500 West 120th Street
905 Mudd, Mail Code: 4711
New York , NY 10027

Education

University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. – 1964

University of California, Berkeley, M.S. -1962

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, B. Engin. – 1961

Kerala University, India, B.S. -1958

Honors

Frank F. Aplan Award, Engineering Foundation, 1992

Honorary Research Advisor, Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Beijing, China, 1991

The State of New Jersey Senate Leadership Citation, 1991

Ellis Island Medal of Honor for Distinguished Americans, 1990

First Brahm Prakash Chair, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 1990

Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 1989

Honorary Professor, Central University of Technology, Changsha, China, 1988-1993

Henry Krumb Lecturer Award, AIME, 1988; Honor Award, Association of Indians in America, 1988

Robert Richards Award, Soc. of Min., Met. & Mnrl. Eng., 1987

A.E. Taggart Award, Soc. of Min., Met. & Mnrl. Eng., 1987

Distinguished Member, Soc. of Min., Met. & Mnrl. Eng., 1983

Mill Man of Distinction Award, Soc. of Min., Met. & Mnrl. Eng., 1983

Antoine M. Gaudin Award, Soc. of Min., Met. & Mnrl. Eng.,1982

Publications Board Award, Soc. of Min., Met. & Mnrl. Eng., 1980

Most Distinguished Achievement in Engineering (AINA), 1980.

Current Research

Surface & colloid science; dispersion, Deposition/coating, polymer/surfactant/protien interactions; biomineral processing; nano/bio materials, tissue engineering, bio solar & Green materials, Computer simulation

Professional Experience

Columbia University, New York

  • La von Duddleson Krumb Professor of Mineral Engineering (1983-present)
  • Director of Langmuir Center for Colloids & Interfaces (1987-present)
  • Chairman for the Department of Chemical Eng., Material Sci. & Mineral Eng.
    Columbia University, New York (1993-1997)
  • Chairman for Henry Krumb School, Dept. of Min., Met., & Mnrl. Eng. Columbia University, New York (1988-1993)
  • Professor of Mineral Engineering (1978-83)
  • Associate Professor or Mineral Engineering (1970-78)

Research Chemist R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc., Winston-Salem, NC. (1967-1970)

Senior Research Engineer at Intern. Minerals & Chemical Corp., Libertyville, IL (1965-1967)

Professional Activities

Editor-in-Chief, “Colloids and Surfaces,” International Journal, Elsevier (1979-present)

Member, National Academy of Engineering (1985-present)

Chairman, Engineering Foundation Board (1993-1995)

Publications (Highlights)

Over 300 publications including 12 books, 150 invited lectures in various national and international symposia, universities and industries in 10 countries. Additional more than 200 lectures presented at meetings of professional societies.

D. MacDonald, B. Markovic, M. Allen, P. Somasundaran and A. L. Boskey, “Surface Analysis of Human Plasma Fibronectin Adsorbed to Commercially Pure Titanium Materials,” accepted for publication in J. Biomedical Material Research

C. C. Chou, V. Ososkov, L. Zhang, P. Somasundaran, “Removal of Nonvolatile Hydrophobic Compounds from Soil by Flotation. II. Column Flotation of Artificially and Naturally Contaminated Soil,” accepted for publication on J. Soil Contamination

P. Somasundaran, L. Zhang, V. Ososkov, C. C. Chou, “Removal of Nonvolatile Hydrophobic Compounds from Soil by Flotation. I. Laboratory Investigation Using Mechanically Agitated Machine,” Advances in Environmental Research, 1, 157 (1997)

P. Somasundaran and B. Markovic, “Interfacial Properties of Phosphates,” in Calcium Phosphates in Industrial, Environmental and Biological Systems, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA (1997)

P. Somasundaran, C. Maltesh, L. Huang, “Adsorption Behavior of Cationic and Nonionic Surfactant Mixtures at the Alumina-Water Interface,” J. Colloid Interface Sci., 177, 222 (1995)

D. Liu., P. Somasundaran, T.V. Vasudevan and C.C. Harris, “Role of pH and dissolved mineral species in Pittsburgh No. 8 coal flotation system – I. Floatability of coal,” International Journal of Mineral Processing, 41, 201 (1994)

J.B. Andersen and P. Somasundaran, “The Role of Changing Surface Mineralogy on the Separation of Phosphatic Clay Waste,” International Journal of Mineral Processing, 38, 189 (1993)

A. Sivakumar, P. Somasundaran and S. Thach, “Calorimetric Investigations on the Effect of Functional Group on Surfactant Adsorption,” J. Coll. & Interf. Sci., 159, 481 (1993)

M.K. Yelloji Rao, K. A. Natarajan and P. Somasundaran, “Effect of Bacterial Conditioning of Sphalerite and Galena with Thiobacillus Ferrooxidans on their Floatability,” in Proc. Engineering Foundation Conf on Mineral Bioprocessing 105 (1991)

P. Somasundaran, “Processing of Low Quality Ores within the Environmental Constraints,” in India’s Environment: Problems and Perspectives, Geological Survey of India,, 117 (1986)