Dr. Bhaskar Jyoti Deka

Education

• Ph.D. (2019) - City University of Hong Kong 

• Master in Technology with specialization in "Water Resources: Utilization & Environmental Management" (2008) - Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India

• Bachelors in Civil Engineering (2006) - Assam Engineering College, Gauhati University, India

Professional Background

• Assistant Professor at the Department of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, India (10th September 2020 to present).

• Joint Faculty, Centre for Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, India (11th July 2023 to present). 

• Postdoctoral Fellow at Membrane and Water Technology Laboratory, City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Tat Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR (1st January 2020 to 2nd September 2020).

• Senior Research Associate at Membrane and Water Technology Laboratory, CityU, Tat Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR (2nd September 2019 to 31st December 2019).

• Senior Research Associate (P/T) at Membrane and Water Technology Laboratory, CityU, Tat Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR (7th August 2019 to 31st August 2019).

• Visiting Research Fellow at Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia (November 2016 to April 2017). 

• Management and Consultancy work experiences (July 2008 to August 2016) Perform roles as Assistant Manager, Design Engineer (water), Engineer (Hydraulics) at various reputed national and multinational organizations which includes Reliance, AECOM, Mott MacDonald etc.

• Role in consultancy projects during PhD/Post-PhD

• Chemical pre-treatment studies for seawater to prevent scaling and fouling on reverse osmosis membrane and maintaining stable operation under the project “First Stage of Desalination Plant at Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong SAR (Black & Veatch Hong Kong)”.

• Delineate the pre-treatment efficiency of coagulation and dissolved air flotation (DAF) for the removal of dissolved organic, inorganic, colloidal particles etc. from wastewater (Mott MacDonald Hong Kong Limited).

Multiple positions

• Life Member - Indian Desalination Association (InDA)

• Life Member - Indian Membrane Society (IMS)

• Life Member - Indian Water Resources Society (IWRS) 

• Member - Faculty Search Committee, Department of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee.

• Member - Departmental Research Committee, Department of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee.

• Member - Departmental Academic Programme Committee, Department of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee.

• Member - Departmental Faculty Committee, Department of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee.

• Member - Admission Eligibility Committee, Department of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee.

• Member - OC Library, Department of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee.

• Departmental Coordinator for the Tinkering & Mentoring Course

• Co-opted member - Board of Studies in B.E. Civil Engineering Department, Gogte Institute of Technology, Belagavi - 590008, Karnataka, India 

Editorial Roles

• Guest Editor for the Special Issue on "Applications of Membrane Distillation in Water Treatment and Reuse”, Membranes, MDPI journal (Impact factor: 4.2)

• Guest Editor for the Special Issue on "Advanced Electrospun Membrane Fabrication for Wastewater Treatment and Air Purification”, Membranes, MDPI journal (Impact factor: 4.2)

• Guest Editor for the Special Issue on "Sustainable Desalination and Wastewater Treatment: A Way Forward for Water, Energy, and Environment Security Nexus", Sustainability (Impact factor: 3.251, ISSN 2071-1050), MDPI journal. 

• Guest Editor for the Special Issue on "Sustainable Technologies for Wastewater Treatment & Soil Remediation", Sustainability (Impact factor: 3.251, ISSN 2071-1050; CODEN: SUSTDE), MDPI journal. 

Honors & Awards                                                                                                                       

• Awarded YUKTI Innovation Challenge 2023 (Yukti 2.0), Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell, AICTE, Govt. of India.

• Recipient of Technology Readiness Level Booster (TRLB) from IIT Roorkee.  

• Outstanding Academic Performance Award, City University of Hong Kong  

• Research Tuition Scholarship (RTS), City University of Hong Kong  

• UGC Research funding, Government of Hong Kong

• Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) qualified 

• Visiting Research Fellow at Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia (November 2016 to April 2017). 

• Postdoctoral fellow at Membrane and Water Technology Laboratory, City University of Hong Kong (1 year)

Sponsored national and International research projects

• Project Title: Advanced nanocomposite polymeric membranes for conversion of wastewater into potable water and revitalization of air in space (as PI).

  • Funding Agency:  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Govt. of India

  • Start Date: 07-10-2022

  • Period: Ongoing

• Project Title: Development of omniphobic nanofibrous membrane for hybrid adsorbent-membrane distillation technology to achieve nearly zero liquid discharge and resources recovery from seawater brine waste (as PI).

  • Funding Agency:  Start-up Research Grant (SRG), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt. of India 

  • Start Date: 26-10-2022

  • Period: Ongoing

• Project Title: Novel hybrid gas hydrate- membrane based desalination coupled with carbon capture (as Co-PI).

  • Funding Agency:  Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India

  • Start Date: -

  • Period: -

• Project Title: Development of superhydrophobic and superomniphobic membranes for energy-efficient membrane distillation application with zero liquid discharge (as PI).

  • Funding Agency: SRIC, IIT Roorkee

  • Start Date: 29-12-2020

  • Period: Completed

• Project Title: Development of advanced nanocomposite proton exchange membrane based fuel cells suitable for automobile applications (as Co-PI).

  • Funding Agency: Schaeffler India

  • Start Date: 15-09-2022

  • Period: Ongoing

• Project Title: Investigation of nanobubble flotation to remove micro/nano plastic from Sewage Treatment Works (STWs) in Hong Kong" (as Co-PI) with the joint team of City University of Hong Kong (CityU).

  • Funding Agency: Environment and Conservation Fund, Govt of Hong Kong 

  • Start Date: 01-02-2021

  • Period: Ongoing

• Project Title: "Capacity development programme on-site suitability mapping for managed aquifer recharge (MAR) under varying climatic conditions using remote sensing and machine learning-based hydrological modelling tools", (as Co-PI) with the joint team of IIT Roorkee, NIH India, Kindai University Japan, and Pusan National University (PNU) South Korea. 

  • Funding Agency: APN Capacity Development Programme (CAPaBLE) programme 

  • Start Date: 01-07-2021

  • Period: Completed

Sponsored national and International Consultancy Projects

Project name: Survey & feasibility of design for development of sewage treatment plants on hybrid annuity model basis for bareilly STP PPP project, state of UP, India

Client name: M/S ENVIRO INFRA Engineers Pvt. Ltd

Project name: Technology design & process validation of STP

Client name: Ashirvad Pipes pvt. Ltd., Bangalore