. Pant and Prof. Vikram Singh. At the CRE Lab, her research centers on designing novel adsorbent materials for the selective removal of fluorinated compounds from water, aiming to address critical challenges in environmental remediation and water purification. Jyoti is passionate about sustainability, materials chemistry, and applied environmental research. Outside of academia, she enjoys reading, music, and cycling.
Part Time Ph.D.
Rajib Roy (2020)
Rajib acquired both his Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. His master degree project was focused on the efficiency improvement of Rotating Disc Bio-Reactor (RDBR) based on optimisation of operating parameters in production of marine bacteria. Currently he has joined as PhD student in Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Delhi. At CRE Group, his research work is focused on production of turquoise hydrogen from hydrocarbons and treading towards net-Zero. He enjoys trekking, reading poems and listening to music. He joined ONGC, Jorhat in April, 2012 and presently posted at Institute of Oil & Gas Production Technology (IOGPT) in Navi Mumbai, a R&D unit of ONGC. However, he served his first employer, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) in Kolkata, as a Programmer Analyst for nearly one year. His hobbies are playing badminton and reciting poems
Alumni
| Name | Year Of Passing | Current Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Tony Sarvinder Singh, Ph.D. | 2005 | Deputy Director, Public Health Engineering Division Director, Virginia |
| Dr. H.A Zaidi, Ph.D. | 2006 | Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University |
| Dr. Akansha, Ph.D. | 2007 | Shell Houston |
| Dr. A. Nandini, Ph.D. | 2007 | SABIC Bangalore |
| Dr. Sanjay Patel, Ph.D. | 2008 | Nirma Institute of Technology |
| Dr. Sushil Saraswat, Ph.D. | 2012 | Asst. Professor, MBM Engineering college Jodhpur |
| Dr. Vikrant Sarin, Ph.D. | 2014 | Huber Membrane Dubai |
| Dr. S. K. Das, Ph.D. | 2014 | General Manager IOCL |
| Dr. Sachchit Majhi, Ph.D. | 2014 | Principal Researcher, Tata Steel Ltd., Jamshedpur |
| Dr. Pravkar Mohanty, Ph.D. | 2014 | Scientist-D, DST |
| Dr. Snehal Parmar, Ph.D. | 2015 | Research Scientist, Reliance India limited, Bombay |
| Dr. Garima Chauhan, Ph.D. | 2015 | Post Doc University of Alberta, Canada |
| Dr. Deepika, Postdoc | 2015 | Reliance India Limited, India |
| Dr. Ravindra Pradhan, Postdoc | 2015 | Research Officer, IOCL refinery |
| Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Ph.D. | 2016 | Asst. Prof GGS Indraprastha University, Delhi |
| Dr. Perminderjit Kaur Ph.D. | 2016 | Senior Policy Fellow, Jointly hosted by DST and IISc, Bangalore |
| Dr. Tarak Mondal, Ph.D. | 2016 | Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Ropar |
| Dr. Dinesh Gupta, Postdoc | 2016 | Quality Control Officer, IOCL Refinery |
| Dr. Vikas Kardam Ph.D. | 2016 | Cargill India Pvt. Ltd |
| Dr. Chandrakant Mukesh, Postdoc | 2017 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Umea University Sweden |
| Dr. Sonal, Ph.D. | 2018 | Asst. Professor, Chemical Engineering Department at NIT Jaipur |
| Dr. Poonam (CRDT), Ph.D. | 2018 | Reliance Industries Limited, India |
| Dr. Samuel Kassaye, Ph.D. | 2018 | Post Doc USA |
| Dr. Ritesh Mittal, Ph.D. | 2018 | Engineers India Limited |
| Dr. Tapas Dora Postdoc | 2018 | Associate Professor GMR Institute of Technology, Rajam |
| Dr. Ejaz Ahmad, Ph.D. | 2019 | Assistant Professor, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad |
| Dr. Kunche Babu, Ph.D. | 2019 | IOCL |
| Dr. Ashish Pandey, Postdoc | 2021 | Senior Scientist, Sherritt International, Fort Sasketchwan, AB, Canada |
| Dr. Shireen Quereshi, Postdoc | 2021 | Johnson Matthey, Gurgoan |
| Dr. Aditya Prakash, Postdoc | 2021 | |
| Dr. Rohit Kumar, Ph.D. | 2021 | Assistant Professor, IIT BHU, Varanasi |
| Dr. Sonit Balyan, Ph.D. | 2021 | Post Doc University of Virginia |
| Dr. Sourabh Mishra, Ph.D. | 2021 | UOP Honeywell, Gurgaon |
| Dr. Arun Krishna Vuppaladadiyam Postdoc | 2021 | Hongkong Polytechnic University |
| Dr. Sonal Asthana Postdoc | 2022 | Director, Bajaj Insulation Company |
| Dr. Kaushal Parmar, Ph.D. | 2021 | Post Doc University of West Virginia |
| Dr. Ashish Bohre, Ramaligam fellow | 2022 | Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Kapurthala |
| Dr. Kunwar Pal, Postdoc | 2022 | Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Kapurthala |
| Dr. Arindam Modak, Postdoc | 2022 | Assistant Professor, NIT Agartala |
| Dr. Ramdayal Panda, Ph.D. | 2022 | Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, NIT Jaipur |
| Dr. Akshay Mankar, Ph.D. | 2022 | UOP Honeywell, Gurgaon |
| Dr. Uma Dwivedi, Ph.D. | 2023 | UOP Honeywell, Gurgaon |
| Dr. Prashant Jadhao, Ph.D. | 2023 | Post Doctoral Researcher, UPC School, Spain |
| Dr. Komal Tripathi, Ph.D. | 2023 | Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee |
| Dr. Rajan Singh, Ph.D. | 2023 | Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Indore |
| Dr. Vallari R. Chourasia, Ph.D. | 2023 | Sandia National Laboratories, California |
| Dr. Deepti Mishra, Ph.D. | 2024 | Research Associate, The University of Queensland, Australia |
| Dr. Sagar Y. Dhanuskar, Ph.D. | 2024 | |
| Dr. Sadaf A. Khan, Ph.D. | 2024 | Research Associate, The University of Queensland, Australia | Dr. Marut Jain, Ph.D. | 2024 | Research Associate, The University of Queensland, Australia | Dr. Snigdha Mishra, Ph.D. | 2024 | Research Associate at DEScycle, University of Leicester, UK | Dr. Satheesh V.K., Ph.D. | 2024 | Chief General Manager, IOCL R&D, Faridabad | Dr. Surya Chandra Tiwari, Ph.D. | 2024 | NTPC Limited, Noida | Dr. Amrita Preetam, Ph.D. | 2024 | Post Doctoral Researcher, Cornell University, US | Dr. Shreya Singh, Ph.D. | 2024 | Post Doctoral Researcher, Cornell University, US | Dr. Vaibhav Pandey, Ph.D. | 2024 | NTPC Limited, Noida | Dr. Akshata Ramteke, Ph.D. | 2025 | UOP Honeywell, Gurgaon | Dr. Lalit Kumar, Ph.D. | 2025 | Chief R&D Manager, BPCL, Faridabad |