Grad Student Profile

Tathagata Chakraborty, MSc Student

After almost 2 years in Canada, Tathagata Chakraborty is still trying to embrace Edmonton’s cold climate. “It’s a shocker,” admits the good-natured student.  A part from braving the cold, Tathagata “survives” the culinary step-change by hanging out at local Indian-style bistros such as Remedy and Karma.  He’s also picked up a new habit in Canada… fruit juices.  With some previous experience in industry, people might find it interesting that he points out that graduate studies can be quite hectic, i.e., it’s no picnic.

Tathagata’s research project is the natural evolution of work begun by Shahnawaz Molla.  The research project is quaintly called “Surface fouling prevention using AC dielectrophoresis in cross flow mode.”  While leaving out the gory details (you can take him out for coffee or chai to find out), this technology has implications for reducing the fouling of surfaces in industrial systems that use membrane filtration.  The applications for this research are numerous and affect industries at the core of our society namely water and energy.  Now that his experiments are complete, Tathagata hopes to finish up his thesis, graduate later this year, and begin an industrial internship related to fouling prevention.