2072
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 1998, 37, 2072
The Work of Professor L. K. Doraiswamy in International Technology Transfer and Professional Development Professor L. K. Doraiswamy has been closely associated with University of Salford, Salford, U.K., since 1978 when he first visited the Vice Chancellor to discuss the possibilities for a co-operative research and training program between the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, India, and University of Salford. As a consequence of that visit, the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) of the British Government financed, for 8 years, a very successful program in industrial energy conservation and heat pump technology which consisted of three main components. 1. In the first component, scientists and engineers from NCL underwent an intensive training program in heat pump technology at University of Salford with emphasis on heat recovery applications in industrial processes such as drying and distillation, etc. 2. The second component involved the installation of heat pump equipment at NCL for research and demonstration purposes. This research resulted in the publication of almost 200 papers in international journals. 3. The third component concerned international workshops in energy conservation and heat energy recycling with the objective of getting the technology into Indian industry. The contacts made at these workshops have brought many consultancies to NCL in energy-related fields. The NCL University of Salford co-operative research and professional development program was used as a model for the development of an even larger program between the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas (IIE) Cuernavaca, Mexico, and University of Salford. This program was for 6 years financed by the British Government and since 1994 has been financed by the Mexican Government. Professor Doraiswamy always laid great stress on the need for researchers to report regularly on their work, both verbally and in writing, and this has formed the basis of the very successful Mexican program over the last 9 years. In the current program Mexican researchers work at IIE for 2 years on projects of economic significance to Mexico which are closely supervised by both Mexican and U.K. experts. Each researcher is required to write 20 tightly assessed monthly progress reports in English to a standard required by internationally refereed journals, to qualify for a Certificate in Research Management before being allowed to proceed to complete work for a Ph.D. degree in the U.K. To date, the Mexican research has produced more than 170 papers in international journals. For the future, it is proposed to expand the program to include other universities and to use it as a model for in-house research training and professional development in other research centers in Mexico. It is clear that the British Government would not have agreed to finance the Mexican program if it had not been for the success of the Indian program which was initiated and developed by Professor Doraiswamy. Professor Doraiswamy continues to visit University of Salford as a visiting Professor and his great contribution to the field of international technology transfer and professional development was recognized by the award of the degree of Doctor of Science Honoris Causa by the University of Salford in 1982.
F. A. Holland, D.Sc., Ph.D. University of Salford Salford M5 4WT, England IE970221M S0888-5885(97)00221-2 CCC: $15.00 © 1998 American Chemical Society Published on Web 04/07/1998
