COUNCIL (2013 - 2014)

Dr Arup Kumar Chattopadhyay obtained his M.Tech. (Chemical Tech.) with specialisation in Ceramic Tech. from the University of Calcutta and Ph.D. (Tech.) for his thesis entitled, "Kinetics of Dehydration and Rehydration of Aluminium Silicate Systems" from the same University in 70's.
During his service, he successfully completed Global Management Development Programme from the University of Michigan - Business School USA, INSEAD- Fontainblau France and Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP-2008) at IMD Lausanne, Switzerland.
He has a rich experience of more than 30 years in leading refractories industry in India like Dalmia Refractories, ACC - Refractories Division (Now ACE-Caldrys Refractories), Tata Refractories, etc in various business functions and was responsible for introducing innovative products / services which helped the organizations for their rapid growth.
Dr Chattopadhyay is a visiting faculty of the University of Calcutta. He has a number of publications in several technical journals and proceedings, and has presented about 80 technical papers in various national and international seminars.
Dr Chattopadhyay has been awarded the "Refractory Technologist Award" by The Indian Ceramic Society in the year 1996. Presently he is the Managing Director of Tata Refractories Ltd (TRL) and Chairman of TRL-China. He is a member of the Research Council of Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata; Chairman, Refractory Sectional Committee - MTD-15 of Bureau of Indian Standards and Invitee to the CII – Orissa State Office. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the 'Transactions of the Indian Ceramic Society'.

Mr Atanu Ranjan Pal is presently the Chief of Refractory Technology Group of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur. Mr Pal is a Ceramic Engineer from the College of Ceramic Technology (now Govt College of Engineering and Ceramic Technology), Kolkata and has acquired a Diploma in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He has experience of working in the areas of Steel Plant Refractories, Coke Oven and Blast Furnace Project Management, Business Process Re-engineering and Human Resource Management.
He is a member of the Tata Steel Global performance improvement team. He has visited many refractory manufacturing units, steel plants and refractory research units in Europe, Japan and China. He has published more than 20 papers in national and international journals.

Dr Shyamal K. Bhadra, Scientist-G, CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata, is presently working in the advanced areas of fibre optics and nonlinear optics and coordinating various national and international research projects. Dr Bhadra became a Member of the Executive Council of the Optical Society of India in 2006. He has served as Members of different sub-committees constituted by Department of Information Technology and Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India.

Dr Bhadra obtained his BSc (Physics Hons) and MSc (Physics) degrees both from the University of North Bengal, Darjeeling. He obtained his PhD degree in science from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He participated in an international post graduate course on vacuum science and technology, jointly organized by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and University of Bombay, under the sponsorship from UNESCO in 1979. After serving for a brief period in analytical and planetary optics division of Carl Zeiss Instruments, Dr Bhadra joined CGCRI in 1984 in the fibre optics programme of the Institute.

Dr Bhadra has published more than sixty papers in national and international journals and has got five national and international patents in the last couple of years. He had been invited by international forums abroad for delivering lectures in several occasions and visited universities/institutes in European countries. He is the recipient of Deokaran award in glass given by The Indian Ceramic Society. Dr Bhadra is a Life Member of The Indian Ceramic Society. Presently he is a member of Optical Society of America (OSA) and American Ceramic Society (ACerS).

Dr A. L. Shashi Mohan (b. 1950) obtained his M.Sc. in Chemistry from Bangalore University and Ph.D. in Solid State Chemistry from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He started his career as CSIR Scientist at IIT-Bombay and worked there (1974 - 77) in the areas of electronic and thermal ceramics.

In 1977, Dr Shashi Mohan joined Grindwell Norton Ltd as a founder member of their R&D Centre at Bangalore. During his 22 years (1977-1999) at Grindwell, he had held various managerial positions in the R&D Centre and, Technical Ceramics Division. He made significant contributions in the development & commercial exploitation of several newer abrasives & ceramic products.

In 1999, after leaving Grindwell, Dr Shashi Mohan founded "VIPRA" – a Materials Technology firm offering Technical Consultancy as also dealing with Development & Manufacture of specialty abrasive & ceramic products for customised applications.

