February 12, 2016  

Reklaitis headlines 2016 India-Purdue lecture series

Rao_Lecture

CNR Rao (left) presents Rex Reklaitis with flowers at the launch of the 2016 India-Purdue Lecture Series on Feb. 2 in Bangalore, India. (Purdue photo/Heidi Arola)

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — G.V. "Rex" Reklaitis, Burton and Kathryn Gedge Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, returned Feb. 6 from a weeklong tour of India, where he gave talks in Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai as the 2016 featured speaker of the India-Purdue Collaborative Lecture Series.

The lecture series, in honor of and in partnership with Indian alumnus C.N.R. Rao, was launched in 2014 and celebrates Purdue's longstanding links with India as well as current partnerships in research, education and commercialization. The annual series features distinguished faculty in areas of interest for advancement of science and technology in India.

In his lecture, titled "Advances in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing," Reklaitis, who also is deputy director of the National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Center on Structured Organic Composites, reviewed global trends in the pharmaceutical industry, highlighting developments in manufacturing technology.

Rao's opening remarks launched the 2016 series on Feb. 2 at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Rao is a chemist and head of Prime Minister Modi's Scientific Advisory Council. Rao graduated from Purdue in 1958 with a doctorate in chemistry and received an honorary doctorate in science in 1982. He is the Linus Pauling Research Professor and honorary president of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. Rao has received many awards for scholarship and science and was the first recipient of the India Science Award instituted by the government of India.

Reklaitis also spoke at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai and at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories in Hyderabad. This year's series was made possible with support from Dr. Reddy's, which began a formal partnership with Purdue in July 2015.

"The lecture series was an opportunity for Purdue to connect with Indian alumni, students and faculty at partner institutions, and professionals in the pharmaceutical field, showcasing innovative research taking place on Purdue's campus," said Dan Hirleman, chief corporate and global partnerships officer at Purdue, who accompanied Reklaitis. "Purdue has identified India as a country of strategic importance to the university, and the series helps us connect with Indian institutions and corporations to forge deeper partnerships."

Also traveling to Bangalore and Hyderabad were Jeff Roberts, dean of the College of Science; Sunil Prabhakar, head of the Department of Computer Science; Cheryl Altinkemer, associate vice president for advancement; and Heidi Arola, managing director for global partnerships. They participated in lecture series events and met with Purdue alumni and companies including Flipkart, Myntra, Biocon, GE and TCS.

"Purdue has an amazing global footprint," Roberts said. "It is so energizing for me to meet Boilermaker alumni around the world who have become national and international leaders, as entrepreneurs and inventors, educators and executives, humanitarians and philanthropists. There is no place where this is more apparent than in India."

News Service contact: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu

Sources: E. Daniel Hirleman, hirleman@purdue.edu 

Jeff Roberts, jtrob@purdue.edu 

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