Prof Ravindra Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor of the University of Mumbai delivered a thought-provoking speech on “Advancements in Surfactants for Textile Applications†and highlighted the role and significance of surfactants in textile processing.
On 28 February 2025, the Ninth Oration under Late Prof W B Achwal Endowment was held in the KV Auditorium of the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai. The speaker was Prof Ravindra Kulkarni, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Mumbai.
Late Prof Waman B Achwal, did his BScTech (1954) and PhD Tech (1957) from UDCT in the Textiles Dept. and went to Aachen (W. Germany) and obtained another doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) in 1960. He returned to India and joined as an assistant. Professor at UDCT in 1960 and rose to become the Professor of Fibre Science and then Head of the Textiles Dept and retired in 1990. Thus, he has been a guru to several of the current faculty too. He was a great teacher, punctual and disciplinarian and innovative in his teaching methods. His research spanned various areas, but he is renowned for his inventions of solvents for cellulose and his work on tinting agents. He was an avid sportsman and did exemplary work for making scientific work available in Marathi.
Due to the love and affection for Late Prof. Achwal, this event received an overwhelming response from the industry, academic institutes and students. The auditorium was packed to its full capacity.
After the ceremonial lighting of the lamp the program started with “Vidyapeeth Geetâ€. Prof Ashok Athalye, Head of the Department of Fibres and Textile Processing Technology, ICT, delivered the inaugural speech and narrated the introduction of Prof Waman Achwal and the endowment. He also officially announced the beginning of our departmental bi-monthly magazine “TexTweetsâ€, which was launched at the hands of the dignitaries on the dais and a representative from the magazine house.
Subhas Soudagar, one of the early research students of Late Prof Achwal, paid tribute to the Late Bharat B Pitale, who was the second student of Prof Achwal and a Demonstrator at the Textiles Dept for several years. He was paid homage by the audience
Thereafter, Prof Achwal’s daughter, Deepti Deobagkar, former Professor of Molecular Genetics, head – Zoology department, former Director-Bioinformatics Center & ISRO Chair Professor at the Savitribai Phule Pune University, shared some of her fond memories of Prof. Achwal.
Dean and in-charge VC Prof Ashwin Patwardhan gave his opening remarks and welcomed the august gathering.
Prof. Ravindra Kulkarni delivered a thought-provoking speech on “Advancements in Surfactants for Textile Applications†and highlighted the role and significance of surfactants in textile processing.
He cited a few examples of how the end-use properties of textile products are greatly influenced by the type of surfactants and the chemistry involved. Prof. Kulkarni also enlightened on the ecological aspects of surfactants, touching upon some recent developments from the sustainability point of view.
Then followed the presentation of Memento to Prof. Kulkarni at the hands of Prof Deepti Deobagkar and Abhijit Achwal (Prof Achwal’s son). Dr Saptarshi Maiti from the organisation team proposed the Vote of Thanks. The function concluded with the national anthem.