Prof. Suman Chakraborty: Overview
Prof. Suman Chakraborty is a leading figure in mechanical engineering and microfluidics research in India, known for bridging fundamental science with affordable healthcare innovations. His laboratory at IIT Kharagpur was the first dedicated microfluidics lab in the country, and its work has consistently focused on translating fundamental transport phenomena into affordable, scalable engineering solutions, particularly in healthcare.
Current Position
- Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur (since June 2025).
- Institute Chair Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur.
- Sir J. C. Bose National Fellow (Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India).
Research Areas
His work focuses on the intersection of fluid mechanics, interfacial phenomena, and electromechanics at the micro- and nanoscale.
- Microfluidics & Nanofluidics: Transport phenomena in small-scale channels.
- Biomedical Diagnostics: Developing low-cost, portable medical devices for resource-limited settings (e.g., affordable diagnostic kits for anemia, cancer screening, and infectious diseases like the COVIRAP technology).
- Micro-Nano Scale Transport: Fundamental physics of fluid flow at the molecular level.
For prospective students and researchers, this context is crucial: Prof. Chakraborty’s lab operates less like a narrowly specialized microfluidics group and more like a systems-oriented translational research environment, where theory, experimentation, and device realization are expected to inform one another. Technologies emerging from this ecosystem—including platforms developed for anemia screening, cancer diagnostics, and infectious disease detection such as COVIRAP– reflect a deliberate effort to move research beyond proof-of-concept toward societal deployment.
Education
- Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore (2002).
- M.E. in Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore (2000) – Gold Medalist.
- B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata (1996).
Key Awards & Honors
- Infosys Prize in Engineering and Computer Science (2022).
- Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Engineering Sciences (2013) – Highest scientific award by the Govt. of India.
- G. D. Birla Award for Scientific Research (2020).
- Fellowships: Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
- TWAS Award in Engineering Sciences (awarded by UNESCO, for 2026).
Google Scholar link for Prof. Suman Chakraborty
Are you interested in Frugal Innovation? Check the official IIT Kharagpur faculty portal for current PhD/Post-Doc openings and current projects running in Prof. Chakraborty’s lab.
This series is written for PhD applicants, early-career researchers, and anyone trying to understand research ecosystems beyond paper titles. If you’re choosing a lab, you deserve more than surface-level information.
Editor, Research Paper Decoded