Writing Articles
I drafted blog posts and articles for the companies I’ve worked for. Have a look through this sample article I wrote about Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava who is the Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (India) at RMIT University.
Sample Article
Professor Suresh Bhargava
In a world where mining operations receive immense backlash for environment pollution and community safety, Professor Suresh Bhargava has made strides in innovative technology with industrial implications within the Australian resources sector.
Named as the Best Indian Australian Executive of the Year by the former Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Mr John Howard, Suresh is the Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor at RMIT and Director as well as Founder of the Centre for Advanced Materials & Industrial Chemistry at the university.
As an Indian-born Australian scientist, he has been making tremendous contributions to the Australian community as well as the scientific community. Many of his scientific innovations and discoveries have led to ground-breaking solutions benefitting the environment and community. A prime example being the development of a sensor technology that detects toxic mercury emissions in effluent streams. This innovation is not only being used across Australian alumina refineries but has been licensed to an external organisation for commercial use.
A global mentor and adviser
Throughout his career, Professor Bhargava has come to be known as the most accomplished recruiter and educator of postgraduate, as well as undergraduate, researchers. Mentoring young minds and encouraging the pursuit of research excellence, his vision and forward-thinking approach has resulted in many university-industry collaboration programmes including the most successful RMIT-AcSIR Joint PhD programme which has received an ‘Excellence in Innovation in Partnership and International Engagement’ award by the Victorian Government in 2018. The programme also received endorsements from prominent leaders in the industry including Dr Megan Clarke AC, Head of the Australian Space Organisation, who said that it was ‘… a wonderful achievement and will make such a difference for the future’.
He has invested his time, energy and resources to not only provide global opportunities to students and researchers but has also been tirelessly working to build sustainable partnerships with Australian and Indian members of the government. With an objective of building stronger ties between Australia and India, he has had the privilege of being invited by the Office of the Prime Minister of Australia four times between 2014 – 2017 as well as by the Governor of Victoria, Hon Linda Dessau AC (2017) and the Victorian Premier, Hon Mr Ted Baillieu (2016). He has been part of several Government of India delegations to Australia looking for collaboration opportunities in research, innovation and skill development sectors.
Prof Bhargava’s initiatives don’t end at the government or industrial level. Having never forgotten his roots, Suresh Bhargava has been an advocate of diversity and inclusion. Being in Australia for over 30 years, he has not only lobbied for the inclusion of a Hindi section in the Victorian State Library or the introduction of Hindi studies in the Victorian Curriculum of Education (VCE) but has been volunteering as a Hindi radio announcer with SBS for over 1 and a half years. He has even had the opportunity of conducting a radio interview with the former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Growing investment through his network
Through his extensive network with the government and industry in both countries, he has facilitated billions of dollars of investment in the Australian economy. In 2010, Prof Bhargava was instrumental in connecting the Aditya Birla Minerals group, one of the leading producers of copper, to the Australian resources sector. He was an elected Independent Non-Executive Director of the Board of Aditya Birla Minerals. He has also been a recipient of multiple research grants including the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) of $6 million in the field of chemical engineering by collaborating with the University of Melbourne, CSIRO, Indian Institute of Technology (Roorkee) and the Indian Institute of Petroleum.
The industrial relationships he has built over the years have always stood by him. The best example of their commitment would be the financial support of over $16 million AUD from Alcoa World Alumina, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton to help establish world-class research facilities and laboratories at RMIT University for research programmes. The RMIT Uranium Chemistry Lab is one of the labs that was developed with industry’s support and is now being utilised to mentor PhD students and to continue scientific discoveries and innovation.
An extraordinary scientist
In addition to Suresh’s reputation in the industry, one of his most notable features is that he is an interdisciplinary scientist who has transcended beyond his original specialisation of chemistry. Being able to conduct research in multiple disciplines within the area of science, he has been recognised nationally and internationally for his outstanding achievements.
He has received multiple honours and awards as an excellent chemical engineer from CHEMECA, IChemE, RACI and Engineers Australia. He has also been honoured with the Khwarizmi International award, presented by the Iranian Research Organisation for Science & Technology (2016), the P.C. Ray Chair award from the Indian National Science Academy (2014), the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence award twice for the highest level of research excellence at RMIT University (2014 & 2006), the Applied Research award, a prestigious award in the field of applied sciences given by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI).