Biotech Conference at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai
- Industry-Academia-Society partnership must for hazardous waste management
Chennai: Industry, Academia and Society
have to work in tandem in an increasingly inter-disciplinary environment to
make a breakthrough in solid waste management as well as in tackling air and
water pollution, speakers said a t a panel discussion on challenges and opportunities
in environmental waste management for sustainable growth of industries
The panel headed by S. Mani, President,
Orchid Pharma Ltd and former Chairman of Industrial Waste Management
Association, concluded that there was tremendous scope for re-enginnering and
reverse engineering to distress the environment. “Industry and Academia can not
work in silos and somewhere bridges have to be built to come up with solutions,”
Mani summed up on the concluding day of a three-day international conference on
sustainable technology to tackle industrial hazardous waste, organized by the
SRM School of Bio-Engineering. He also presided over the valedictory session.
Dr. Pattanathu Rahman, Professor from
Portsmouth University, UK, and alumnus from SRM Institute of Science and
Technology, called for efforts to minimize food and water waste. Other
panelists included Dr.S Subramanian, Deputy General Manager, TNPL, Dr. G.
Sekaran, eminent industrial scientist, Dr. R. Chandra Mohan of ChennaI
Petroleum Corporation Limited, Dr. S. Venkata Mohan, Bhatnagar Awardee scientist, Dr. N Ramadoss, former secretary IWMA and Mr. Kaja Mohideen, entrepreneur.
The conference was inaugurated by Dr Alok
Dhawan, Director, CSIR-Indian
Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow. The conference hosted by SRM School
of Bio-Engineering was supported by Science and Engineering Research Board of
the Union Department of Science and Technology and Department of
Bio-Technology.
Addressing the delegates at the T P
Ganesan Auditorium, Dhawan urged students to resolve local problems pertaining
to air and water pollution using high end science. He complimented the SRM
Institute of Science and Technology for its world class facilities for research
and development.
“We
have done our bit to destroy the environment and are transferring the baton
(responsibility) to the younger generation to handle. We need to understand how
important it is to treat Mother Earth as she does not need us but we need her,”
he said alluding to various Bioremediation methods to solve local contamination
around Lucknow.
Welcoming the delegates, Dr. Sandeep
Sancheti, Vice Chancellor of SRM Institute of Science and Technology, lamented
that there was hardly any waste disposal policy in India pertaining to
automobiles or old houses which were hazardous to life and limb. “We need to
follow the nuclear industry domain to be more conscious of waste disposal,” he
said.
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