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Balasubramanian Viswanathan also known as BV, is a highly accomplished Indian material scientist, an emeritus professor at IIT Madras and husband of late Vijayalakshmi Viswanathan, the first woman financial commissioner of Indian Railways. He is well known in the field of catalysis and material science and has been instrumental in setting up and running the first National Centre for Catalysis Research at IIT Madras. He has authored more than 30 books with top publishers including Springer Publishing, John Wiley & Sons, Elsevier, covering various aspects of material science, catalysis, nanotechnology, Energy, Fuel cells, CO₂ reduction and has published more than 600 scientific journals. He is considered to be an authority on catalysis and material science in the scientific world and has an H-index of 61 resulting from more than 14,000 citations.

Early life and education

Viswanthan was born in a small village located at the South of India called Kuthanoor in Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu State, India. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, India (1958–1964). He earned his PhD degree at IIT Madras, India, in 1969. He was married to the late Vijayalakshmi Viswanathan and has a son who is a faculty member in the department of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, United States.

Research career

Prof. B.V joined Indian Institute of Technology, Madras as an associate lecturer in the chemistry department and moved up the ladder to a full professor in 1990. In addition to full teaching and research activities, he held various key administrative positions like the head of Materials Research Centre for two terms, head of the department of chemistry, 2001–2003, secretary to Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), dean of students (1998–2001), chairman of the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination(IIT-JEE) organizing committee. He has been member of many scientific committees appointed by the government of India in the Department of Science and Technology (India) and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Popular books authored

• Energy Sources: Fundamentals of Chemical Conversion Processes and Applications Balasubramanian Viswanathan, Elsevier, 2017
• Materials and Processes for Solar Fuel Production (Nanostructure Science and Technology), Vaidyanathan Subramanian, Balasubramanian Viswanathan and Jae Sung Lee, Springer; Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2014 edition (23 August 2016).
• Photoelectrochemistry: Principles and Practices, B. Viswanathan and M. Aulice Scibioh, Alpha Science Intl Ltd, 1st Edition (28 February 2014)
• Chemical Engineering: A Comprehensive Approach, Kripal S. Lakhi, B. Viswanathan, Alpha Science Intl Ltd; 1 edition (2 December 2013)
• Catalysts And Surfaces: Characterization Techniques, B. Viswanathan and R. C. Deka, Alpha Science Intl Ltd (30 May 2010)
• Heterogeneous Catalysis, Dipak Kumar Chakrabarty, B. Viswanathan, New Age Science (1 January 2009)
• Fuel Cells: Principles and Applications, B. Viswanathan, M. Aulice Scibioh, CRC Press; 1 edition (24 January 2008)
• Catalysis: Principles and Applications, B. Viswanathan, S. Sivasanker, A. V. Ramaswamy, Narosa Publishing House, 2002
• Chemical and Electrochemcial Energy Systems, R.Narayan and B.Viswanathan, Orient Longmans Ltd. (1997). ISBN 0863117317

References

1. ^ "prof bv viswanathan". chem.iitm.ac.in. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
2. "First woman Financial Commissioner of Railways dead". The Hindu. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
3. "National Centre for Catalysis Research :: About Us". nccr.iitm.ac.in. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
4. "B.Viswanathan's Page". catalysis.chem.iitm.ac.in. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
5. "Balasubramanian Viswanathan - Google Scholar Citations". Retrieved 8 January 2017.
6. "Venkat Viswanathan-Mechanical Engineering - Carnegie Mellon University". cmu.edu. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
7. Viswanathan, B. (2016). Energy Sources: Fundamentals of Chemical Conversion Processes and Applications. Elsevier Science. p. 27. ISBN 9780444563606. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
8. Viswanathan, Balasubramanian; Subramanian, Vaidyanathan (Ravi); Lee, Jae Sung (23 August 2016). Materials and Processes for Solar Fuel Production. ISBN 978-1493945702.
9. Viswanathan, B.; Aulice Scibioh, M. (2014). Photoelectrochemistry: Principles and Practices: B. Viswanathan, M. Aulice Scibioh: 9781842657126: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN 978-1842657126.
10. Lakhi, Kripal S.; Viswanathan, B. (15 November 2013). Chemical Engineering: A Comprehensive Approach. ISBN 978-1842657560.
11. Viswanathan, B.; Kannan, S.; Deka, R. C. (2010). Catalysts And Surfaces: Characterization Techniques: B. Viswanathan, S. Kannan, R. c. Deka: 9781842653159: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN 978-1842653159.
12. Chakrabarty, D. K.; Viswanathan, B. (2009). Heterogeneous Catalysis. ISBN 978-1906574093.
13. Viswanathan, B.; Aulice Scibioh, M. (2007). Fuel Cells: Principles and Applications. ISBN 978-1420060287.
14. Viswanathan, B.; Sivasanker, S.; Ramaswamy, A.V. (2002). Catalysis: Principles and Applications. Narosa Publishing House. ISBN 9788173193750. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
15. Narayan, R.; Viswanathan, B. (1998). Chemical And Electrochemical Energy Systems. Universities Press (India) Pvt. Limited. ISBN 9788173710698. Retrieved 8 January 2017.

External links

• "prof bv viswanathan". chem.iitm.ac.in. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
• "B.Viswanathan's Page". catalysis.chem.iitm.ac.in. Retrieved 8 January 2017.

• 1941 births
• Living people
• Indian materials scientists
• People from Thanjavur district
• Scientists from Chennai
• 20th-century Indian engineers
• Engineers from Tamil Nadu