Indian-American, Ponisseril Somasundaran named as fellow of Royal Society of Canada

TORONTO: An Indian-American environmental expert at Columbia University has been elected as the lone foreign fellow of the prestigious Royal Society of Canada for his ground-breaking contributions.

Ponisseril Somasundaran, a faculty of the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, received his MS and PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and his Bachelor of Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in 1961.

The Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) have elected 71 new Fellows, including one Foreign Fellow for 2012. The newly elected Fellows have been elected by their peers in recognition of outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement, RSC President Yolande Grise said in a statement.

" Ponisseril Somasundaran is recognised for his ground-breaking contributions towards unravelling complex nano-scale structures and energetics of surfactant self- assemblies and polymer-surfactant hybrids at interfaces. He pioneered the use of spectroscopic methods for probing surfactant self-assemblies," said a citation of the Royal Society of Canada.

"His work forms the backbone of many of the current practices in ultra-lean ores beneficiation, hazardous materials/waste water treatment and personal care industry. His seminal work continues to be vital for meeting today's environmental and sustainability needs," it said.

The new Fellows will be inducted to the RSC during the Induction and Awards Ceremony on November 17, 2012 in Ottawa.

Founded in 1882, the RSC comprises the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada. Its mission is to recognise scholarly, research and artistic excellence, to advise governments and organisations, and to promote a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and with other national academies around the world.