The Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering organised a National Seminar on Sustainable Materials and Technologies as part of Industry-Academia Week. The seminar was conducted on the 16th of September, 2026 at the Senate Hall, Administrative Block
Session I: Dr Praveen Kumar (Kaushik) (Managing Director, Anant Materials) on Lithium-Ion Batteries: Material, Recycling and the Road to a Circular Battery Economy. Dr Praveen held an interactive session regarding the challenges confronted by the industries involved in material recycling, the role of an informed and responsible consumer and part they will play in aiding the transition from linear to circular production.
Session II: Dr Pratima Meshram: (Scientist-F and Chief, Battery Recycling Pilot Plant, CSIR-NML, Jamshedpur) on Recycling of Lithium-ion batteries for Critical Metals & Materials – Holistic Approach for Mixed Chemistries.Dr Pratima presented the technical considerations involved with the current challenges, such as the wide variety of batteries which require different approaches, the current standards of extraction and the novelty of their work.
Session III: Prof. Nikhil Dhawan:(Head, Centre for Critical Minerals, IIT Roorkee) on Sustainable Recovery of Critical Materials from E-Waste and Secondary Resources. The session held by Prof. Nikhil provided a comprehensive account of various secondary resources for critical materials, the need for environmental handling and and an inside look of their patented procedure.
Session IV: Dr A.S. Balgir: (IOFS (Retd.), FIE (India), General Manager (SAG) Indian Ordnance Factories (MoD, Gol) on Futuristic National Scenario for Rare Earth Metals Dr Balgir provided a global perspective on the availability of rare earth metals, the key role of laws and legislation, and redefining what progress stands for. while drawing attention to an aspect often overlooked by people on the technical side of the industry: laws and legislation
