IIT-M professor wins ‘Eni Award’ for scientific research

A professor from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Madras’ (IIT-M) Chemistry department has won the prestigious ‘Eni Award,’ which is considered among the top global honours for scientific research in energy and environment. 

The President of Italy is expected to present the award soon to Prof Thalappil Pradeep for his work on sustainable and affordable nanoscale materials for removing toxic contaminants from water. 

Previous awardees include Nobel laureates, Sir Harold W Kroto, Alan Heeger and Theodor Wolfgang Hänsch as well as Prof CNR Rao, a Bharat Ratna Awardee. 

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Prof T Pradeep has been recognized for the discovery of “advanced sustainable and affordable nanoscale materials for the removal of toxic contaminants from water. The discovered technologies are both sustainable and cost-effective and have been implemented as drinking water solutions benefitting 1.3 million people in India every day.” 

Eni Awards are given in three categories; Energy Transition, Energy Frontiers and Advanced Environmental Solutions.  

Prof Pradeep is a pioneer in nanotechnology applications for clear water and his work on pesticide removal has benefitted millions of people. Later, he and his team developed ‘water-positive’ materials to remove arsenic, uranium and several other toxic contaminants from water and the technology has been approved for national implementation. 

“Water presents numerous opportunities in cleaning, sensing, distribution and data analytics. It is the most opportune moment nationally and globally to get into water, for science, for industry or for both. There is a career in it where one can get satisfaction, besides wealth and fame. We need more youngsters in the area to ensure water security,” he said. 

Prof Pradeep has been recognized earlier with Padma Shri, Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water and Nikkei Asia Prize, among many others. The prize is composed of a gold medal, a citation and a cash component.

Prof Pradeep works on diverse aspects of materials and has won many national recognitions including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize. He has built advanced scientific instruments for his work. He has 550 papers and over 100 patents to his credit, besides being a co-founder of half a dozen companies.