Indian Oil Golden Jubilee Professorial Chair
Indian Oil corp. Ltd. instituted the Indian Oil Golden Jubilee Professorial Chair at IIT Kanpur, to be awarded to a faculty member working on environment-friendly technologies in the hydrocarbon sector. Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil) is a government-owned Maharatna enterprise under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. Headquartered in New Delhi, it is one of India's largest integrated and diversified energy company, with operations across the hydrocarbon value chain, including refining, pipeline transportation, marketing, exploration and production, petrochemicals, natural gas, alternative energy, and R&D.
Current Occupant
Prof. Shobit Omar
(May 2026 - May 2029)
Prof. Shobit Omar, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur, works on defect chemistry in solids, oxygen ion conductors, mixed ionic and electronic conductor-based ceramic membranes, thermal barrier coatings, and solid oxide fuel cell technology. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida, USA.
Former Occupant
Prof. Kamal Krishna Kar
(Nov. 2022 - Nov. 2025)
Prof. Kamal Krishna Kar is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur and specialises in the areas of materials for supercapacitor, fuel cell, lithium battery, water purification, high performance structural composites, and bioimplants. His research interest areas include Carbon nanotubes, graphene, porous carbon, exfoliated graphite, Nanostructured advanced materials including nanopolymers, Multifunctional and functionally graded composites, Nanocomposites including multiscale composites. He holds a PhD degree from IIT Kharagpur (1999).
Prof. Raj Ganesh S. Pala
(May 2019 - May 2022)
Prof. Raj Ganesh S Pala, Department of Chemical Engineering, specializes in the areas of Electrochemical, Catalysis and Separations Engineering. He earned his doctorate from the Univeristy of Utah, US in 2005.