Current as of 1/06/2023

Suresh Bhatia is currently Emeritus Professor at The University of Queensland, from where he retired in 2022. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Pennsylvania and joined The University of Queensland in 1996. His main research interests are in the simulation of adsorption and transport in nanoporous materials, and in heterogeneous reaction engineering, where he has authored over two hundred and eighty scientific papers in leading international journals. He continues his research in these areas as Emeritus Professor. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the Herdillia Award for Excellence in Basic Research in Chemical Engineering, the S. S. Bhatnagar Prize for Engineering Sciences from the Government of India, the ExxonMobil Award for excellence in Chemical Engineering, from the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and the University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence. Between 2010 and 2015 he held an Australian Professorial Fellowship from the Australian Research Council. He is a Fellow of two major academies – Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He served as the Regional Editor of the international journal Molecular Simulation between 2009 and 2015 and is currently a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal. Between 2007 and 2009 he was the Head of the Division of Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland and was instrumental in its elevation to a school.

Professor Bhatia has made ground-breaking contributions in chemical engineering, through the development of (1) random pore models and their application in gasification, (2) novel theories of molecular transport in nanopores, and (3) atomistic simulation models of carbon structure and the application of these to determine accessibility. His work has led to modifications in anode processing technology for aluminium smelting, now used in industry. His research is highly cited and is recognised by numerous awards and distinctions. As an academic, he has held leadership positions, and successfully championed the creation of a School of Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland.