For the year 2002, the Lifetime Achievement Award of IIT Bombay has been conferred on Professor Krishnan Pozhath Madhavan of the Department of Chemical Engineering. The award comes to him in recognition of his outstanding contributions as a teacher, scientist, technologist and administrator.

Stretching over the last several decades, Prof. Madhavan's engagement with the institute has been deep and wide-ranging. A teacher and researcher of high calibre, he has held several important positions, including Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Dean (R&D), and Head of the CAD Centre. He has also been a member and convener of several apex committees of the institute. More significantly, he has been instrumental in establishing various academic programmes and policies, shaping R&D initiatives in new thrust areas, and in enhancing interactions with the industry. In short, he has contributed seminally to the process of building IIT Bombay as a diversified institution.

Born in 1937 at Kanjani village in Kerala, Professor Madhavan obtained his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineer- ing from Madras University, and PhD from IIT Bombay. He joined IIT Bombay as a lecturer in 1964, and has been with this institute since then. During 1987-88, he was a Visiting Professor at Purdue University, Indiana, USA.

Prof Madhavan's interest in teaching has spanned a broad range of courses, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and he has supervised PhD research of a large number of students. His lectures on Process Control and Optimization remain memorable for their élan. Many of his students, now in academia,and in the industry, attribute their interest in the area of Process Control to their exposure to Prof. Madhavan's style of discourse on the subject. His unique and innovative approach to teaching and research combines fundamentals with applications in equal measure.

A strict disciplinarian, a warm human being, demanding of effort and dedication from the students, always available and open, he has endeared himself to several generations of students. In recognition of his merit, he was conferred the Award for Excellence in Teaching at IIT Bombay in 1998.

Prof. Madhavan has made a number of landmark contributions to research in the area of Process Control, especially of batch processes. He has published over 40 papers in leading journals and conferences. Some of the algorithms, developed by him and his students, are now part of chemical engineering practice. He was a major contributor to the conceptualization and establishment of the CAD centre of IIT Bombay - undertaken as a UNDP project - in 1985. His contributions to the CAD centre have been central to its activities and growth, and its recognition by the industry at the national and international levels. Prof. Madhavan was also a member of the first committee - chaired by Prof. B. Nag - that conceptualized the management programme at IIT Bombay. Subsequently, he became the convener of the implementation committee for developing the academic programme of the School of Management. He was also involved in mobilizing resources for the school, as well as in faculty search. Another of his contributions pertains to the recent establishment of the Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences and Bioengineering at IIT Bombay. Working towards bringing together the large number of faculty in related disciplines across the institute, he played a significant role in evolving the School's overall structure.

Prof. Madhavan's contributions to other national organizations have been no less; which, amongst others, include Heavy Water Board, Ministry of Petroleum, Department of Electronics, Indian Oil Corporation, and ICICI.

By nature unobtrusive, he still remains deeply engaged with the affairs of the institute, and continues to contribute to its growth. In more ways than one, his career symbolizes the strengths and virtues of simplicity, and of an unwavering commitment to the cause of the academic profession.