Malayalee Association Names P. Somasundaran Engineer Of The Year

P . Somasundaran, La von Duddleson Krumb Professor at Columbia University, has received the 2007 Engineer of the Year award from the Malayalee Engineers Association of North America, a nonprofit professional organization of engineers of Malayalee ethnicity in the U.S. The Engineer of the Year award honors outstanding contributions by Malayalee engineers.

Somasundaran studies surface and colloid chemistry of minerals, materials and microbes, molecular interactions at surfaces using advanced spectroscopy, polymer and surfactant adsorption, flocculation/dispersion, biosurface phenomena, environmental engineering (waste treatment), and enhanced recovery of oil and coal cleaning.

Somasundaran is also director of the National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Studies in Novel Surfactants and the Langmuir Center for Colloids & Interfaces.