Professional, Research and Academic Background


April 2022 - Present: Head, Centre for Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati , Assam, INDIA.


June 2021 - Present; Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati , Assam, INDIA.


July 2015 - June 2021; Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati , Assam, INDIA.


2012 - 2015; Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA.

(Research Supervisor: Prof. Alan. S. Goldman)


2010 - 2012; Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Goethe University, Frankfurt, GERMANY.

(Research Supervisor: Prof. Andreas Terfort)


2009 - 2010; Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, INDIA.

(Research Supervisor: Prof. Ashoka G. Samuelson)


2004 - 2009; PhD in Organometallics and Coordination Chemistry,

Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, INDIA.

(Research Supervisor: Prof. Ashoka G. Samuelson)


2002 - 2004; M.Sc. in Inorganic Chemistry,

Department of Chemistry, Mangalore University, Mangalore, INDIA.

(Obtained First Class with Distinction)


1999 - 2002; B.Sc. [Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics],

St. Aloysius College, Affiliated to Mangalore University, Mangalore, INDIA.

(Obtained First Class with Distinction)


Academic Scholarships / Awards received


December 2021 - Fellow of Indian Chemical Society (FICS - Life Fellow)

Feb 2021 - Jan 2026; Selected as Member of Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS), Indian National Science Academy

Jan 2019 - Jan 2022; Member of American Chemical Society.

2015 - 2018; DST Young Scientist.

2012 - 2015; Centre for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis (CENTC) Post Doctoral Fellow.

2012 - 2015; Post Doctoral Fellowship funded by CHEVRON Energy Technology Company.

2010 - 2012; Post Doctoral Fellowship funded by Beilstein Institute under the NANOBIC Project.

2009 - 2010; Indian Institute of Science Senior Research Associate Fellowship.

2007; Best poster award: 12th Symposium on Modern Trends in Inorganic Chemistry (MTIC XII - Dec 2007), IIT Madras, Chennai, INDIA.

2006 - 2009; Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Senior Fellowship

2004 - 2006; Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Junior Fellowship

2004; Indian Institute of Science Graduate Student Fellowship 

2002 - 2004; Rastriya Pratibha Vidyarthi Vetana Scholarship from Mangalore University


Professional Affiliations


September 2021-Present, Member, Bureau of Indian Standards.

International Advisory Board member of the workshop entitled “Tools and techniques to perform molecular modelling and computer-aided drug design” (MMTT-2021).

Editor, Book titled “PINCER-METAL COMPLEXES: APPLICATIONS IN CATALYTIC DEHYDROGENATION CHEMISTRY ” Elsevier Publications, 2021

September 2020 - Present, Visiting Faculty, NIPER Guwahati

Jan 2020 - Present; Member, Board of Studies, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore

Lifetime Member of Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI)

Jan 2013 - Jan 2015; Member of American Chemical Society.

Jan 2019 - Jan 2022; Member of American Chemical Society.

 

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
Guwahati - 781039, Assam, INDIA

Member, Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS-INSA)

Fellow, Indian Chemical Society

Tel: +91-3612583479 (O)    

Fax: +91-3612582349

Email: akshaikumar@iitg.ac.in

            akshaikumara@gmail.com

Dr. Akshai Kumar A. S obtained a Bachelors degree in 2002 from St. Aloysius College, Mangalore University where he studied Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics with equal credits. From the same university in 2004, he completed his Masters degree in Inorganic Chemistry. He pursued his doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Ashoka G. Samuelson in the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 2009, he was awarded a PhD degree for his work on “Reductive and Metathetic Coupling Reactions Mediated by Group(IV) Metal Alkoxides”. He continued his post doctoral studies in the same lab and worked on “Experimental and Computational Studies to Elucidate Unusual Titanium Mediated Reductive Pathways”. Subsequently, in 2010, he moved to the group of Prof. Andreas Terfort, Goethe University, Frankfurt where he explored organofluorine chemistry working on a project titled “Synthesis and Nucleophilic Substitution of Polyfluorinated Annelated Arenes as Materials for Optoelectronic and OFET Devices”. He extended his post-doctoral activities by joining the Goldman group in 2012. Here his research interests were focussed on the design of tandem catalytic systems based on pincer iridium complexes and zeolites for catalytic transformation of alkanes to synthesize fuel chemicals. In 2015, he was appointed as Assistant Professor in Chemistry at IIT Guwahati.  Currently his research emphasis is on transition metal catalyzed C-H and C-F activation reactions for the synthesis of fuel chemicals and heteroatom doped π-conjugated organic materials.