A Life Member of The Indian Ceramic Society (InCerS), Materials Research Society of India and, Aluminium Association of India and, a Fellow of Indian Institute of Ceramics, Dr Shashi Mohan was a member of DST-PAC on Materials, Mining and Mineral Engineering for 12 years. He has published more than 25 research papers, made15 conference presentations and, has 4 patents to his credit.

Dr Shashi Mohan has been an active member of the Bangalore Chapter. During his tenure as Hony Secretary (2000-02) and Chairman (2004-06), the Bangalore Chapter received the Best Chapter Award (2001, 2002 and 2005). He was also the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the 71st Annual Session of InCerS held on Jan 9-11, 2008 that was a highly successful one.

Dr Lalji Singh, Padmashri (b. 1947), a Bhatnagar Fellow, CSIR, is the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, UP.

Dr Singh obtained his MSc and PhD (Cytogenetics) from Banaras Hindu University. He spent 13 years in the Institute of Animal Genetics, University of Edinburgh (1974-1987). He was the Officer on Special Duty in the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) from October 1995 to February 1999 and Director, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) from July 1998 to July 2009. He has established CDFD as well as Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), and Clinical Research Facility (CRF) at Hyderabad. He is the founder of ‘Genome Foundation’, a non-profit-making organization registered under Companies Act 25 in Hyderabad.

His areas of research interests include molecular basis of sex determination, DNA fingerprinting and genetic diversity, wildlife conservation, human genome analysis, and ancient DNA studies. Dr Singh has published more than 231 research papers in internationally reputed journals, including a full article in ‘Nature’ (2009). He has edited one book and is the author of three books.

Dr Singh is the recipient of several awards and medals. To name a few are: INSA Young Scientist Medal (1974), Ranbaxy Research Award (1994), CSIR Technology Award (1992), FICCI Award 2002-03 for R&D in Life Sciences (2003), PADMA SHRI by the President of India (2004), CSIR Technology Award for Life Sciences (2008), Bhatnagar Fellowship by the CSIR, Govt of India, and many more. He is also the recipient of Honorary DSc degree from a number of universities.

He is a Fellow of several Indian and Foreign academies, viz. Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Third World Academy of Sciences, Trieste, Italy, etc. He also holds many prestigious positions of several organizations, e.g., the Vice President of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad, an Executive Council Member of Indian Academy of Social Science, a Member of the Governing Board of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, etc.

Mr Kamal Dasgupta is at present the Acting Director of CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata. He is also the Chief Scientist and Head of the Fiber Optics and Photonics Division of the Institute.

Mr Dasgupta obtained BE (Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering) from Jadavpur University, Kolkata and MTech (Microwave and Communication) from IIT, Kanpur. He started his professional career at Avionics Design Bureau, HAL, Hyderabad as a Senior Design Officer in 1978 and worked there till 1982. He then joined Development Consultant Private Limited as a Design Engineer and worked there for four years (1982-1986). In 1986 he joined Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute as a Scientist.

Mr Dasgupta’s areas of research interest include Structural health monitoring, Development of interrogation systems for fiber Bragg grating sensors, Ultrasonic sensing for damage detection in structure, Fiber lasers, Tunable fiber laser source, etc. His notable research contributions are design of sweep frequency 4.3 to 4.6 GHz SRD oscillators for radio altimeter transmitter and balanced mixer for front-end receiver; design of fiber amplifier; and FBG interrogation system design. Mr Dasgupta is the recipient of ‘Best Design Award’ from Ministry of Defence for Radio Altimeter. He has more than 40 publications in several journals of repute and conference proceedings, and 4 patents to his credit.

Mr Amal Kr Guha (b. 1954), FIICeram, a Life Member and present Council Member of the Indian Ceramic Society, obtained his certificate in Ceramic Technician course from the Govt College of Engineering and Ceramic Technology (formerly, College of Ceramic Technology), Kolkata in the year 1976 with a stipend on merit basis from the Directorate of Industries, Govt of West Bengal. He also obtained training in modern ceramic tableware manufacturing process from the Nalanda Ceramic Industries Ltd, Ranchi, Jharkhand (technically collaborated with Japan) under the guidance of his elder brother and noted ceramist Mr Nirmal K. Guha and some Japanese experts.

