CLRI appoints a new director
12 March 2009The Indian prime minister, in his capacity as president of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has approved the appointment of Professor Asit Baran Mandal as director of the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), one of the constituent laboratories of CSIR.
Dr Mandal took officially charge in February. He has had a distinguished career, beginning with a BSc in chemistry from the University of Burdwan followed by a MSc and PhD in chemistry with physical chemistry as a specialisation from Jadavpur University in Kolkata.
Professor Mandal has made several important contributions to the understanding of micellar systems. He has modified Huggins-Thomas equation by including a parameter based on both experimental and theoretical investigations leading to Huggins-Thomas-Mandal equation. His contributions aided the development of new experimental methodologies for the characterisation of micellar, monolayer and reverse micellar systems involving collagens, peptides, drugs, tanning materials, nanomaterials, macromonomers and polymeric systems and their applications in leather processing. His groundbreaking contributions to surface and colloid sciences are valuable and noteworthy. He joined CLRI in 1979 and has deep knowledge of the requirements of the leather industry. He has built a vibrant research school in his field and is a member of several professional, scientific and academic bodies in India and abroad. Mandal is an honorary professor at the Anna University, Chennai.
Professor Mandal has been the acting director of CLRI since July 2006 since Dr T Ramasami left the post to assume charge as secretary of the Department of Science and Technology within the Ministry of Science and Technology for the government of India.
