About Parag A. Deshpande

PAD is a professor of chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur. He received his doctoral degree from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore in 2011 graduating as the recipient of the best thesis of the year award in the department of chemical engineering for his thesis on development of novel catalytic materials for clean energy and environmental applications. Following his doctoral research, he joined Northwestern University for his postdoctoral research where he applied DFT methods for understanding the mechanisms of enzymatic reactions with an aim of developing biomimetic catalysts. He joined IIT Kharagpur in 2012, and was associated with it till 2023. He is a recipient of university gold medal for undergraduate studies, Bristol-Myers Squibb fellowship for doctoral studies, 2015 and 2019 DAAD fellowship, and Fulbright-Nehru professional and academic excellence fellowship 2020-21. He advises a research group at IIT Jodhpur which specialises in computational analysis of chemical and biochemical systems, employing quantum chemical calculations to understand the underlying materials science, catalysis and biophysical-biochemical behaviour with specific interest in carbon capture, pharmaceutical reactions and protein engineering.

Research projects undertaken

PAD's research lab has been generously funded by various funding agencies of the Govt of India including the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Biotechnology with a funding of over 2.25 crore over the past eight years.

1. Topic: In silico mechanistic investigations of de novo synthesis of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis DNA.
PI: P. A. Deshpande; Co-PI: None
Amount: 5,00,000
Funding agency: ISIRD, SRIC, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Duration: 2013-2016

2. Topic: Analysis of doped oxide catalysts for pharmaceutical reactions.
PI: P. A. Deshpande; Co-PI: None
Amount: 24,00,000
Funding agency: Fast Track Scheme for Young Scientists of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Duration: 2013-2016

3. Topic: In silico structural and functional investigations of isozymes of carbonic anhydrase family.
PI: P. A. Deshpande; Co-PI: None
Amount: 36,00,000
Funding agency: Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
Duration: 2013-2018

4. Topic: Experimental and theoretical investigations of polymerization-grade ethylene synthesis.
PI: P. A. Deshpande; Co-PI: Dr. Sudhanshu Sharma, Department of Chemistry, IIT Gandhinagar, Dr. Debasis Sarkar, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur
Amount: 55,00,000
Funding agency: Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Duration: 2013-2016

5. Topic: Investigation of Suzuki-Miyaura reactions catalyzed by ionic Pd immobilized in inorganic oxide matrix.
PI: P. A. Deshpande
Co-PI: Dr. Heidrun Gruber-Woelfler, Institut fur Prozess- und Partikeltechnik, TU Graz, Austria
Amount: INR 14,00,000
Funding agency: India-Austria Scientific-Technological Co-operation 2013-2014, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Duration: 2013-2015

6. Topic: Particle engineering by model-based control of ultrasound assisted crystallization processes for organic chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
PI: Dr. Debasis Sarkar, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur; Co-PI: P. A. Deshpande
Amount: INR 37,00,000
Funding agency: Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Duration: 2016-2019

7. Topic: Development of nanoporous geopolymeric catalysts for industrially relevant liquid-phase reactions.
PI: P. A. Deshpande; Co-PI: Dr. Sudhanshu Sharma, Department of Chemistry, IIT Gandhinagar
Amount: 60,00,000
Funding agency: Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Duration: 2018-2021

Doctoral students graduated

1. N. Nagasubrahmanyeswara Rao (2013 - 2018)
Thesis title: In silico studies on orotate phosphoribosyltransferase action.

2. Manju Verma (2013 - 2018)
Thesis title: Computational analysis of biomimetic catalysts for CO₂ hydration.

3. Manjusha Padole (2014 - 2018)
Thesis title: Computational studies on interaction of C2-gases and halobenzenes with carbonaceous and oxide surfaces.

4. Vangala Sai Phani Kumar (2014 - 2019)
Thesis title: Structure-property relationships in TiO₂-based multicomponent catalysts.

5. Phanikumar Pentyala (2014 - 2020)
Thesis title: DFT insights into structures and functions of rare earth oxides.

6. Shashi Kumar (2016 - 2022)
Thesis title: Computational analysis of thermostability of SazCA.

7. K. S. S. V. Prasad Reddy (2016 - 2022)
Thesis title: Computational analysis of small-atom palladium clusters as Suzuki-Miyaura catalysts.

8. Ankita Agarwal (2015 - 2022; School of Biosciences, IIT Kharagpur; jointly with Professor R. Bahadur)
Thesis title: Computational analysis and prediction of protein-RNA interactions in human RNA-binding proteins.

9. Saroj Kumari (2017-2023)
Thesis title: Computational analysis of Ni-catalyzed biomimetic CO₂ hydration.

10. Swayam Prabha Misra (2018-2023)
Thesis title: Structure, stability and catalytic activity of geopolymers.

Courses taught

PAD loves teaching masters and higher level courses, and has enjoyed teaching undergraduate courses equally.

Current

1. Modelling and Simulation (for UG students of engineering science)

Previously taught at IIT Kharagpur
1. Advanced mathematical techniques in chemical engineering (for masters students of ChE)
2. Process dynamics and control (for masters students of ChE)
3. Advanced thermodynamics (for masters students of ChE)
4. Biochemical engineering (for undergraduate students of ChE)
5. Quantum methods in molecular simulations (Centre for Theoretical Studies)
6. Advanced heat transfer (masters students of ChE)
7. Chemical engineering thermodynamics (UG students of ChE)
8. Methods in molecular simulations (Centre for Theoretical Studies)

Academic administration

PAD has served, and is serving, the department and the institute in various capacities.

1. Vice-chairperson, Career Development Centre, IIT Kharagpur (2017-2020).
2. Chairman, Purchase committee, Career Development Centre, IIT Kharagpur (2018-20).
3. Member, Academic committee, Centre for Computational and Data Sciences, IIT Kharagpur.
4. Member, HPC advisory committee, IIT Kharagpur.
5. Member, Technical core committee for development of central high-performance computing facility, IIT Kharagpur.
6. Member, Syllabus review and reformulation committee, Biosciences, IIT Kharagpur.
7. Research scholar coordinator, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2016-2017).
8. Member, Faculty search committee, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2014-).
9. Member, Infrastructure development committee, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2014-2017).
10. Member, Departmental research committee, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2014-2017).
11. Member, Departmental purchase committee, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2017-).
12. Member, Departmental academic committee, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2014-).
13. Member, Departmental academic committee, Centre for Theoretical Studies, IIT Kharagpur (2015-).
14. Professor-in-charge, Training and Placements, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2014-2017).
15. Professor-in-charge, Computer Aided Process Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2014-2020).
16. Professor-in-charge, Departmental server administration, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur (2014-2020).
17. Professor-in-charge, Chemical Engineering Association, IIT Kharagpur (2014-2017).
18. Professor-in-charge, Departmental research facility, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur.

Publications

PAD has more than 80 papers in international journals as on January 01, 2024 with an h-index of 22. He can be searched as Parag A. Deshpande on various research database search engines. Please visit the Publications page to see some of his latest contributions.