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Prof Suresh Pillai

Sl1(T)

Contact Details

Sl1(T)
Address

E: pillai.suresh@itsligo.ie
 
researcher

Biography

Suresh C. Pillai obtained his PhD in the area of Nanotechnology from Trinity College Dublin and then performed his postdoctoral research at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA. Upon completion of this appointment he returned to Trinity College Dublin as a Research Fellow before joining CREST-DIT as a Senior Scientist in April 2004. He has joined IT Sligo in 2013 as a senior lecturer in nanotechnology and currently leads the Nanotechnology and Bio-Engineering Research Group. He is an elected fellow of the UK¿s Royal Microscopical Society (FRMS) and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM). He has also completed an executive MBA from Dublin City University, in 2009. Suresh was responsible for acquiring more than ¿4 million direct R&D funding. He has published several scientific articles in leading peer reviewed journals has contributed to several book chapters, has presented in more than forty international conferences and has delivered over forty international invited talks. Suresh has also been invited to deliver keynote/plenary speeches at various international conferences including the IWA Symposium on Environmental Nanotechnology in Nanjing, China (2013), the International Green technology conference, India (2013) and the European Photocatalysis conference in Slovania (2013). He is the lead inventor in two granted US patents (awarded in 2013 and 2015) and one UK patent (awarded in 2015).  He was also one of the three co-founders of DIT start-up company Radical Coatings. His research work was featured in the ¿the investigators¿ programme (RTE TV), BBC London, BBC world Radio, the Times UK, RTE-1 TV, Aljazeera TV, Ocean FM radio and in a number of national and international news media. Suresh is a recipient of the Industrial Technologies Award 2011 for licensing functional coatings to Irish companies. He was also the recipient of the 'Hothouse Commercialisation Award 2009' from the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation and also the recipient of the 'Enterprise Ireland Research Commercialization Award' 2009'. He has also been nominated for the 'One to Watch' award 2009 for commercialising R&D work (Enterprise Ireland). One of the nanomaterials based environmental technologies developed by his research team was selected to demonstrate as one of the fifty innovative technologies (selected after screening over 450 nominations from EU) at the first Innovation Convention organised by the European Commission on 5-6th December 2011. He is the national delegate and technical expert for ISO standardization committee and European standardization (CEN) committee on photocatalytic materials. He is an editor for the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research (ESPR, Springer) and Editororial Board Member for the Chemical Engineering Journal and Applied Catalysis B (Elsevier).  
His publications list can be viewed at   http://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=4zkNK7sAAAAJ&view_op=list_works   Contact Details Suresh C. Pillai, PhD, MBA, FRMS, FIMMM Centre for Precision Engineering, Materials and Manufacturing Research & Nanotechnology Research Group, Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Technology Sligo, Ash Lane, Sligo, Ireland   Pillai.suresh@itsligo.ie

Research Projects

  Project Role Description Start Date End Date
Technology Gateway Centre (PEM) Co-PI EI Technology Gateway Centre 01-JAN-16
President's Bursary PI To support postgraduate students 01-OCT-14
Development of low cost, near infrared (NIR) reflective and very low thermal conductivity advanced materials for energy efficient thermal insulations. PI SFI-TIDA 06-JAN-14
US-Ireland R&D Collaborative Research: Degradation Mechanism of Cyanotoxins Using Novel Visible Light-Activated Titania (TiO2) Photocatalysts. Area: Environmental Nanotechnology PI US-Ireland R&D Collaborative Research: Degradation Mechanism of Cyanotoxins Using Novel Visible Light-Activated Titania (TiO2) Photocatalysts. Area: Environmental Nanotechnology 06-JAN-14