As a Chief Technologist in Palam Potteries, New Delhi he developed low cost hotelware, dinnerware and matt finish ceramicware, which were introduced commercially for the first time in India in the year 1978. Till date these are the most popular hotelwares, being employed by the Indian hotel industry. Mr Guha worked with Jaipur Glass & Potteries Ltd, Jaipur as a Works Manager; Punjab Potteries, New Delhi as an Executive Director, Osho Ceramics Ltd, Haryana as a Technical Director and Bharat Potteries Ltd, Jaipur as a Technical Consultant. During this period (1977-1998) he introduced open fired tunnel kiln using LSD/HSD as fuel for fine ceramics glost-firing, long lasting & thin-sectioned sagger, kiln-furniture, different types of body and glaze for different temperatures, colour stain for body & glaze, etc to minimize cost, reduce rejection and improve the quality.

In 2003, he started commercial production of his new invention, Bengal China tableware (resembling Bone China without bone ash), from their family unit Subarna Ashram at Baruipur, South 24 Parganas, WB. The product (Terra-Porcelain product) looks like terracotta with porcelain-like properties. For the first time in India he produced facing bricks in different colours and shapes and also ceramic grills, door knobs, ceramic screen for room partition, gardening pot, etc. Mr Guha is the Managing Director of R. P. Ceramics Pvt Ltd, Kolkata. He was elected as a Council Member of the Indian Ceramic Society from North Zone (1991-1992 and 1994-1995) as well as from East Zone (2005-2006, 2007-2008 and 2009-2010). He also served the Society as its Treasurer, Joint Secretary of its Delhi Chapter, and Treasurer of its Kolkata Chapter. He is a past President of All India Potteries Manufacturers’ Association. At present he is a Fellow Council Member of Indian Institute of Ceramics. He was a Committee Member of the Crockery sub-committee and Raw Materials sub-committee of D.G.T.D., Ministry of Industries, Govt of India and also a member of the Whiteware sub-committee (CHD 9:2), Bureau of Indian Standards, Govt of India. On behalf of BIS, he drafted the specification of Indian tableware. He was also involved with National Backward Class’ Finance & Development Corporation under the Ministry of Welfare, Govt of India, as a Consultant and Resource Person during 1996-98. Mr Guha is one of the founder members of the Institute of Refractory Engineers, New Delhi. He is the Senior Vice President of Cottage & Small Scale Industries, South 24 Parganas (WB), India.

Mr Guha’s brain child is “Shilpa-Banijya Mela – South 24 Parganas”, which is organized every year at Baruipur, South 24 Parganas (WB), India. This trade and industry fair is acclaimed by the Govt of India, the Govt of West Bengal as well as a number of eminent personnel of the country. He also organized a National Symposium on ‘Ceramics: Energy and Environment’ in Kolkata in the year 2011 as the Organizing Secretary. Mr Guha is the recipient of ‘Karmayogi Award’ (1992) conferred by the PCB Award Committee, Kolkata and ‘Prof. Sasadhar Ray Memorial Award’ (2008) from the Indian Ceramic Society. He was honoured jointly by New Mumbai Bengali Association and Alumni Association of Shibpur Engineering College (Mumbai) as a Best Rural Entrepreneur of the country in 2004. As a ceramist he has visited many tableware, dinnerware, kitchenware, hollow block bricks, klinker, pavers and ceramic stain units in UK, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Bangladesh and Italy.

Mr A. K. Kaviraj, a Fellow Indian Institute of Ceramics, a Life Member of the Indian Ceramic Society, Material Research Society of India and a founder member of Institute of Refractory Engineers, obtained his MTech degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology with Specialization in Ceramic Technology from Calcutta University in 1969.

Out of about 40 years in the profession of Ceramics, Mr Kaviraj spent initial 15 years in refractory manufacturing activities. During this period he served various refractory manufacturing units in India in various capacities, lastly as Works Manager of Bihar Firebricks & Potteries Ltd. In his career as refractory specialist he served almost all the Integrated Steel Plants of the country as a potential manufacturer and supplier.

For the last about 25 years he is engaged in Ceramic Tile manufacturing activities. He served SPL Ltd from 1984 to 1996, initially as Works Manager and later as General Manager (Production). In 1996 he joined H & R Johnson (India) Ltd, the largest Ceramic Tile manufacturing company in India, as General Manager (Operation) at Thane plant. Subsequently, he took over the charge of Pen Plant as General Manager (Operations). His greatest achievement lies in the installation, commissioning and subsequently successful running of India’s single largest and most modern tile unit at Pen, Maharashtra.

He went abroad several times in connection with his professional activities. He visited a number of ceramic manufacturing units in Europe (to mention particularly of Italy, Spain, Germany, etc) and Asia (like China, Taiwan etc) and interacted with various overseas manufacturers & suppliers of ceramic machineries / raw materials.

During his working with H & R Johnson, apart from plant operations, he handled various techno-commercial activities of the company like project & engineering including material management (import & domestic), geology & mining, energy management, R&D and technical, etc, holding different positions in corporate function. Very recently he retired as Director, R&D and Industrial Products in H & R Johnson (India) Ltd and is now engaged as an Advisor of the same company from April, 2009.

He is the recipient of ‘Prof. Sasadhar Ray Memorial Award’ (2001) conferred by the Indian Ceramic Society and was the speaker of ‘M. G. Bhagat Memorial Lecture’ of the Society in the year 2009. He was a Council Member of the Society in consecutive 3 terms from 2001 to 2006 and also for 2009-2010.

He is a guest lecturer for MTech course of Calcutta University and an External Examiner for Ceramics of IIT, Banaras Hindu University, a prestigious Institute for Ceramics in India. He is also a member for number of Advisory Committees related to Ceramic Functions in India.

Dr Sucharita Manna, a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Kalyani, joined the Indian Ceramic Society (InCerS) in 2004 as Executive Editorial Assistant. In the year 2009 she was promoted to the post of Assistant Executive Editor for the journal “Transactions of the Indian Ceramic Society” published by InCerS. Apart from performing her regular official assignments, she obtained her PhD degree in 2010.

Dr Manna has published a number of scientific papers in reputed national and international journals. She has also participated in a number of national and international conferences and presented her scientific works therein.

She remains actively involved in organizing the Annual Sessions of the Indian Ceramic Society, held in different parts of the country. She was an active supportive member of the technical session committee of the series of international conferences on ‘Aluminas’, organized successfully during 2008, 2010 and 2013 in Kolkata. She was also a supportive member for collaboration with Taylor & Francis, UK regarding online publication of ‘Transactions of the Indian Ceramic Society’. She is a Life Member of the Indian Ceramic Society and Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.

Dr Ritwik Sarkar (b. 1972), Associate Professor, Dept of Ceramic Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, obtained his B.Sc. (Tech.) (1993) from the University of Calcutta, M.Tech. (1995) from Banaras Hindu University and Ph.D. (2003) from Jadavpur University. Prior to this current profession he has worked in IFGL Refractories Ltd during 2008-2009, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute during 2001-2008, Research and Consultancy Directorate, ACC Ltd, Thane during 1999-2001 and H & R Johnson (I) Ltd, Thane in 1995. He has also worked as Post Doctoral Fellow in the Institute of Ceramic Components in Mechanical Engineering (IKKM), RWTH, Aachen, Germany, with DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Scholarship, during 2003-2004.

The current areas of interests and research works of Dr Sarkar include Bioceramics, Refractories (shaped, aggregates and castables), Whitewares & Clay-based Products and Waste Utilization. He is also guiding students for Ph.D. degree in the field of Refractories and Bioceramics.

A National Merit Certificate Awardee (1989), Dr Sarkar ranked First Class First in graduation, received Gold Medal from BHU for securing first position in Post-graduate level and also received Awards from IRMA (1993), AIPMA (1993), Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (1995), for his Academic excellence. Dr Sarkar has also received Dr R. L. Thakur Memorial Award for Young Scientist (< 35 yrs) for his contribution in Ceramics and Materials Science from The Indian Ceramic Society in 2005.

