Reinventing chemical technology

Chief Guests Address by

Mukesh D. AmbaniChairman and Managing Director

Reliance Industries Limited

Mumbai University Institute of Chemical TechnologyFoundation Day Celebrations

3Respected Professor M.M. Sharma,

Dr. Mashelkar,

Professor J.B. Joshi,

Members of the Board of Governors,

Faculty and Staff Members,

Distinguished Guests,

My Dear Students,

Thank you Professor Joshi for giving me the opportunity to participatein this Foundation Day celebrations.

I had the privilege to participate, last week, in the meeting of the Boardof Governors of MUICT, under the chairmanship of Dr. Mashelkar.

I have great admiration for Dr. Mashelkars stewardship.

Under his dynamic leadership, all of us on the Board of Governors arecommitted to build MUICT as an institution of great repute.

This resolve was evident in the deliberations during our meeting.

It was the very first meeting following the grant of autonomy to MUICTby the University.

Autonomy is an important turning point in the history of MUICT.

Professor M.M. Sharma worked untiringly to bring eminence to MUICT.

And Prof. Joshi worked persistently to gain independence for MUICT.

Future generations of students and faculty will eternally cherish theirmomentous contributions.

So would I, as an alumni of MUICT.

For me, a visit to MUICT is always filled with nostalgia.

I came here in 1974 as a young student eager to learn chemicalengineering.

4I spent five years here as a student of Professor MM Sharma and a teamof exceptional faculty.

I can count those five years as among the best years in my life.

UDCT, as it was known those days, transformed my eagerness for chemicalengineering into an abiding engagement.

After earning my degree in chemical engineering, I decided to pursuebusiness management studies at Stanford University.

I then came back in 1981 to help my father Dhirubhai Ambani manage thegrowth of Reliance.

The education and training that I received on this very campus wasinstrumental in a significant way in evolving new initiatives of Reliance.

Reliance is a creation of chemical engineering.

From a textile company, Reliance progressed into chemical engineeringdomains of polyester, petrochemicals, plastics, petroleum refining and oiland gas.

Like me, this renowned institution has turned out thousands of well-trainedtechnology professionals over the last seventy years.

They have built the edifice of the chemical, pharmaceutical and other alliedindustries in India.

MUICT is also an eloquent example of an institution of higher learningwith an intense engagement with industry.

Equally, it is a testimony of how the pursuit of research-led education canhelp build world-class institutions.

Chemical Technology Perspective

Friends,

Pursuing chemical engineering at MUICT instilled in me an appreciationfor a wide range of science and engineering subjects.

Chemical engineering students those days learnt everything other thanchemical engineering most of the time.

5From basic sciences, humanities, mechanical engineering, electricalengineering to civil engineering, everything was thrown in.

Some would joke that chemical engineers are ones who talk chemistry toengineers, engineering to chemists and politics when both engineers andchemists are present.

Those were hey days for chemical engineers.

The years 1960 to 1980 represented a golden period for the global chemicalindustry.

Chemical sciences were intersecting with other disciplines to create newtechnologies.

The energy industry was seeing intense activity, spurred by high crude oilprices.

Chemical technology was contributing with new secondary and tertiaryrecovery methods.

The petrochemical industry was in a phase of explosive growth.

Chemical technology was bringing new plastics, elastomers, fibres andchemicals to daily life.

A number of new polymers discovered during the previous three decadeshad started to make an impact on society.

The engineering industry was shaping and riding the industrial age.

A new breed of performance materials was making inroads into engineeringapplications.

These ranged from polycarbonate and polyphenylene oxide to thermoplasticelastomers.

This golden period for the chemical industry then gave way to the computingindustry.

Chemical technology took backstage in the midst of tectonic shifts ininformation technology and communications.

Since 1980 we are seeing the golden age for information technology andcommunications unfold before us.

6This will go well upto the year 2010.

During the last twenty years, processing power has grown 200 fold to 40million transistors on a microprocessor.

Storage capacity has grown 5,000 times to 30,000 megabits per square inch.

And communications capacity has grown 60,000 times to 6,000 gigabitsper second on a single optic fibre.

The complexity of computing is portending to outgrow the human abilityto manage it.

Computings sphere of influence promises to extend everywhere.

It would impinge areas such as cognitive sciences to create smart devices.

Technology is taking centre stage in driving economic growth anddevelopment.

In fact, two-thirds of global growth in GDP in the ensuing future will comefrom technology sectors.

Re-inventing Chemical Technology

Ladies and Gentlemen,

All is not lost for chemical technology.

On the contrary, a renewed golden age awaits it.

Chemical technology has the opportunity to reinvent itself.

Convergence will be the dominant theme of technology in the twenty-firstcentury.

Synergies created by different domains would have far greater impact thanany single one.

Convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology and accelerated computingis expected to bring about a new Molecular Economy in the twenty-firstcentury.

The world of technology is envisaged to move to the micro, nano andmolecular scale.

7Chemical technology has the opportunity to transform itself in this moleculareconomy.

It has the potential to find common ground with biology, information andcommunications, nanotechnology and material science.

Chemical technology so far drew lessons from mathematics, physics andchemistry.

It now has the opportunity to learn from biology.

It has the opportunity to embrace new biopolymers, biofuels, bioprocesses,biosensors and biopharmaceuticals.

Chemical technology also has much to gain from material science.

New conductive polymers for electronic components, imaging, devices andfuel cells are on the anvil.

