SLIET Professor of Chemistry Honoured with MTRES Research Excellence Award 2019

Our economy is based strongly on technology and innovation and research provides the building block upon which societal growth and advancement is hinged. Research has left an indelible mark on society and will forever be the basis for any genuine advancement in human society. Recently Delhi based MT Research & Educational Services (MTRES) came up with Research Excellence Awards (REA) 2019, to recognize the monumental role Researchers play in our society and to recognize the research excellence and contribution of Editors, Reviewers and Authors in their respective domains. Meet one of the awardees, Prof. Dr. Dhiraj Sud, Department of Chemistry, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (Deemed University), Longowal, Sangrur, Punjab, who has been honoured with Excellent Author Award in MTRES REA 2019.

In India, education and industry are working aloof in air tight compartments and the interface between the two is either missing or operational in few isolated pockets. Thus the initiatives of MTRES to bridge the gap between academia and industry will be milestone for solving scientific and technical issues for sustainable development of the country.
Dr Dhiraj Sud

Dr Sud completed her graduation in B. Sc. (Medical) as a top ranker from Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, and a merit rank holder under Punjab University. She did her post-graduation in M.Sc (Inorganic Chemistry) and Ph. D. (Inorganic Chemistry) from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, in 1991. During her Ph.D., she received the University merit scholarship and qualified the National Entrance Test conducted by Govt. of India and was awarded Junior Research Fellowship by University Grants Commission, New Delhi. Later, She also qualified the Joint Preliminary Test held by Punjab State Govt. for Lecturership. A keen interest in pursuing research in Environment Chemistry, also helped her pursue and complete M.Sc in Ecology and Environment with Distinction during her service.

During my research journey, I was strongly impressed by a Book Earth In Balance by American vice president Al Gore, and I took the independent research in field of environmental Chemistry rather than conventional Chemistry.
Dr Dhiraj Sud

She started her career in 1991 by joining as Lecturer (Chemistry) in Central Govt. Organization, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology and has been associated with the institute ever since. She has served earlier as Dean (Academics) and HOD and is presently working as Professor in the Department. She has been actively involved in teaching and research since last 27 years and has immensely contributed in the development of academic ecosystem at  the department and institute level at SLIET.

Her core area of research involves Coordination Chemistry , Environmental chemistry, Nanochemistry with specialization in Heterogenous Photocatalysis and Adsorption technology for wastewater treatment. She has more than 90 research publications to her credit in conference proceedings, national and international journals of repute such as Elsevier, Springer, Taylor–Francis and others with citation index of 4207 and h-index of 27. She has attended more than 25 National and international conferences and contributed 125 papers in conferences. Among these, 14 research papers/presentations were adjudged as Best Research Papers at various national/international conferences.

I always feel research is all about your convictions, dreams and imaginations and above all, your strong passion to find solutions of scientific challenges.
Dr Dhiraj Sud

Dr. Sud was awarded with Most Cited Articles (2007 to 2010) Award for her paper Agricultural waste material as potential adsorbent for sequestering heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions – A review, vol99, issue 14(2008), 6017-6027, in international journal Bioresource Technology. At present the paper has more than 1300 citations as per Google Scholar Citation Index . Many of her publications are cited as “Science Direct Top-25” Cited Papers and currently seven of her publications have more than 100 citations. She has also been awarded Green Education Award in 11th World Science Congress at New Delhi in 2001.

Dr. Sud has guided 10 Ph.D. students and 20 Post Graduate research students. Besides research supervision, she has also undertaken assignments as thesis evaluator for many universities, reviewers for journals and associated as expert panel for screening and selection of Associate professors / Assistant Professor / Professor and staff selections, etc. She is also the author of three books viz. Comprehensive Chemistry for engineering students; Applied chemistry for polytechnic students; and Metal Sequestration using Agricultural wastes – Cleaner Technologies. She has also been the Editor of conference proceedings and contributed four chapters in different international books.

The motivation for excellence in any pursuit I undertake, comes from inspirational thoughts, motivational talks and philosophy of my father late Sh. H. C. Sud to contribute for the development of the nation. My students, their queries and my innate desire to have beautiful life on this planet always motivate me for research.
Dr Dhiraj Sud

She has been actively disseminating knowledge to other organizations through invited talks, expert lecturers, expert member for research programme, etc. She has also organized number of national conferences, seminars and short term courses in various capacities as chairperson, organizing secretary, coordinator, etc. She has visited various countries such as UK, USA, Switzerland, etc. for invited talk / oral presentations.

She has delivered extension lecturers in various topics of Chemistry / Environment Education, and under Inspire project, in different colleges of Punjab University, Punjabi University and Punjab Agricultural University. She has delivered invited talks and lecturers in various national and international conferences.

Dr. Sud was instrumental in the start of Post-graduation (M.Sc in Chemistry) course at SLIET during her tenure as HOD (Chemistry) with intake through national level entrance examinations. As Dean of Academics of the institute, she contributed immensely in the start of four year degree programme in Engineering and Technology linked with JEE, Integrated Certificate Diploma Course in 13 disciplines and 2 M.Tech. programmes, along with framing the rules and regulations for various programs besides others.

She has completed a number of Research and Development (R&D) projects, Modernization of Laboratory (MODROB) and Thrust Area Projects (TAP) sanctioned by different agencies viz. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF), Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), etc. as Principal investigator / co-investigator. Besides research projects, minor grant under National Environment Awareness Compaign (NEAC) was sanctioned to her for more than five years. Along with SLIET awareness campaign, she carried out number of seminars, workshops and other activities and extended her expert services to nearby villages by undertaking minor projects.

Her future plans are to motivate the budding scientists and share and disseminate her expertise with them to work for finding solutions for current scientific and technical challenges faced in India. She would like to continue to contribute to society through her research findings, lectures, blogs and other pursuits.

About MTRES
MT Research & Educational Services is an initiative to bridge the gap between academics and industry. It was founded in 2013 with the combination of industry, academic and research personnel. They execute various educational events (Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, Short Term Courses, Trainings and Competitions) throughout India. They provide various educational platforms for direct engagement of students, academicians and corporates. They execute internships and placement drives also in colleges. Website