A Life Member of The Indian Ceramic Society and Indian Institute of Ceramics, Dr Sarkar is the Assistant Editor of IRMA (Indian Refractory Makers’ Association) Journal, reviewer of many prestigious research journals and council member of the Indian Institute of Ceramics. Dr Sarkar has more than 80 research publications (35 in Science Citation Indexed Journals) and has 9 National and 1 International Patents to his credit.

Dr H. S. Tripathi graduated from the University of Calcutta in Ceramic Engineering and obtained his Ph.D. (Tech) degree in Ceramic Engineering from the same University. He joined Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata as Scientist in the year 1997. He worked two years as post-doctoral fellow at Boston University, Massachusetts, USA and 4 months as academic visitor at Imperial College London. He has more than 17 years’ research experience in different fields of refractories. His research areas of interest include materials science and engineering with special reference to ceramics and refractories including synthesis and processing of high performance synthetic refractory raw materials, refractory processing and characterization in particular magnesia-carbon, mullite, Al2O3-MgO-MgAl2O4, mag-chrome, oxide-non-oxide system and value addition to natural raw materials. He has published 22 research papers in SCI journals and many papers in conference proceedings. He has 5 Indian patents to his credit. He received many fellowships and awards, like Raman Research Fellowship, Post-doctoral fellowship from Boston University, USA, Malaviya Award from The Indian Ceramic Society, etc. He is a fellow of Indian Institute of Ceramics and Life members of Millennium Institute of Energy and Environment Management and The Indian Ceramic Society.

Mr Ghanshyam Govindram Dholaria (b. 1953), passed Diploma in Ceramic Technology form the institute of Lukhdhirsinhji Engineering College, Morbi, Gujarat in the year 1975. He started his professional career as a Chemist in Parshuram Pottery works C. Ltd, Morbi and worked there for 6 years form July 1975 to January 1982. In 1982 he moved to M/s Noble Ceramic Industries, Wakaner, Gujarat and worked there till 1992. Thereafter he joined M/s Noble Refractories, Wakaner, Gujarat as a Technical Director, and is working in the same position till date. Here he is responsible in advising the entire range of products, coordination with application engineering, involvement in various R&D work and in design and development, its implementation in plant scale production, introduction of many new products, etc.

Mr Dholaria was appointed as a part time lecturer (Ceramics) in Lukhdirisinhji Engineering College, Morbi by the Director of Technical Education Board, Gujarat in 1979. He is a member of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESI), Ahmedabad and the Member-Secretary, of Guajarat Regional Board ESI Corporation, Ahmedabad. He is also a member of many other professional bodies, e.g. Ahmedabad Management Association; Operational Group for Development of Ceramic Clusters of Gujarat; Advisory Committee of Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Naroda Centre, Ahmedabad; Indian Institute of Refractories Engineers, New Delhi; Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, Mumbai; Indo-Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mumbai, etc.

A Life Member of The Indian Ceramic Society, Mr Dholaria is also a general committee member of Indian Refractory Makers’ Association (IRMA) and President of Institute Management Committee (IMC)

Mr Dholaria is the recipient of various awards and achievements. To name a few: ‘National Award’ (2001) in recognition of his performance as a small entrepreneurs, awarded by Ministry of Small Scale Industries (Govt of India); ‘National Award’ (2005) for research and development effort in small industries, awarded by Ministry of Small Scale Industries (Govt of India); ‘National Award’ (2006) for quality products in small industries awarded by Ministry of Small Scale Industries (Govt of India); ‘National Award’ (2008) for research and development (first prize) in small scale sector, instituted by ministry of M.S.M. E. (Govt of India); ‘IRMA Award’ (twice, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009) for overall excellence in performance; ‘State Award’ (2010) for overall excellence in performance and contributions & achievements in the field of industries, and many more.

Dr Satyendra Nath Misra obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. from IIT, Kharagpur in the year 1983 and 1988 respectively. He has more than 16 years of work experience in research, product development, administration, manufacturing and in marketing areas with different senior positions in ceramic companies in India and abroad. The companies he served include Grindwell Norton, Bangalore, Orient Abrasives Ltd, Bhiwadi, Tata Refractories Ltd, Belpahar, Ambe Sneyd Oxides Ltd, Bhiwadi, Bharat Potteries Ltd, Jaipur, Saudi Ceramics, Riyadh, KSA, Aditya Birla Insulators, Rishra, Dilip Ceramics, Jaipur.

