Prof. Kamalesh K. Sirkar.Prof. Kamalesh K. Sirkar, Department of Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Engineering of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), received the Alan S. Michaels Award for his long and distinguished career that has included making fundamental contributions to the field of Membrane Science and Engineering from membrane fabrication to transport processes and performance of membrane systems and his lifelong service to the membrane separations community.
Kam has contributed for many decades as an innovative leader to diverse membrane technologies such as membrane contactors, membrane distillation, membrane reactors, hollow fiber membrane crystallization, and innovative approaches to gas separation, organic solvent nanofiltration and bioseparations. His seminal contributions to membrane science are cumulated in two books that serve as references to the community. He co-edited with Winston Ho the “Membrane Handbook” in 1992, which has been the standard for membrane separations; he also recently wrote the more general book, “Separation of Molecules, Macromolecules and Particles: Principles, Phenomena and Processes” in which he integrates membranes with classical chemical engineering processes.
Kam’s service to the membrane community is exemplary. He has served in NAMS as a Director from 1996 -2001 including serving as President in 1998-1999; he has also been a major contributor to the Separations Division of AIChE. He has been on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Membrane Science since 1989 and he is the founding Editor-in-Chief of “Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering” since 2011. He has published close to 200 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and has been cited over 10,000 times, demonstrating his impact on membrane science.
Kamalesh Sirkar is a pioneer and leader in membrane science and technology and in view of his leadership, scholarship and the highly impactful nature of his work in benefitting society, he is truly deserving of the 2017 Alan S Michaels Award.
The Alan S. Michaels Award for Innovation in Membrane Science and Technology, consists of a $10,000 prize and lifetime membership in the North American Membrane Society (NAMS). It is given to individuals who have made breakthrough contributions to the membrane field.
Dr. Alan Michaels was one of the true innovators and pioneers in membrane science and technology. His academic and industrial work on ultrafiltration, membrane-based drug delivery systems, and new membrane processes for the biopharmaceutical industry all represented breakthroughs that helped redefine the membrane field.
This award is given by the North American Membrane Society to honor the late Dr. Michaels and to recognize individuals who have made outstanding innovations and/or exceptional lifetime contributions to membrane science and technology.
This story is reprinted from material from The North American Membrane Society, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.