New semi-conductive polymers for LEDs, luminescent displays, storagechips, solar cells and electronic paper are on the horizon.

Likewise, chemical technology has a lot to gain from information technologyand communications.

These opportunities range from cheminformatics, fuzzy logic control forprocess modeling and optimisation and wireless data transmission andsensor networks in process automation.

Finally, chemical technology has to embrace nanotechnology in the ensuingfuture.

The paint and cosmetic industries in particular have the opportunity totransform with nanomaterials exhibiting compelling properties at the nano level.

It is in the realm of possibility to develop paints that change colour andpaints that convert solar energy to power.

Chemical technology must embrace a vision of a molecular economy.

It must engage with building products and systems upwards from themolecular scale.

At a broader level, the chemical technology will have to shift from processesand products to presenting platforms for creativity.

8Technology will be much more than the means to translate science intosocially useful tools.

Technology will graduate to be the means to create platforms for deliveringcreative solutions in diverse areas to each person on this planet.

Imperatives for Chemical Technologists

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You may ask, What does all this mean for chemical technologists?

The answer to this question lies in seeing how chemical technologists inworld-class research-led universities are re-inventing themselves.

Chemical process modelers and simulators are learning downstreamprocessing and purification of proteins.

Polymer scientists are learning from cell biology to create new tissueengineering constructs.

Chemical equipment manufacturers are learning bioprocesses to build newfermentors, bioreactors and assist devices.

Pharmaceutical technologists are engaging with pharmacogenomics that tailordrugs for each individual.

Pigment technologists are learning nanotechnology to create nanoconstructswith highly specific colours, shades and hues.

Energy technologists are addressing the opportunity in building miniaturisedfuel cell devices to meet diverse distributed energy needs.

Above all, chemical engineers and technologists are collaborating andcooperating more than ever before.

As knowledge from diverse disciplines intersect and converge, collaborationand cooperation for horizontal integration is becoming a way of life.

I recently had the opportunity to visit several engineering schools in USand to interact with their Deans.

It was interesting to see biology taking over engineering and chemicalengineers taking over biology.

9You had to look hard to find a pure-blooded chemical engineering facultymember.

In a lighter vein, it looks as though the old joke about chemical engineerswould need a remix.

Just as old Hindi songs are reincarnating as re-mixes.

A remixed chemical engineer of the future would probably talk biology toengineers, engineering to biologists and chemical engineering to politicians.

The fact is chemical engineering faculty members would engage intenselywith biology.

Chemical engineers would work on problems in bioprocess engineering,biomedical products and bioremediation technologies.

I think chemical engineers and technologists in India have a similaropportunity.

And, chemical engineering education has the challenge of recasting syllabito encompass learning from biological sciences.

Just as chemical engineering education in yester years embraced otherdisciplines of mechanical, electrical and civil engineering.

Chemical engineers also have the opportunity for shaping a technology-led India.

I am confident that India is destined to be a leading country in researchand development.

And chemical technology has the opportunity to make this happen.

It also has the potential to help India attain global leadership in technology.

For any country to attain global leadership, four frames of an institutionaltechnology infrastructure have to be vibrant.

The first frame is the university and educational institute research system.

MUICT falls in this category.

The second frame is national research laboratory system, which is arepository of expertise and knowledge.

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The third frame is the industrial company system, which create, accessor acquire technology.

The fourth frame is independent industry research and technologyorganisations, which are focused on specific sectors.

Each one of these frames of a technology infrastructure has theopportunity to help India attain global leadership based on research andtechnology.

MUICT has a wonderful opportunity in this regard.

It has on its alumni a large science and technology manpower base.

MUICT is engaged in pharmaceutical research, an area in which India isin an innovation mode.

MUICT has research programmes in bioprocess engineering.

MUICT is also creating a new pilot scale facility for chemical andbioprocess development for access by academia and industry.

Above all, MUICT has now a new-found sense of optimism.

Gaining autonomy will unleash the full force of MUICT.

It can help a more intensive pursuit of research.

It can help bring learning from research to constantly upgrade educationalcontent.

It can help forge collaborative research and education programs within andoutside India.

It can help attract world-class faculty and bright young students from allover the world.

Above all, it can help maintain the integrity of MUICT.

I am confident that we would leverage these strengths to spread a feverof innovation and re-invention in chemical technology.

I am positive that we can help bring about a renaissance in the chemicalindustry.

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I am upbeat that MUICT can enable India to be a leading research anddevelopment country in the world.

MUICT would undoubtedly become a premier centre for research-led highereducation in a molecular economy.

MUICT can do it.

Conclusion

Friends,

India needs an environment where science is placed at the vanguard ofeconomic and social development.

Innovation is the very essence of progress in the age of technologicalcreativity.

In this age, resource and market advantages will not matter.

Intellect and innovation will.

India must ignite millions of intellects.

India must help them initiate, innovate and invent to attain global eminence.

Fertile minds like you have a great responsibility on your shoulders.

You are participants in and products of one of the best technologyinstitutions in the world.

You have both the privilege and opportunity to engage in path breakingwork.

I am convinced that the goal of technology leadership for India in the eraof creativity is realisable in your lifetime.

You can make this dream a reality.

Let us make India a technology country.

Let us make the twenty-first century the India century.

Thank you.

August 4, 2004 Mumbai

Reinventing chemical technology

Mumbai University Institute of Chemical TechnologyFoundation Day Celebrations