June 12, 2001
New Delhi: An electroplating technique formulated by an Indian scientist in US laboratories could save the shipbuilding and defence industries across the world millions of precious dollars.But it almost never happened. In the course of his research, Kanpur-born Rajeev Agarwal found that he was battling not only against corrosion but also advisors bent on discouraging him, 'The Indian Express' newspaper reported.
Agarwal patented his invention in the US in March 2001. His monolith electroplating technique protects the base metal from corrosion, which reportedly causes losses amounting to Rs 470 billion worldwide annually.
The Indian's invention could serve as the saviour of shipping companies, navies and even the nuclear energy industry because corrosion could lead to a core meltdown in reactors, the paper said.
Agarwal conducted the research while he was enrolled in a doctorate program at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The evaluating team led by J R Selman, his advisor, however asked Agarwal to abandon his line of work. But the Indian scientist persevered.
"(The) discoveries unknowingly propelled me to a conflict of interests or a controversy at the school at the Illinois Institute, where my advisor did not want me to publish the results although he promised me that he would be publishing it," Agarwal was quoted as saying by the paper.
"While I was being restricted from publishing the work for six long years, my advisor was presenting the work in meetings and to his groups and also sought grants based upon my research," he added.
Agarwal took his electroplating research to the Argonne National Laboratories (ANL) in Chicago. But the Illinois Institute evaluating team still refused to grant him a doctorate.
Had it not been for an interview with scientist Brian Frost, the world may never have benefited from Agarwal's work. Frost, a senior technical advisor for ANL, concluded that Agarwal had "discovered, conceived and invented" monolithic electroplating.
Frost informed the Illinois Institute about Agarwal's work and his assessment, prompting it to make the unprecedented move of scrapping the scientist's evaluating team and constituting a fresh one. The new team decided to grant Chicago-based Agarwal his well-deserved PhD.
IANS
