Dr. Amit Chatterjee’s life is a beacon light for millions suffering from serious physical handicap.

Dr. Amit Chatterjee was born in the year 1944 at Jamshedpur . His father, Dr. A.B. Chatterjee was himself an eminent Metallurgist working in the National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur. Dr. Amit Chatterjee was educated in the famous Loyola High School.

He graduated in metallurgical engineering from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1966. He went to England and obtained his PhD and D.I.C. (Met.) degrees from the very well-known Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, in 1970. He then worked for two years in Thyssen, Germany.

Dr. Chatterjee joined Tata Steel in 1972. He rose to the post of Joint Director R&D and in 1982, was sent on deputation by Tata Steel to Ipitata Sponge Iron Limited for 5 years as its Managing Director. Ipitata was based on the TISCO Direct Reduction (TDR) process developed through Dr. Chatterjee’s sustained efforts spanning two decades. In view of shortage of blast furnace quality coking coal, this process was vital for iron making .

Dr. Chatterjee was given Doctor of Science (Engg.), by the University of London in 1988 for his outstanding work in coal based direct reduction and oxygen steelmaking.

Dr. Chatterjee has received several awards and accolades. These include :
National Metallurgist Award in 1977, Visvesvarya Gold Medal in 1981 and 1996, the Sydney Gilchrist Thomas Medal of the Institute of Materials, London in 1994, Application to Practice Award of TMS(USA) in 1997 , and the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award in 2002 . He has received the highest award of the Indian Institute of Metals, The Platinum Medal, for the year 2002. He received a Special Award for Exemplary contributions to Tata Search from Mr Ratan Tata. He also received the Life Time Achievement Award from The Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers in 2002, for his work in the field of mineral beneficiation .

Dr. Chatterjee has been mentioned as one of the ‘Illustrious Alumni of Imperial College’ in its booklet “Imperial College, London – 100 Years of Living Science”.

Dr. Amit Chatterjee has over 500 publications to his credit. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book entitled “Beyond the Blast Furnace”, which was published by CRC Press, USA, in 1993. He has authored another book “Metallic for Steelmaking -- Production and Use” published by Allied Publishers Ltd, New Delhi. He is in the final stages of publishing two more books on “Iron making and Steelmaking -- Theory and Practice” and “Direct Reduction of Iron Oxide”.

Dr. Amit Chatterjee was diagnosed as suffering from multiple sclerosis in the year 1987. Gradually he was confined to a wheel chair. His will power is so strong that he never considered himself physically handicapped. He has traveled all over the world. He continues his invaluable contributions to the field of metallurgical science and technology. At present, he is working as Advisor to the MD, Tata Steels Ltd. It is significant that he has been engaged by Tata Steels in spite of his superannuating in the year 2004.
He has a tremendous sense of humor, an empathetic nature and grit that is truly enviable. To sum up Dr. Amit Chatterjee is a living legend.

August 18, 2007

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