Vikram Vishal, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, has won the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Young Scientist award 2017, considered as the highest recognition for young scientists in India.
Vishal works as an assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at IIT-Bombay.
The award comprises of a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a bronze medal. He is currently working on research which attempts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their environmental impact by capturing the natural gases.
His research “looks at capturing the carbon dioxide released when coal is burnt or created as a by-product in other industries and injecting it back into the rock deep underground so that it is not released into the atmosphere,” said a IIT press release.
His model can prove to be a long-term solution for CO2 emissions in the country. The research was published in several journals last year, however Vishal aims to take the next step – establish a plant to visualise the model.
Vishal has obtained his engineering degree from Presidency College in Kolkata and did a masters course at IIT-B.
The ‘Young Scientist’ said that while institutes in the country do path-breaking research, the government needs to invest more on infrastructure and incentivise research to stop the brain drain phenomenon.
