
Prof Seeram Ramakrishna, FREng
Chairman, Circular Economy Taskforce NUS and Chairman, Sustainable Manufacturing Technical Committee, IES
Professor PE Seeram Ramakrishna, FREng, Everest Chair (https://www.linkedin.com/in/seeram-ramakrishna/; https://blog.nus.edu.sg/seeram/) is the top salient researcher in Materials Science at the National University of Singapore (https://academic.microsoft.com/institution/165932596/authors?f=Composite(F.FId%3D192562407). He is also among the five leading researchers of Singapore (http://www.webometrics.info/en/hlargerthan100; https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/all-afternoons-work-analysis-scientific-output-scientists-loh/?trackingId=trackingId237).
NUS ranked among the top ten best global universities for engineering in the world (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/engineering). Highest professional distinctions include an elected Fellow of UK Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng); Singapore Academy of Engineering; Indian National Academy of Engineering; and ASEAN Academy of Engineering & Technology. He is also an elected Fellow of American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS); ASM International; American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME); American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering (AIMBE); Institution of Mechanical Engineers, IMechE and Institution of Materials, Minerals & Mining, IoM3, UK; ISTE, India; and International Union of Biomaterials Science & Engineering (FBSE). He is senior member of IEEE. He received PhD from University of Cambridge, UK; and the TGMP training from Harvard University, USA. Among numerous recognitions he received are: IIT Madras Distinguished Alumni Award; Singapore Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship; UK Cambridge Nehru Fellowship; Honorary Everest Chair of Nepal (https://mbustb.org/member_cat/honorary-chair/); CUT Honorary Engineering Doctorate, South Africa; APA Distinguished Researcher Award, International Federation of Engineering Education Societies President award- Global Visionary; Global Engineering Dean’s Council Ambassador; ASEAN Outstanding Engineer Award; Institute of Engineers Singapore (IES) Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award. Thomson Reuters identified him among the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds. His Google Scholar shows over 120,500 citations, ~ 160 h-index, and over 1010 i10-index (https://scholar.google.com.sg/citations?hl=en&user=a49NVmkAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate). Clarivate Analytics recognized him among the Top 1% Highly Cited Researchers in the world in materials science and cross-fields categories. Microsoft Academic ranked him among the top 50 authors out of three million materials researchers worldwide based on saliency, publications, citations and h-index (https://academic.microsoft.com/authors/192562407). He is regarded as the guru of electrospinning and nanofibers (http://nart2020.com/conferenceinfo/ and(http://researchanalytics.thomsonreuters.com/m/pdfs/grr-materialscience.pdf).
His academic leadership includes NUS’s Vice-President (Research Strategy); Dean of Faculty of Engineering; Director of NUS Enterprise; Director of NUS Industry Liaison Office; Director of NUS International Relations Office; Founding Director of NUS Bioengineering; Founding Co-Director of NUS Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Institute. As a founding Chairman he championed the establishment ~ $100 million Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, SERIS. He served as a board member of several national organizations, policy institutes, and tertiary education institutions. He founded the Global Engineering Deans Council (http://gedcouncil.org/ambassadors) while serving as the Vice-President of International Federation of Engineering Educator Societies (IFEES). He authored the book The Changing Face of Innovation. He is a founding member of Plastics Recycling Association of Singapore, PRAS (https://www.sgc.org.sg/events/event-details/sgc-sustainability-committee-and-pras), and Director of PRAS Center of Excellence. He is the Circular Economy Taskforce Chair at NUS. He is a member of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) committee of Singapore Institute of Directors (www.sid.org.sg). He is a member of Enterprise Singapore’s and ISO’s Committees on ISO/TC323 Circular Economy and WG3 on Circularity. He also the Chair of Sustainable Manufacturing TC at the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES); and a member of standards committee of Singapore Manufacturing Federation (http://www.smfederation.org.sg). He is a member of Technical Committee for Circularity of Materials, Environment and Resources Standards Committee, Enterprise Singapore (ESG). He is an advisor to the MSE-National Environmental Agency’s CESS events, (https://www.cleanenvirosummit.sg/programme/speakers/professor-seeram-ramakrishna; ; https://youtube.com/watch?v=ptSh_1Bgl1g). He is an organizer of MRS Materials Circular Economy symposium (https://www.mrs-mexico.org.mx/imrc2021/symposium-B3). He is an advisor to the World Bank. He is a member of UNESCO’s Global Independent Expert Group on Universities and the 2030 Agenda (https://www.uib.no/en/sdgbergen/141236/members-unesco-expert-group).
European Commission Director-General for Environment, Excellency Daniel Calleja Crespo said “Professor Seeram Ramakrishna should be praised for his personal engagement leading the reflections on how to develop a more sustainable future for all” in his foreword for the Springer Nature book on Circular Economy (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-15-8510-4).