Prafulla Kumar Jena (27 December 1931 – 7 March 2023) was an Indian

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

who served as director of the

National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology The National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST, formerly ''Regional Research Laboratory, Trivandrum'') is a constituent laboratory of CSIR, India, engaged in research and development activities in the field of agropr ...

(formerly Regional Research Laboratory) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Bhubaneshwar. He previously held the TATA Chair for the Distinguished Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) is a public institute of technology established by the Government of India in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. Established in 1951, the institute is the first of the IITs to be established ...

. He was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 1977.

Biography

Jena was born on 27 December 1931 in Taliha, Jajpur,

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. He completed his graduate degree in chemistry with honors and a master's degree in physical chemistry from Utkal University. He remained at the university for his doctoral research to secure a Ph.D. and shifted his studies to

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

at which he completed his M.S. in metallurgical engineering. He started his career as a senior scientist at the metallurgy division of the

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility, headquartered in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) in January 1 ...

, Trombay, but later moved to Banares Hindu University as a professor of metallurgical engineering. Before holding the Tata Chair of the Distinguished Professor at the

, department of metallurgical engineering, Jena served as the director of the Regional Research Laboratory (RRL) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (1972) and as the director general of CSIR (1986). He had also been a senior visiting professor at two overseas universities, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and

Tohoku University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

, Sendai, Japan. A former president of the Natural Resources Development Foundation, Jena held the chair of the Institute of Advanced Technology and Environmental Studies, an organization engaged in technical consultancy and training in the fields of mining and mineral processing, management of waste and water resources, and material development.

Research

Jena's research focused on the upgradation of ores and minerals, and the recovery of value resources from industrial wastes and is known to have developed methods for recovery of coal fines from slime, iron values from tailings and the

beneficiation In the mining industry or extractive metallurgy, beneficiation is any process that improves (benefits) the economic value of the ore by removing the gangue minerals, which results in a higher grade product ( ore concentrate) and a waste stream (ta ...

of low-grade iron and manganese ores. He is reported to have developed metallothermic reduction processes for Niobium,

Tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that ...

, Vanadium,

Tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

, and Molybdenum. He had also contributed in the areas of chloride metallurgy of non-ferrous ores and extraction of

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow ...

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

, vanadium, and

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

. His research helped develop new waste management processes as well as value recovery processes from industrial and mining wastes. Over his career he published 240 research papers and held 55 patents. Jena's contributions are noted in the establishment of Odisha’s Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Institute of Physics, and Science Park. He had also been the founder president of the Natural Resources Development Foundation (NRDF), Bhubaneswar and was the founder chairman of the Institute of Advance Technology & Environmental Studies (IATES), Bhubaneswar. He was the founder editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal, ''Journal of Sustainable Planet'' of the IATES, started in 2010.

Awards and honours

Jena was an elected fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

and the Institution of Engineers, India and a fellow of the

Indian Institute of Metals Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) was formed in Kolkata in 1946 under the leadership of Dr. Dara P. Antia, who was then Chief Metallurgist of Indian Aluminum Co. The IIM is over 60 years old premier professional Metallurgical Institute set up to ...

. He was a life member and former president of the Indian Science Congress Association, a former member of the Planning Board of Orissa and a former president of Orissa Bigyan Academy. Jena received the National Metallurgist Award in 1969 from the

and the civilian honour of

from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in 1977. He is a recipient of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries Award (1982), Institution of Engineers (India) Award (1998), Odisha Bigyan Academy Senior Scientist Award (1999), BHU Distinguished Services Award (2008),

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

Think Odisha Leadership Award (2010), Rajiv Gandhi Professional Award (2012), and Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur Distinguished Scientist Award (2012). He has also received lifetime achievement awards from Ravenshaw Chemistry Alumni Association,

Ravenshaw University Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw college, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The un ...

(2008), and

Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT) (formerly, Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar) is an advanced research institute in the field of mineralogy to materials engineering, established in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. It was establ ...

Death

Jena died on March 7, 2023, at his house in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

at age 91. The Odisha government announced that his funeral would be held with state honors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jena, Prafulla Kumar 1931 births 2023 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Indian metallurgists Indian scientific authors Scientists from Odisha Utkal University alumni Academic staff of Banaras Hindu University Academic staff of IIT Kharagpur Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro Academic staff of Tohoku University 20th-century Indian inventors 20th-century Indian chemists Indian environmental scientists University of British Columbia alumni