Akshay Deshmukh named 2016 Ashok Kumar Fellow

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE chemical engineering graduate Akshay Deshmukh has been named as the 2016 IChemE Ashok Kumar Fellow.

The Fellowship was set up in memory of Kumar, an IChemE Fellow and UK member of parliament, following his sudden death in 2010, and is jointly funded by IChemE and the North-East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC). It will see Deshmukh join the UK Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST) for three months in May.

Lydia Harriss, physical sciences and ICT adviser at Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) said that Deshmukh will help POST to analyse and communicate scientific evidence and ensure the government is suitably equipped to debate and pass legislation.

“He’ll gain great experience from meeting with experts from across government, industry, academia and the third sector as he researches and writes a POST note briefing for MPs and Peers. Fellows make a huge contribution to the work we do at POST and provide an important bridge between parliament and the research community,” she added.

Deshmukh is currently studying for a PhD in chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University, US. His project is on environmentally friendly, energy-efficient ways to process contaminated water into drinking water. He is looking forward to learning how POST pulls together data and research to produce briefings for MPs.

“I am thrilled to have been awarded this year's Ashok Kumar Fellowship and I would like to thank IChemE, NEPIC and POST for giving me this opportunity. I am really looking forward to working with the POST team and learning about how a diverse and complex range of STEM research is used to better inform parliamentary debate and scrutiny,” says Deshmukh,

The previous Fellow was University College London (UCL) postgraduate Michael Jenkins. Work produced during previous Fellowships has included papers on low carbon technologies for energy-intensive industries, the benefits of closed-loop recycling, and new nuclear power technologies.

Applications will open soon for the 2017 Ashok Kumar Fellowship. Full details are available on the IChemE website.