He has developed processes for low mass kiln furnitures, ceramic foam filter for metal filtration, SiC material for microwave absorber, kyanite based insulation bricks, slip cast nitride bonded SiC products, ceramic colours and frits, luminiscent glaze on ceramic tiles, surface effect glaze for stonewares and single fired steatite glaze, etc.

Dr Misra joined Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Naroda Centre as Scientist-F on August 14, 2006 and later took over the responsibility as the Scientist-in-Charge of the Centre. Under his leadership the institute had conducted ~10 T&D programmes at CG&CRI, Naroda Centre and ~69 entrepreneurs & supervisors were trained on various topics of industrial interest.

Dr Misra has to his credit ~15 research papers and delivered a large number of invited lectures on different topics of current interest in international and national seminars, symposia and workshops. He is a Life Member of The Indian Ceramic Society and Indian Institute of Ceramics. During his industries association, he had been awarded Total Customer Service Award from Norton Co, USA and Rotary International Fellowship to visit England, USA and Bolivia. During his association with CG&CRI, he had been selected under UNIDO programme to visit China in the year 2008. He had been selected as Ph.D. guide (internal) for registration at ISM, Dhanbad.

Bio-data not received

Mr K. C. Singh (b. 1960) obtained Diploma in Ceramic Engineering from Government Polytechnic, Khurja and BTech in Ceramic Engineering from Indian Institute of Ceramics, Kolkata in the years 1980 and 1989 respectively. He joined CSIR-Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute, Khurja Centre, Khurja, UP in the year 1983. At present he is serving the same Institute as a Principal Technical Officer.
He has been involved in the research and development of clayey ceramic bodies at CGCRI, immediately after his joining the Organization. His main research interests include development of whiteware bodies and utilization of low cost ceramics, development of glazed terracotta wares, tiles etc. 18 research papers published in Indian journals goes to his credit.
Mr Singh has been engaged in Khurja whiteware cluster development and is working as a Cluster Development Executive (CDE). He has contributed a lot for the growth of Khurja pottery Industry through the development of networking within the supporting institutions through formation of consortium, technology up-graduation programme, establishing of a Common Facility Center (CFC), etc.
He has served the Indian Institute of Ceramics, Kolkata as Council Member from 2010-2012. Indian Ceramic Society, Western Uttar Pradesh (WUP) Chapter successfully organized Platinum Jubilee Annual Session of InCerS at Agra in 2011 and he contributed a lot for its success as the Secretary, Organizing Committee.

Known widely as the person who has been associated with bone china and stoneware tableware in this country, Mr Kamal Narain Agarwal has been in pottery trade from 1969 and started manufacturing of ceramic tableware in 1979 and bone china tableware in 1992. He has established Bharat Potteries Ltd, Jaipur, an ISO 9001, 2000 certified company, where he holds the position of the Managing Director. With the ambition to excel in the pottery trade and to bring advancement in manufacturing and marketing field, the company is the largest manufacturer of potteries in India. He implemented the automatic machinery and firing equipment for large scale production; now he is working to upgrade the status of this trade to an organized sector. During this period, he visited many advanced bone china and stoneware tableware units all over the world several times for gathering knowledge of the trade.
Mr Agarwal represented India in delegation to Australia and Bangladesh. He has developed vision for quality products all over India. His major achievements include development of parameters and reporting system for quality, development of system for reports of production, sorting and grading of finished products, development of norms and cost control system and adaptation of best in technology, machines and raw materials.
Mr Agarwal is associated with the Indian Ceramic Society for the last 20 years and presently, he is the Chairman, Indian Ceramic Society, Rajasthan Chapter.

