Sundeep Mukherjee recently received the Hind Rattan 2020 Award, one of the highest Indian diasporic awards granted annually by the Indian government, for his research and collaboration with fellow institutions in India.

The recognition comes in light of two Indo-US initiatives the materials scientist has been involved in: the Indo-US Joint Center on Advanced Metallic Bio-Implants funded by the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF)  and Partnership-2020 on high-performance metallic alloys funded by the U.S. Department of State.

The two initiatives offer faculty and student exchange seminars along with research collaboration in the use of advanced metallic alloys for implants and other biomedical applications.

The Indo-US Joint Center is focused on developing advanced metallic alloys for orthopedic implants that result in faster wound healing and reduce the need for post-implant surgeries. The aim for Partnership-2020 is to develop novel metal processing techniques in energy and health-care applications. Both initiatives will have a direct impact on high-tech manufacturing and workforce development in U.S. and India.

“The goal is to really bring the research from a scientific application and make it into a technology where it will actually be used,” said Mukherjee, an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The collaborative initiatives build upon three other ongoing National Science Foundation projects in which Mukherjee serves as principal investigator.  

Mukherjee received the award under the education and collaborative research category and accepted it in January 2020 from the former Speaker of the House in India, Smt. Meira Kumar.