Academic background
Dr. V. M. Sivakumar received his B.E. (Chemical Engineering) from Annamalai University in 1998, India. Further, he completed his M.Tech (Chemical Engineering) from Bharathiar University, India in 2000 and pursued his Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering) at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia during 2007–2011. He joined Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT) as a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering in the year 2003 and is presently working as an Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering. His areas of research include Catalysis & Reaction Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Nanomaterials, and Nanotechnology. One of his priority research areas is conducting fundamental studies to develop effective catalysts for growing Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) from natural gas. The production technology adopts a single-step process that is simple, less expensive, and efficient in producing high-purity carbon nanotubes, with hydrogen generated as a by-product. His research outcomes have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as Materials Letters, Journal of Nanomaterials, Chemical Papers, and Reviews on Advanced Materials Science.
During his studies, he received several scholarships and awards including the Research Fellowship Award, Novel Product Development Award, and the Sanggar Sanjung Award for his research publications in impact-factor international journals. He has contributed research papers at both international and national conferences held in Korea (NANO 2011), China (ICENV 2010), United Kingdom (Cambridge CNT Symposium 2009), Malaysia (RSCE-SOMChE 2008), and India (IIT-Guwahati, NCFCE 2007). He has supervised postgraduate-level projects and was associated with the NANO Carbon Research Group at USM, Malaysia. He worked as a Research Officer from 2008 to 2010 for a project worth RM 2,80,000 sponsored by MOSTI (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations), Malaysia. He has won Gold Medals for research product exhibitions held in Germany (iENA 2009) and Kuala Lumpur (MTE 2009). In addition, he has served as a member of the Chemical Engineering Postgraduate Society (CEPS), USM, a member of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE), and as a reviewer for journals published by leading publishers such as Springer and VERSITA.
