Ashutosh Sharma

Ashutosh Sharma is Institute Chair Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K). He is also elected President of the Indian National Science Academy (2023-25), Chair of Science 20, S20/G20 in 2023 and Chair of Life Sciences Research Board of DRDO. He was Secretary to the Government of India heading its Department of Science and Technology (2015-21). In this position he helped initiate several new programs related to infrastructure and human capacity building; innovation and startups; R&D in advanced manufacturing, waste processing, clean energy, quantum technologies; and cyber-physical systems; industry-academia cooperation; science communication; women scientists; and major international collaborations in the areas of priority for the nation. Prof. Ashutosh Sharma was also Chairman of the boards of IISER Tirupati and IISER Berhampur and chaired the boards of Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and Technology Development Board (TDB).

With over 350 peer-reviewed articles and 15 filed patents, Prof. Sharma has made fundamental contributions to a highly interdisciplinary and wide range of fields in nanotechnology, thin polymer films, nanocomposites, and devices in energy, health, and environment; functional interfaces; micro/nano-mechanics of soft matter; nano-patterning and nanofabrication; colloid and interfacial engineering; biomaterials & bio surfaces; wetting and adhesion.

Ashutosh Sharma obtained a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT-Kanpur in 1982, his M.S. degree from Penn State in 1984 and a Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo in 1987, where he was a research faculty in ophthalmology until he joined Chemical Engineering at IIT-Kanpur in 1990. He became a full professor in 1997 and was the Head of Chemical Engineering (2003-06). He was the founding Coordinator of Nanosciences Center and Advanced Imaging Center at IIT-Kanpur.

Prof. Sharma has received numerous awards and honors including the inaugural Infosys Prize in Engineering and Computer Science, TWAS Science Prize of the World Academy of Sciences, Bessel Research Award of the Humboldt Foundation, J. C. Bose Fellowship, S. S. Bhatnagar Prize, Homi J. Bhabha Award of UGC, Syed Husain Zaheer Medal and the Meghnad Saha Medal of INSA, Distinguished Alumni Awards of IIT Kanpur and SUNY Buffalo, Firodia Award, the Life-time Achievement Award of the Indian Science Congress and several Doctor of Science honoris causa, including from SUNY Buffalo, and Jadavpur University.

Sharma is an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy; Indian Academy of Sciences; The National Academy of Sciences, India; Indian National Academy of Engineering; The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS); and the Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials. He has also served on the councils of the first two. Prof. Sharma has been an associate editor of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces since 2014, Proceedings of Indian National Science Academy and ASME Journal of Micro- and Nano-Manufacturing and has been on the editorial boards of several journals—Carbon; ACS Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research; Current Science; Nanomaterials and Energy; Chemical Engineering Science; Journal of Colloid and Interface Science; Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering; and Indian Chemical Engineer.