S. Komar Kawatra

Contact

skkawatr@mtu.edu

Professor Emeritus, Chemical Engineering

PhD, Metallurgical Engineering, University of Queensland (Australia)
MS, Physics, University of Poona (India)
BS, Physics, University of Poona (India)

Biography

S. Komar Kawatra joined the faculty at Michigan Tech as an associate professor in 1977. He was promoted to Professor in 1985 and chaired the Department of Mining and Materials Processing Engineering from 2000-2002 when its programs were merged into other academic departments. He served as chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 2007 to 2017.

Kawatra is an accomplished researcher, teacher, and lecturer. His primary area of research is chemical engineering specializing in: instrumentation and on-line analysis for monitoring and control of chemical and particulate process plants; and treatment/remediation of chemical and industrial wastes.

He has received numerous honors and awards, including the 2000 Robert H. Richards Award from the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Taggart Award from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, and the 2002 Frank F. Aplan Award from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers. At Michigan Tech, he received the 1987 Research Award. He has a number of patents and has published more than 150 technical publications. He has edited or authored eight books and coauthored "Coal Desulfurization: High-Efficiency Preparation Methods," a reference book for practicing engineers.

Kawatra serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Minerals & Metallurgical Processing Journal and the Mineral Processing & Extractive Metallurgy Review Journal. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Explorations (SME) and was Chair of the Mineral Processing Division of SME. He was also the director of the Michigan Tech Advanced Sustainable Iron & Steel Making Center (ASISC).

Links of Interest

Faculty Webpage

Research Interests

Iron and Steel Making
Particle Technology

Publications

Kawatra, S. K., Eisele, T. C. and Dilley, H. L., "A procedure for Evaluating Existing Heavy-Media Coal Preparation Circuits to Enhance Sulfur Removal: A case Study", Chapter 4 in High Efficiency Coal Preparation (ed Kawatra), Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., Littleton, CO, 1995, pp. 55-61.
Udupa, A. R., and Kawatra, S. K., "Developments in Gold Leaching," Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy, Vol. 7, 1990, pp. 115-135.
Rose, W.I., Paces, J.B., Chesner, C.A., Pletka, B.J., Hellawell, A., Kawatra, S.K., Pilling, J.E., "New Interdisciplinary Engineering Design Course in Planetary Materials and Resource Utilization" Proc. of Space'90,American Society of Civil Engineers, Aerospace/ASCE/ Albuquerque, NM, 1990, pp., 1413-1422
DeLa'O, K. A., Eisele,T. C., Kasul, D. B., Rose W. I., Kawatra, S. K., "Separation of Lunar Ilmenite: Basalt vs. Regolith", Proc. of Space'90, American Society of Civil Engineers, Aerospace /ASCE/ Albuquerque, NM, 1990, pp. 177-186.
Kawatra, S. K., Eisele, T. C., and Bagley, S. T., "Studies of Pyrite Dissolution in Pachuca Tanks and Depression of Pyrite Flotation by Bacteria," Biotechnology in Minerals and Metal Processing (B. J. Scheiner, F. M. Doyle and S. K. Kawatra, eds.), Society of Mining Engineers, Littleton, CO, 1989, pp. 55-62.