Akshai Kumar hails from Mangalore. He obtained his B.Sc. in 2002 from Mangalore University. From the same university in 2004, he received his Master’s degree in inorganic chemistry. He pursued his doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Ashoka G. Samuelson at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where he was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 2009. After a postdoctoral stint in the same laboratory, in October 2010, he joined the group of Prof. Andreas Terfort at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2012, he extended his postdoctoral activities and worked in the Goldman group at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick. In 2015, he was appointed as Assistant Professor in Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.
He utilizes his expertise in catalysis (heterogeneous and homogeneous), organometallics and organofluorine chemistry to bring about; (i) Upgradation of light hydrocarbons and their derivatives to fuel grade chemicals. (ii) Utilization of petrochemicals and alkanes to generate aromatics. (iii) Biomass conversion and transformation of waste biomass to value–added fine chemicals (iv) Greenhouse gas to fuels and fine chemicals (v) Synthesis of heteroatom and fluorine doped π-conjugated molecules for material applications (vi) Asymmetric catalysis. The targets are achieved via pincer−metal-catalyzed C−H and C−F activation reactions for the synthesis of fuel chemicals and heteroatom-doped π-conjugated organic materials.
Learn MoreDr. Akshai Kumar has about 18 years of experience in the area of organometallic chemistry, homogeneous catalysis, and heterogenization of molecular catalysts. He has authored 50 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, including one in Chemical Reviews (Impact Factor = 54.301), in addition to 6 book chapters, 4 US patents (granted), 1 INDIAN patent (granted), 6 international patents (filed), and 6 INDIAN patents (filed). He has extensive experience in utilizing organometallic compounds for homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Career highlights include the development of efficient catalysts for the transformation of waste to fuel and value-added chemicals. This includes conversion of unproductive hydrocarbons to fuel-grade chemicals, generation of green hydrogen, transformation of inexpensive glycerol to high-value lactic acid, and upgrading low-energy density ethanol to high-energy density fuels.
He is a member of the Indian Young Academy of Science, Member of Bureau of Indian Standards, and a Fellow of the Indian Chemical Society. In addition to being an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, he is currently the Head of the Centre for Nanotechnology at IIT Guwahati.
Dr. Akshai Kumar Alape Seetharam
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
Head, Centre for Nanotechnology
Associated Faculty, School of Health Science & Technology
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, INDIA
Tel: +91-3612583479 (O), +91-3612583051 (O)
Fax: +91-3612582349
Email: akshaikumar@iitg.ac.in, akshaikumara@gmail.com
