The second CHEMRAWN VII Prize for Atmospheric and Green Chemistry was awarded to Dr. Rashmi Sanghi, Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, at the 4th International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry, held at Foz do Iguacu at the end of August 2012.
Sanghi received the award in recognition of her significant contributions in developing new methods and technologies that are being applied to minimize and eliminate hazardous substances in all compartments of the environment. In this context, her research has focused on the application of both microbes and nanoparticles, and her work on biomimetic synthesis of nanoparticles using fungi and polysaccharides as reactants, represents a novel approach, in addition to being simple to carry out and environmentally friendly. She has also contributed to improved wastewater remediation using green technologies based on biopolymers. Sanghi’s outreach activities are also very relevant in this context; through a large number of articles and lectures she has informed the chemical community as well as lay people about the needs to embrace green chemistry as the platform for a common future.
Rashimi Sanghi (right) receives the CHEMRAWN VII Prize for Atmospheric and Green Chemistry from Leiv Sydnes, chair of CHEMRAWN.
Rashimi Sanghi was born and raised in India where she also obtained all of her professional education, at the University of Allahabad in the Uttar Pradesh province, where she graduated with a Ph.D. in 1994. Her career so far has included positions at universities in India and abroad and at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur where she currently is employed as a senior research scientist. Sanghi has had a significant number of publications in scientific journals in India and abroad and also several patents. Her wide interests have also developed significant competence in a range of chemical disciplines including organic synthesis, natural product chemistry, analytical chemistry, and nanochemistry, which she has applied to creating green solutions in her home country and abroad.
The CHEMRAWN VII Prize—conceived and established during 2008–2009 through cooperative efforts of the CHEMRAWN VII Future Actions Committee and the Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry Division of IUPAC (Division III)—was formally announced at the IUPAC General Assembly in Glasgow, UK, in 2009. The prize, made possible by a surplus from the CHEMRAWN VII conference on “Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Its Impact on Global Change,” held in Baltimore in December 1991, is “to be awarded to a young scientist (under age 45) from a developing country, contributing in the field of green chemistry, emphasizing atmospheric chemistry.” The first prize was given in 2010 to Dr. N. Yassaa from Algeria for his research in atmospheric chemistry (see Sep-Oct 2010 CI, p. 19), so a shift to green chemistry on this occasion is really in the spirit of the prize. The award comprises a plaque and USD 5000 in cash.
The CHEMRAWN VII Prize is biennial and the next award will be announced in 2013 with a nomination deadline of early 2014. The winner of the 2014 CHEMRAWN VII Prize will be accommodated with a lecture at the 5th ICGC that will be in South Africa in 2014 (August 16-20).
Page last modified 13 November 2012.