Thursday 7 May 2020

2019 MEI Young Person's Award to Nikhil Dhawan

The recipient of the MEI Young Person's Award is normally announced after the presentation of the award at an MEI Conference.
These are not normal times, however, and the 2019 award was to be presented at Hi-Tech Metals '20 in Cape Town, which is now cancelled due to Coronavirus.
So I am pleased to announce that the recipient, who will be presented with the award somewhere and sometime in the unforeseeable future, is Dr. Nikhil Dhawan, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, IIT-Roorkee, India.
Nikhil was nominated by three eminent mineral processors, Prof. Jan Miller, of the University of Utah, USA, Prof. B.K. Mishra, Director of IIT Goa, and Dr. Pradip, Chief Scientist at Tata Research Development and Design Centre, India.
Nikhil Dhawan obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (Metallurgical Engineering) with First Class Honours from Punjab Engineering College, in 2008. His Ph.D on the Modelling of Crushed Ore Agglomeration for Heap Leach Operations, was conferred by the University of Utah in 2013.
He has four sponsored research projects funded by various government organizations, and has authored 47 refereed journal articles, 20 international conference papers, and 2 book chapters. He is among very few young researchers working in the high priority areas of electronic waste recycling for recovery of base metals and rare earth elements, processing of low-grade iron ores, and silicate rocks for potassium values.
His research work is focused on the extraction of rare earth values from electronic waste, lithium and cobalt from lithium-ion batteries, copper and gold values (printed circuit boards), potassium values from silicate rocks and enrichment of low grade banded iron ores.
Dr. Dhawan was recently elected as a member of the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences and has received the AC Datta MESA Award (Institution of Engineers, 2016) and Khare award (2016) from the Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers.  Based on his research, Nikhil was selected as a consultant by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited for technical due diligence work on the recycling of lithium-ion batteries for Attero Recycling Pvt. Ltd.
Nikhil is passionate about training the next generation of mineral engineers to meet the challenges of the future, and as part of the 2016 IMPC in Quebec, he was invited to participate in the IMPC Emerging Leaders Working Group.
He is active in promoting the role of extractive metallurgy through invited lectures and contributory lectures at different platforms (workshops and conferences) within India and abroad. In his short career, Nikhil has made a significant mark on our profession, produced research results of acknowledged benefits to the industry, and built an international network of collaborators. Undoubtedly Nikhil has the attributes necessary to play a significant role in our industry’s future as a researcher, teacher, practitioner, and international collaborator. His excellence, commitment, and dedication make him a worthy recipient of the MEI Young Person’s Award.

22 comments:

  1. Dear Dr.Dhawan,
    My hearty congratulations for being awarded one of the most prestigious in our profession. Very impressive acasemic record and I am sure you would contribute immensely to knowledge and practice.
    Another pleasing factor is that you have been selected by some of the best in this area.
    My best wishes.

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  2. Nishant Arora7 May 2020 at 10:50

    Congratulations Dr. Dhawan

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  3. Many more congratulations Dr.Dhawan
    Wish more success ahead.

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  4. Michael Moats7 May 2020 at 14:00

    Congratulations! Well deserved.

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  5. Congratulations Dr.Nikhil !.

    Best wishes.

    Basavaraj Karadkal,
    Indian Bureau of Mines

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  6. Great achievement.
    Congratulations Dr. Dhawan!

    Metallurgist
    Colloid and Interface Science Lab
    Jeonbuk National University

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  7. Thank you everyone for wishes and blessings.

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    Replies
    1. I'm sure they are all heart-felt Nikhil

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  8. Dear Dr Nikhil,
    My heartiest congratulations to you for being awarded the prestigious MEI Young Person's Award. I have been watching your publications ever since you came to Varanasi to attend a workshop. I am sure that you will rise to a great height in academic field. With good wishes and all the best.

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  9. Congratulations Nikhil! Well deserved!

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  10. Dear Dr. Nikhil,

    My heartiest 'Congratulations' for having been awarded the prestigious MEI Young Person's Award. You richly deserve for the honor with the kind of your involvement and contribution in the field. I wish you to bag such laurels in future also.

    Dr.B.D. Pandey, AcSIR-NML, Jamshedpur.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Dr. Pandey.

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  11. Congratulations on a great career and an awesome award Nikhil. Hoping I get a chance to meet you at one of the MEI conferences once society gets back to normal. Stay safe!

    Pete
    Hudbay Minerals

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Peter, and yes looking forward to meeting you and others soon. 

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  12. Congratulations Nikhil and your co-author for winning the IOM3 Billiton Gold Medal for the best paper published in Transactions C: Mineral Processing & Extractive Metallurgy (Investigation of microwave reduction of low-grade banded iron ores by Veeranjaneyulu Rayapudi & Nikhil Dhawan)

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