Mr Shreekant Somany, son of Sri Hira Lall Somany, after obtaining BSc from the University of Calcutta, joined his family business in 1969. Initially he has undergone training at SIMILOR in Geneva, Switzerland in Foundry practices and Machine shop, and on return from abroad, established Soma Plumbing & Fixtures Ltd in the year 1971 and run the unit profitably until 1981.
In the year 1981, Mr Somany moved to Hyderabad to head the Glass Division of Hindustan Sanitaryware & Industries Ltd (a group company) – M/s Associated Glass Industries Ltd (AGI). This was a sick unit, which was successfully turned around and converted into a very good profit making company. In the year 1992, he came back to Delhi to head yet another group company, M/s SPL Ltd, now called Somany Ceramics Ltd, one of the well-established and largest manufacturers of glazed ceramic tiles in the country. In 1994 he took charge of this country as its Managing Director, and in 2005, he became its Chairman and Managing Director. When he took over as the Manging Director in the year 1994, he developed company’s external market for export of its products to various countries including Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Philippines, Ireland and Middle East, Sri Lanka, etc.
Mr Somany has been associated with several Federations and Associations in various positions, viz. past President of All India Pottery Manufacturers’ Association; Founder President, Confederation of Construction Products and Services; past President, Rotary Club of Delhi Midtown; past Chairman, Northern Region Family Business Council, Confederation of Indian Industry; Chairman, Indian Council for Ceramic Tile and Sanitaryware; Member, Northern Region Committee, CII; etc.
Mr Somany has led the Australia-New Zealand Joint Business Council delegation organized by the Assocham and Ficci in the year 2000 and CII Business Leaders Mission to Sri lanka and Bangladesh in the year 2007-2008. He was also a member of the CII delegation to Russia led by Union Commerce Minister in September 2009. Besides he is also involved with several social and intellectual forums.

Mr Atanu Datta obtained his bachelor degree in Ceramic Technology from the College of Ceramic Technology (now Govt College of Engineering and Ceramic Technology), University of Calcutta in the year 1985. He started his professional career as a Refractory Engineer in Otto India Private Limited in 1986. He also worked for a short stint in Durgapur Steel Plant and looked after coke oven rebuilding. In 1987, he joined Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Visakhapatnam as a Management Trainee (Technical) and is presently working as the Deputy General Manager (Projects). Presently he is working in installing 20.6 MW waste heat recovery system on straight-line cooler of sinter machine 1 &2 as NEDO model project. He is also working as the Chief of 3 million tons joint venture cement project of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited to be set up at Visakhapatnam
During his service in RINL,VSP, he has handled several assignments, viz. successful commissioning and managing all aspects of lime rotary kilns including implementing new work culture among workmen; selecting, managing and training staff; developing and managing the departmental budget; establishing and monitoring productivity goals; and leading cross-functional teams. He has designed the layout, processes, and standard operating and maintenance practices, procedures for good lime calcination system. At present he is involved in expansion project of 2 x 500 TPD upcoming lime Shaft Kilns. Mr Datta has visited West Germany, China and Italy for professional training.
Mr Datta has more than 20 publications to his credit and presented papers in several national and international conferences. Mr Atanu Datta took initiative to form Indian Lime Association (INDLA) in a prestigious platform LimeCon2012 organized by the Indian Ceramic Society, Visakhapatnam Chapter and holds the post of Joint Secretary in INDLA.

Prof. M. Balasubramanian obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Chemistry from Madurai Kamaraj University in 1985 and 1987, respectively. He received his ME degree in Materials Science from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli in 1991. He obtained his PhD degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in the year 1996 for his work on ‘Processing and Characterisation of Alumina-Zirconia Powders and Composites’.
Prof. Balasubramanian started his career at the Centre for Ceramic Technology, Anna University as a Lecturer in 1995. He moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras as an Assistant Professor in the year 2000, become Associate Professor in 2006 and currently he is a Professor in the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering department of the Institute. He is actively involved in teaching and research of ceramics and composites. He has guided four PhD students and six MS (research) students in receiving their degrees. Four more PhD research scholars are working under his supervision. He has published more than 75 research papers.
A Life Member of the Indian Ceramic Society, FRP Institute and Indian Institute of Metals, Prof. Balasubramanian is a member of Indian Institute of Ceramics.

Bio-data not received