Vivek Ranade
Professor of Process Engineering at Bernal Institute
Biography
Vivek Ranade is a Bernal Chair Professor of Process Engineering at Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland and a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Queen’s University Belfast. Vivek leads ‘Multiphase Reactors and Process Intensification’ research at University of Limerick and Queen’s University Belfast. The focus is on sustainable energy (anaerobic digesters, biomass to energy & value added chemicals, gasification), water (cavitation for effluent treatment & dis-infection) and fine & specialty chemicals (continuous processing, multiphase reactors & scale-up and process intensification). Vivek is also leading a large collaborative project on valorization of water biomass (www.vwainnovations.org) involving two industries from UK and three industries from India along with other academic and research institutes. Before moving to Ireland, Vivek led chemical engineering research at CSIR - National Chemical Laboratory. He has developed solutions for enhancing performance of industrial flow processes which are implemented and used in industry. These contributions have resulted in significant impact & benefits to industries in various sectors (refinery & petrochemicals, fine and specialty chemicals, materials, energy, water treatment & engineering products). Vivek and his group have developed software products and devices for variety of applications. Many of these products have been commercialized and beneficially deployed in practice. Vivek had conceived and led a large program on development of MAGIC (modular, agile, intensified & continuous) processes & plants. Several new insights and methodologies as well as processes and products for process intensification were developed through that project (many of which are commercialized). Vivek has also worked at ETH, Zurich; TU Delft and University of Twente, The Netherlands. He has guided more than twenty Ph.D. students, taught graduate level courses and conducted workshops for industry practitioners. Vivek is an Associate Editor of ‘Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research’ and serves on editorial board of ‘Indian Chemical Engineer’. He is a recipient of numerous awards including Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award (highest Indian Scientific award for scientists under 45 years in India) and Swarnajayanti Fellowship of DST. He is a fellow of IChemE UK, Indian National Academy Sciences, Indian National Academy of Engineering and Indian Academy of Sciences. Published more than 150 papers and 6 books (citations > 7700; h index=51: from Google Scholar). He is also a co-inventor of more than 20 disclosures/ patents (granted/ filed). Co-founded & led a technology company Tridiagonal Solutions (www.tridiagonal.com). Vivek has Co-founded two technology companies: Tridiagonal Solutions (www.tridiagonal.com) and VIVIRA Process Technologies (www.vivira.in). More information may be found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivek_Ranade http://go.qub.ac.uk/ranade; https://bernalinstitute.com/our_people/vivek-ranade/;
Abhijeet Thaker
Postdoctoral Researcher
Biography
Abhijeet is a Postdoctoral Researcher in multiphase Reactor and Intensification Group (mRING). Prior joining the UL, Abhijeet has completed his Ph.D. program at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-Delhi), India. He has completed his Diploma in Chemical Engineering in 2007 from N. G. Patel Polytechnic, Bardoli, India, and Bachelors of Chemical Engineering in 2011 from L.D. College of Engineering, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India. Abhijeet has completed his Master of Technology in Chemical Engineering in 2013 from SVNIT, Surat, India. In 2014, Abhijeet joined Professor Vivek Buwa’s research group at IIT Delhi for doctoral research on ‘Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Gravity Settlers: Measurements, Population Balance Modelling and CFD Simulations’. Apart from that Abhijeet has contributed to the measurements of particle-resolved flow and concentration distributions in packed-beds and characterisation of Gas-Liquid flows in shallow vessels using time-resolved stereo Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser-induced Fluorescence (LIF). His current research focuses on development of multi-scale models of hydrodynamic cavitation devices to predict the cavity inception, dynamics and collapse mechanisms. This work involves CFD simulations and measurements of hydrodynamic cavitation devices with advanced flow characterization techniques such as PIV.
Ketan Madane
PhD Student
Biography
Ketan graduated with Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from KIT's College of Engineering, Kolhapur in 2012, and his Masters in Technology with Heat-Power Engineering from Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli in 2016. Before his master's course, he has worked at Cooper Corp Pvt Ltd as a Graduate trainee Engineer (2012-13). He also has one year of teaching experience in teaching subjects like Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, and HVAC (2013-14). Before joining his Ph.D. at the University of Limerick, he was working as a Transient Researcher at CSIR- National Chemical Laboratory, Pune for 2.5 years, and subsequently as a Project Engineer at Tridiagonal Solution Pvt. Ltd, Pune for 1.5 years.
Apart from his research interest, he maintains his hobby of reading books, traveling, and playing drums. He is also a good chess player.
Ketan's current research focuses on designing and optimizing different passive fluidic devices for their use as a continuous flow crystallizer. He employs both a multiscale modelling (CFD-PBM) and experimental techniques to investigate flow and continuous crystallization characteristics in passive fluidic devices. His research also extends to develop an integrated simulation platform for stimulating and optimizing continuous flow passive crystallizers.
View Ketan's Google Scholar here
Rochak Mittal
Postdoctoral Researcher
Biography
Rochak Mittal is a Postdoctoral Researcher in multiphase Reactor and Intensification Group (mRING) at Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland. He has joined the research group (mRING) of Professor Vivek Ranade as MSCA PROCESS-COFUND Fellow. Prior joining the University of Limerick, he can completed his Ph.D program at the Department of Food Engineering at Central Food Technological Research Institute (CSIR-CFTRI), Mysuru, India. He has completed his Bachelors of Technology in Biotechnology in 201 from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut, India. Rochak has completed his Master of Technology in Industrial Biotechnology in 2012 from National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, India. He has qualified CSIR-UGC-National Eligibility Test (NET) – 2013, with All India Rank of 76. In 2014, Rochak joined Professor K.S.M.S Raghavarao’s research group at CSIR-CFTRI, Mysuru for doctoral research on Downstream processing of phycobiliproteins from macroalgae, Gelidium pusillum. His area of interest is downstream processing of commercially valuable biomolecules from algae, process intensification and food processing. Apart from this he has teaching experience of more than two years. His current research focuses on development of models for the hydrodynamic cavitation devices and extraction of bioactive biomolecules.
