Dr. Jithin John Varghese
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
EDUCATION
2012 - 2016
Nanyang Technological University Singapore
PhD (Chemical Engineering)
2004 - 2008
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, India
B.Tech (Chemical Engineering)
WORK EXPERIENCE
January 2024 - present
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Associate Professor
October 2018 - January 2024
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Assistant Professor
The Team
Post-doctoral Fellows
Dr. Heera T Nair (Dec 2025 - )
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Research: Theoretical investigation of selective CO2 hydrogenation to ethanol
Dr. Tamilmani Selvaraj (Dec 2024 - )
WISE-PDF
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Research: Mechanistic investigation of formic acid decomposition over supported alloy catalysts for hydrogen production
Dr. N. Nagarjun (Dec 2023 - )
(Co-advised with Dr. P. Selvam)
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Research: CO2 cycloaddition reaction using MOFs
Dr. Ajin R (Jan 2025 - )
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Research : Computational investigation of CO2 hydrogenation to methanol using In2O3/ZrO2
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PhD Student: July 2019 - Jan 2025
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PhD topic: Selective C-O bond cleavage in biomass derived polyols
Mr. Sathya Sai Rengam (July 2019 - )
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PhD topic: Liquid phase catalytic mild oxidation of methane to methanol on zeolite based catalysts
PhD Students
Ms. Athira K K (Aug 2020 - )
Prime Minister's Research Fellow
(Co-advised with Dr. P Selvam)
PhD topic: CO2 cycloaddition with epoxides on metal organic (MOF) framework based catalysts
Mrs. Parvathy S Chandran (Jul 2022 - ) Prime Minister's Research Fellow
PhD topic: Understanding and developing metal carbide and metal/metal oxide catalysts for oxidative dehydrogenation of light alkanes
Ms. Aaradhana Vishnu Thombre (July 2024 - )
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PhD topic: Valorization of Polyols in terminal diols
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Mr. Ashok Yacham (July 2021 - )
(Co-advised with Dr. Tarak Patra)
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PhD topic: Selective CO2 capture using metal organic framework (MOF) based sorbents
M.Tech Students
Mr. Deep Pravinbhai Kotadia (July 2024 -
(Co-advised with Dr. Tarak Patra)
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M.Tech Project topic: Catalytic depolymerization of polyolefins using DFT-ML
Ms. Sampurna Saha (Oct 2025 - )
(Co-advised with Dr. Niket S. Kaisare)​
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M.Tech Project topic: Kinetic modelling assessment for methanol synthesis from CO2
Mr. Manav (Oct 2025 - )
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M.Tech Project topic:
B.Tech Students
Mr. Bharath Sajeev (Sep 2025 -
(Co-advised with Dr. Niket S. Kaisare)​
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B.Tech Project topic: Multi-objective optimization of CO2 conversion to methanol
Ms. Sukriti Choudhary (Aug 2025 - )
(Co-advised with Dr. Niket S. Kaisare)​
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B.Tech Project topic: Techno-economic aspects of CO2 reduction to methanol
Project Associate
Ms. Ansiya (October 2024 - )
(Co-advised with Dr. Niket S. Kaisare )
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​Topic: Integrated experimental and multiscale modelling to develop multifunctional and tandem catalyst for direct conversion of CO2
Alumni
Post-doctoral Fellows
Dr. Prabodh Ranjan
Faculty at Presidency University
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Dr. Ramesh Gurram
IOCL R&D Centre
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Dr. Tamilmani Selvaraj
WISE Post-doc, IIT Madras
PhD Students
Anoop Pushkar
Post-doc, IISc/Ola Electric
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C D Balaji
Post-doc, NTU Singapore
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Ajin Rajan
Post-doc, IIT Madras
MS Students
Ashwajeet Gajbhiye
Afcons Infrastructure Ltd.
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Soham Roy
PharmaACE
M.Tech/DD Students
Sahithi Yamala
Faculty at Presidency University
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Akshay R Nath
Mercedez Benz RDI
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Jose Peter
Navin Flourine International Ltd.
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Harishankar A R
Micron Technologies, Taiwan
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Balaji Sriram
Chevron, Bangalore
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Jamsheer K T
Guest faculty, TKM College
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Vaibhav Patil
Walmart Centre, IIT Madras​​
B.Tech Students
Jugal Anil
Hindustan Unilever
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Sundar Ram
PhD Student, Caltech
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Sahil Halarnkar
PhD Student, Michigan Ann Arbor
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Shashank Swaminathan
MS student, Carnegie Mellon
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Rohit Kumar
Technip Energies
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Jatin Pratap Singh
Phd student, IIT Delhi
Project Staff
Sai Teja Nekkanti
PhD student, Clemson University
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Anju Patel
PhD student, IIT Bombay
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Gouri Nayanar
PhD student, IIT Madras
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Prerna
PhD student, University of Bayreuth & Melbourne
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Gopika Nair
PhD student, Leibniz Institute of Catalysis