Dr. Mridula Nair, with 140 granted US patents, has developed a portfolio of commercially useful technologies for Eastman Kodak Company
In the past four decades, Dr. Mridula Nair, a research fellow at Eastman Kodak Company, and an Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) distinguished alumni, has experienced both challenges and rewards throughout her professional career.
Adding on to this, she further explains that as an Indian-origin woman in her twenties, she faced gender-bias challenges when she started her career in a male-dominated company in the 1980s. But, overcoming these hurdles, she has done exemplary work in the field of science and technology.
She pioneered the Evaporative Limited Coalescence (ELC) process, a Kodak technology that found wide utility. She has 140 granted US patents in the areas of chemical manufacturing, chemically prepared toners, engineered particles, optical display films, and smart materials.
Not only this, but she also received Kodak’s Century Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Scientific and Technical Innovation in 2014 for crossing the 100 US patents mark. In 2021, Dr. Nair was listed under the first-ever Forbes 50 Over 50: Vision List, which highlights the exceptional women who are shaping the future of science, technology, and art.
“The atmosphere of this primarily engineering institution encouraged me to blur the boundaries between pure science and engineering,” she said.
“At IIT Madras, both the naysayers and the supporters forced me to get out of my comfort zone as a very young single woman in India, take the GRE exams and go to the US in 1975, to chart out my academic and career paths,” she further added.
She is an active campaigner for female literacy in India so that women can become financially independent and contribute their input to solving a problem from a diverse perspective.
Original News Link
https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/-iit-madras-alumni-pioneers-a-novel-technology-for-kodak-1945278-2022-05-04
