Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava

Awards

• 2017 Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Citation award for contributions to Chemistry and the Chemical Profession
• 2017 Non Resident of India (NRI) of the Year Award from the Times Network, India, as the best Indian academic in the Asia-Pacific region
• 2016 Khwarizmi International Award (KIA Laureate) – sponsored by UNESCO
• 2016 Awarded an inaugural Distinguished Professorship by RMIT University
• 2015 CHEMECA Medal – The most prestigious award in the chemical engineering profession in Australia and New Zealand
• 2014 RMIT University Vice-Chancellor’s-Research Excellence Award (He was awarded the same in 2006 and is the first RMIT researcher ever to receive this prestigious research award twice)
• 2014 ‘P. C. Ray Chair’ awarded by the Indian National Science Academy (one of India’s most prestigious honors for a foreign scientist)
• 2013 Applied Research Award – Most prestigious award in the field of Applied Sciences of Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Australia
• 2013 ‘Asian Paint Award’ by the Institute of Chemical Engineering, India
• 2012 Invention Disclosure Award, RMIT University (for Inventing mercury sensing technology for alumina refining) 
• 2011 Exxon Mobil Award as recognition of significant on-going contributions to Chemical Engineering through innovations and a series of related publications
• 2011 Ralph McIntosh Medal (RMIT University) for the outstanding service to the students beyond normal expectations
• 2010 John A. Brodie Medal for the best paper(out of 400) at CHEMECA 2010 conference by the Australian Institute of Chemical Engineering
• 2009 Worley Parsons Award for outstanding leadership and commitment to the environment during operation of a process plant
• 2008 R. K. Murphy Medal for Industrial Chemistry-The Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s (RACI) most coveted award in the field of Industrial Chemistry in Australia 
• 2005 A. G. R. Matthey Gold Medal for outstanding contribution in the field of Applied Gold Chemistry
• RMIT Research Excellence/Innovation and Teaching Awards in the consecutive years from 2002 to 2006 (total 7 awards)
• 1998 Golden West Medal for outstanding and innovative Industrial Research 
• 1998 Quality Research Commendation Award
• 1997 CSIRO Award for outstanding contribution to the CSIRO student research scheme

Fellowships

• 2014 Foreign Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASI)
• 2013 Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE)
• 2013 Foreign Fellow of the Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences, India (FAPAS)
• 2010 Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)
• 2009 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London (FRSC)
• 1992 Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI)

Visiting positions

• Visiting Professor-King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, 2015
• ‘Academic Icon’ visiting professorship-University of Malaya, Malaysia, 2015 and 2013
• Visiting Professor- Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India, 2011-2012
• Guest Professor at Toho University, Japan, 2007
• Visiting Professor- Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, India, 2007
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Professorial Fellow at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, 1999-2000

Research areas

• Industrial on-line mercury sensors for Australian Alumina refineries (Internationally patented sensor technology licenced to Minsensor Pty Ltd)
• Catalytic Wet Oxidation to remove organics from Bayer Liquor (Successfully passed pilot plant trial at Alcoa and is now ready for implementation.) 
• Spectroscopy for studying the Chemistry of Bayer liquor and Bayer process solids 
• Waste treatment (MgSO4 effluent from nickel laterite leaching in sulfuric acid solutions) (Patented by BHP Billiton)
• Alumina and oil shale mineral processing (ARC Linkage projects with Alcoa and SPP, a significant contribution to this knowledge base)
• Thermal processing (bauxite activation, supported Comalco’s patented technology)
• Uranium minerals processing leaching (Treatment of tailing and enhanced understanding of uranium mineral leaching from Olympic Dam)
• Use of Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy to study surface properties of copper minerals to enhance understanding of copper sulphide mineral leaching from heap leaching processes.

• BSc, MSc, Meerut University, India (1972)
• PhD (University of Exeter), United Kingdom (1982) 
• Honoris Causa D.Sc. Rajasthan University, India (2009) (Presented by the President of India)

Professor Bhargava has been in contact with many Australian industries over the last 30 years and is also working as an advisor and a consultant to Alcoa, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. As one of the top Science and Technology leaders in the Australian resource sector, he has received competitive Australian Research Council grants in collaboration with large corporate multinationals, including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Alcoa, Exxon Mobil and Southern Pacific Petroleum. Professor Bhargava is also the inventor of 6 patents which are transferred towards commercialization with Minsensor Pty LTD and Alcoa World Alumina.