0000-0001-9911-5120 About
Professor Sanjay M. Mahajani is an eminent chemical engineer, academic leader, researcher, innovator, and institution builder at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay). With a career spanning more than three decades across academia, industry, and policy engagement, he has made sustained and influential contributions in reaction engineering, process intensification, coal and biomass gasification, catalysis, energy systems, and food process engineering. His work integrates fundamental science with industrial application, emphasizing scalable technologies, sustainability, and frugal innovation.
Born on 15 August 1968, Professor Mahajani pursued his undergraduate education in Chemical Engineering at the University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), Mumbai (now the Institute of Chemical Technology), graduating in 1989. He completed his M.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay in 1992, followed by a Ph.D. (Tech.) from UDCT in 1996. His doctoral training laid a strong foundation in reaction engineering and separation processes—domains that would later define much of his research trajectory.
Early Professional Formation
Professor Mahajani’s early professional journey reflects a balanced exposure to both industry and research. He began his career as a Trainee Chemical Engineer at Indian Organic Chemicals, Khopoli (1989–1990), gaining firsthand industrial experience. He subsequently worked as Scientist B in the Process Engineering Division at the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune (1992–1993), where he engaged in applied research relevant to industrial chemical processes.
Between 1996 and 2000, he served as Research Fellow in Chemical Engineering at Monash University, Australia. This international exposure strengthened his expertise in reaction engineering, reactor modeling, and process systems engineering, and broadened his global research outlook.
Academic Career at IIT Bombay
Professor Mahajani joined IIT Bombay in 2000 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and to Professor in 2008. Since then, he has played multiple academic and administrative leadership roles while maintaining a highly productive research program.
His leadership appointments include:
Professor-in-Charge, Tata Centre for Technology and Design (2014–2019)
Co-Professor-in-Charge, Centre for Oil, Gas and Energy (2019–present)
Tata Chair Professor of Frugal Technology (2020–2023)
Professor-in-Charge, Green Energy and Sustainability Hub (GESH)
Faculty-in-Charge, Faculty Alumni Network (FAN), IIT Bombay
Institute Chair Professor (2025–2028)
Through these roles, he has actively shaped interdisciplinary research ecosystems, industry partnerships, and sustainability initiatives within IIT Bombay.
Research Contributions
Professor Mahajani’s research spans four major domains:
1. Reaction Engineering and Process Intensification
He has made foundational contributions in reactive distillation, catalytic distillation, multifunctional reactors, and reactive chromatography. His work has addressed industrially relevant esterification, transesterification, aldol condensation, glycerol valorization, and specialty chemical synthesis.
He co-authored the book Computational Modeling of Underground Coal Gasification (CRC Press, 2019) and has contributed influential book chapters in reactive distillation and multifunctional reactors. His early research on reactive distillation remains highly cited and has influenced process intensification practices globally.
His work integrates:
Reaction kinetics
Transport phenomena
Reactor modeling
CFD-based simulations
Process optimization
He has successfully bridged laboratory experimentation with pilot-scale demonstrations and industrial implementation.
2. Coal and Biomass Gasification
Professor Mahajani is widely recognized for his contributions to underground coal gasification (UCG) and biomass gasification. He led a major six-year project sponsored by ONGC on UCG, where his team established laboratory-scale simulation systems to study cavity growth, reaction kinetics, heat and mass transfer, and thermo-mechanical stability of coal seams.
The project resulted in:
Process simulators
Multiple doctoral theses
Extensive peer-reviewed publications
Technology transfer to ONGC
Beyond coal, his group has worked extensively on high-ash biomass gasification—an issue particularly relevant in the Indian context. His work includes downdraft gasifiers, co-gasification of biomass and plastics, torrefaction, pelletization, and hydrogen-rich syngas production. His review paper on biomass pellet production has become one of the most cited works in the domain.
His research combines thermodynamic modeling, kinetic studies, pilot-scale validation, and techno-economic assessments.
3. Catalysis and Clean Energy
Professor Mahajani’s work in catalysis includes biodiesel synthesis, glycerol oxidation, esterif
Employment
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Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Professor2008 - 2033
Education
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Indian Institute of Technology Bombay M. Tech Chemical Engineering1990 - 1992
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ICT B. Chemical Engineering1985 - 1989
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ICT Ph.D Tech? - 1996
Projects & Funding
Projects & funding information is unavailable.
Publications
Publications are unavailable.