OJUS MOHAN
Assistant Professor
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB). Prior to joining IITB I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta, Canada. I hold a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. My research interest includes rational design of sustainable, more efficient, and thermodynamically stable catalytic materials, screening of potential materials, and design of novel catalysts by performing state-of-the-art quantum mechanical simulations and multi-scale modeling techniques. During my Ph.D. I was invited to the University of Alberta as a Research Award Recipient to work as a student research fellow in the Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering.
Postdoctoral Supervisor: Prof. Samir H. Mushrif
Ph.D. Supervisors: Prof. Xu Rong, Prof. Claude Guet
Updates
2024
Jan
Delighted to announce that my first paper as the corresponding author is out! We investigated the role of non-covalent interactions on acid strength measurement of liquid acids using Phosphine Oxide NMR probe. Huge thanks to Mr. Goutam and Prof. Sanjay Mahajani for the collaboration!
Welcome Ms. Shahla Karimpanakkal to our team, our 5th Ph.D. student! Wishing her all the best!
2023
Dec
Excited to share that my first paper as a faculty is out! In this article, we review the recent advances in methods for designing catalysts. Grateful for the collaboration with Prof. Alexei Lapkin (University of Cambridge), Dr. Shambhawi, and Prof. Tej Choksi (NTU Singapore)!
We acquired computational resources on the National PARAM Supercomputing Facility (NPSF) - AIRAWAT-PSAI system, recognized as India's fastest supercomputer.
We've secured a grant from the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC) to organize an international workshop on 'Carbon Management in Chemical Industry'. Co-hosted by IIT Bombay and BASF SE Germany, the event will take place from February 27-29, 2024, at BASF Innovation Campus Mumbai.
Nov
Visited the CSIR - National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune. Had brainstorming sessions and lab visits guided by Dr. T. Raja and his students from NCL. We initiated some collaborative projects, laying the groundwork for potential future endeavors.
October:
Dr. Haseen Siddiqui joins us as a post-doctoral fellow after completing both BTech and PhD at IITB. Welcome to the group, and best wishes!
Welcome Mr. Jayesh Prasad and Ms. Diya Arvind to our team as interns! Both are studying Chemical Engineering at IITB, and Diya will be co-guided by Prof. Tej Choksi from NTU Singapore.
September:
Excited to announce the approval of funding for our project proposal by the Centre of Excellence in Oil, Gas and Energy, IIT Bombay. We will collaborate with IOCL, BPCL, and GAIL, along with Prof. Sanjay Mahajani from IITB as Co-PI. Looking forward to working on this collaborative project focussing on optimizing catalyst performance for carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol!
August:
Visited Newcastle University, UK, and the University of Edinburgh, UK, for engaging discussions and meetings supported by the Seed funding for Collaboration and Partnership Projects. Held meetings with Prof. Anjali Jayakumar and several students at Newcastle University.
July:
Mr. Prehas Madke joins the group as a Ph.D. student. Wishing him all the best!
Mr. Adit Agrawal and Mr. Aadi Bansal joined the group as interns under the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) 2023. Welcome to CARES Lab, Adit and Aadi!
June:
We presented two posters at the Outreach Symposium on 'Molecular Simulations: Advances & Applications' held at IITB: one highlighting our lab's ongoing projects and another focused on the characterization of acid strength using phosphine oxide as a chemical shift descriptor for liquid inorganic acids.
Chaired a session on 'Computational Catalysis for CO2 Utilisation' at the Outreach Symposium on 'Molecular Simulations: Advances & Applications' held at IITB.
May:
Welcome Mr. Vidhan Jain, Mr. Pranav Savla, Mr. Atharva, Mr. Anand Raj and Mr. Abey Jacob as summer interns to CARES Lab. Abey is from NITW, and Vidhan, Pranav, Atharva, and Anand are from IITB.
We bid farewell to Dr. Sudip Das as he embarks on his second postdoctoral fellowship at New York University. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.
We are excited to share that our project proposal, in collaboration with Prof. Anjali Jayakumar from Newcastle University, has been awarded Seed funding for Collaboration and Partnership Projects (SCPP) by IRCC, IIT Bombay!
Mr. Vashishtha Patel joins the group as a PhD student. Welcome to the group, and wishing you the best.
Apr:
Ms. Suranjana Banerjee joins the group as a PhD student. Welcome to the group, and best wishes!!!
Mar:
The CARES Lab presented a poster showcasing our projects at the Research Scholar Symposium 2023, held at IIT Bombay.
Feb:
Dr. Das gave a talk on "A novel techno-economically feasible reaction network for industrial production of β-phenylethanol" at the International Conferences on Chemical Engineering Innovation and Sustainability (ICEIS-2023) held at Jadavpur University.
Jan:
Mr. Sumit Kumar joined as the first MTech student of CARES Lab. Welcome Sumit!
2022
Dec: Mr. Pritam Rudra joined as the first PhD student of the group. Welcome to CARES lab, Pritam!
Nov: The Senate approved the new institute-level elective I proposed - CL501 Computational Methods in Catalysis. Course syllabus is available in asc.
July: Mr. Girish Ramachandran, Mr. Jai Israni and Ms. Puja Maitra joined the group as interns under the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) 2022. Girish is from NITT, and Jai and Puja are from IITB. Welcome to CARES Lab Girish, Jai and Puja!
July: Dr. Sudip Das joined the group as an Institute Postdoctoral Fellow. Sudip did his Ph.D. at IIT Bombay under Prof. Sanjay Mahajani. Welcome Sudip!
July: Our research laboratory is called "CARES Lab," an abbreviation for "Catalysis Research for Sustainability." This name reflects our lab's primary focus on conducting research related to catalysis and its crucial role in promoting sustainable practices. Check the CARES logo here (under R&D).
July: Received seed grant through the Industrial Research and Consultancy Centre (IRCC), IIT Bombay. The seed grant includes ₹20,00,000 plus support for one Ph.D. student in the project mode.
June: I received the Young Faculty Award at IIT Bombay. The award has been instituted from a generous donation from the Alumni of IIT Bombay.
May 12: I joined as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
May 09: I left my position as a Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta.
Apr: Our work with Prof. Adri and team (Penn State University) and Prof. Akshat and team (Monash University) is accepted for oral presentation at the 27th North American Catalysis Society Meeting in New York, NY.
2021
May: I started working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Feb: Our work on Nickel-Based Single-Atom Alloy Catalyst for CO2 Conversion Reactions is published in JPCC. Link to paper.
Feb: Our work on CO2 Methanation reaction on Ni and Ru catalysts is published in ChemCatChem. Link to paper.
Jan 26: I successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis. Link to thesis.