Sixty Years (1947-2007) of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) and Chemical Engineering in India

摘要

"Long years ago,we made a tryst with the destiny and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge...",said Jawaharlal Nehru,the first Prime Minister of independent India,on the eve of the country's independence from British rule on 15 August 1947.Only three months before,on 18 May 1947,true to the spirit of the times,a small group of chemical engineers made a tryst with the destiny of the Indian chemical engineering fraternity by holding the first General Meeting of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) in a small room at Jadavpur University,Calcutta (now Kolkata),Prof.(Dr.) Hira Lal Roy was elected as the founder President of IIChE.He started the first chemical engineering course in India in 1921 at the Bengal Technical Institute (now Jadavpur University) for M.Sc.(Chemistry) students and was also a Vice-President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers,UK (I.Chem.E).The growth of IIChE since 1947 has been in line with the growth of chemical engineering education and chemical process industry in India as is the case anywhere else in the world.Before tracking the growth patterns of chemical engineering in India,a brief outline of the growth of the discipline itself in the world would not be out of place.