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2017) 'An Introduction to Sol Gel Processing for Aerogels'
Saoirse Dervin and Suresh C. Pillai (2017) 'An Introduction to Sol Gel Processing for Aerogels' In: Sol gel Materials for Energy, Environment and Electronic Applications. USA: Springer-Nature. [Details]
(2016) 'Photocatalysis as an Effective Advanced Oxidation Processes'
Suresh C. Pillai,* Niall B. McGuinness, Ciara Byrne, Mallikarjuna Nadagouda, Changseok Han, Polycarpos Falaras, Athanassios G. Kontos , Miguel A. Gracia-Pinilla, Ramalinga Mangalajara, Kevin O´Shea and Dionysios D Dionysiou, (2016) 'Photocatalysis as an Effective Advanced Oxidation Processes' In: Photocatalysis as an Effective Advanced Oxidation Processes. USA: IWA (International Water Association). [Details]
(2016) 'Sustainable Water Management and Technologies: Sustainable Water Technologies'
Changseok Han, Bangxing Ren, Mallikarjuna N. Nadagouda, George Romanos, Polycarpos Falaras, Teik Thye Lim, Virender K. Sharma, Natalie Johnson, Pilar Fernández-Ibáñez, J. Anthony Byrne, Hyeok Choi, Rachel Fagan, Declan E. McCormack, Suresh C. Pillai, Cen Zhao, Kevin O'Shea and Dionysios D. Dionysiou*, (2016) 'Sustainable Water Management and Technologies: Sustainable Water Technologies' In: Editor, Daniel H. Chen, , Boca Raton, FL (eds). Nanotechnology Applications. USA: Taylor & Francis/CRC Press. [Details]
(2016) 'Catalysis for Environmental Applications'
Changseok Han, Endalkachew Sahle-Demessie, Afzal Shah, Saima Nawaz and Latif-ur-Rahman, Niall B. McGuinness, Suresh C. Pillai, Hyeok Choi, Dionysios D. Dionysiou and Mallikarjuna N. Nadagouda, (2016) 'Catalysis for Environmental Applications' In: Catalysis for Environmental Applications. USA: Wiley VCH. [Details]
(2015) 'Water Challenges and Solutions on a Global Scale American Chemical Society Book'
Niall B. McGuinness, Mary Garvey, Aine Whelan, Honey John, Chun Zhao, Geshan Zhang, Dionysios D. Dionysiou, J. Anthony Byrne and Suresh C. Pillai,* ". (2015) 'Water Challenges and Solutions on a Global Scale American Chemical Society Book' In: Nanotechnology Solutions for Global Water Challenges. USA: ACS. [Details]
(2013) 'Photocatalytic Based Materials: Tiles and Glass Nanotechnology in eco-efficient construction'
Damian Synnott, Nicholas Nolan, Darragh Ryan, John Colreavy and Suresh C. Pillai (2013) 'Photocatalytic Based Materials: Tiles and Glass Nanotechnology in eco-efficient construction' In: F Pacheco-Torgal, A Nazari and C Goran-Granqvist (eds). Nanotechnology in eco-efficient construction. USA: Woodhead Publishing. [Details]
(2016) 'Self-Cleaning Photocatalytic Activity: Materials and Applications'
Niall B. McGuinness, Honey John, Maheswari K. Kavitha, Swagata Banerjee, Dionysios D. Dionysiou and Suresh C. Pillai (2016) 'Self-Cleaning Photocatalytic Activity: Materials and Applications' In: Photocatalysis. UK: RSC. [Details]

Edited Books

  Year Publication
(2017) Sol gel Materials for Energy, Environment and Electronic Applications
Suresh Pillai and Sarah Hehir (Ed.). (2017) Sol gel Materials for Energy, Environment and Electronic Applications USA: Springer-Nature. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2017) 'Antibacterial properties of F-doped ZnO visible light photocatalyst'
Antibacterial properties of F-doped ZnO visible light photocatalyst, Joanna Podporska-Carroll, Adam Myles, Brid Quilty, Declan E McCormack, Rachel Fagan, Steven J Hinder, Dionysios D Dionysiou, Suresh C Pillai (2017) 'Antibacterial properties of F-doped ZnO visible light photocatalyst'. Journal of Hazardous Materials, [Details]
(2016) 'Titania nanotube photocatalysts for effectively treating waterborne microbial pathogens'
Mary Garvey, Eugen Panaitescu, Latika Menon, Ciara Byrne, Saoirse Dervin, Steven J. Hinder, Suresh C. Pillai, (2016) 'Titania nanotube photocatalysts for effectively treating waterborne microbial pathogens'. Journal of Catalysis, [Details]
(2016) 'Pd loaded TiO2 nanotubes for the effective catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol'
Divya C. M., Vijila Kalarivalappil, W. Wunderlich, Suresh C. Pillai,* Steven J. Hinder, Manoj Nageri, V. Kumar, Baiju K. Vijayan, (2016) 'Pd loaded TiO2 nanotubes for the effective catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol'. Catalysis Letters, [Details]
(2016) 'Improved high temperature stability of anatase TiO2 photocatalysts by N, F, P co-doping'
Rachel Fagan, Declan E. McCormack, Steven J. Hinder, and Suresh C. Pillai,* (2016) 'Improved high temperature stability of anatase TiO2 photocatalysts by N, F, P co-doping'. Materials and Design, [Details]
(2016) 'An Effective Method for the Preparation of High Temperature Stable Anatase TiO2 Photocatalysts'
Rachel Fagan, Damian W. Synnott, Declan E. McCormack, and Suresh C. Pillai, (2016) 'An Effective Method for the Preparation of High Temperature Stable Anatase TiO2 Photocatalysts'. Applied Surface Science, [Details]
(2016) 'New approach of modifying the anatase to rutile transition temperature in TiO2 photocatalysts'
Ciara Byrne, Rachel Fagan, Steven Hinder, Declan E. McCormack, Suresh C. Pillai (2016) 'New approach of modifying the anatase to rutile transition temperature in TiO2 photocatalysts'. Rsc Advances, [Details]
(2017) ' Photocatalytic air-purification: a low-cost, real-time gas detection method'
Donal A Keane, Niki Hamilton, Lorraine T Gibson, Suresh C Pillai, Justin D Holmes, Michael A Morris (2017) ' Photocatalytic air-purification: a low-cost, real-time gas detection method'. Analytical Methods, [Details]
(2016) 'Highly Efficient F, Cu doped TiO2 anti-bacterial visible light active photocatalytic coatings to combat hospital-acquired infections'
Nigel S. Leyland, Joanna Podporska-Carroll, John Browne, Steven J. Hinder, Brid Quilty, Suresh C. Pillai* (2016) 'Highly Efficient F, Cu doped TiO2 anti-bacterial visible light active photocatalytic coatings to combat hospital-acquired infections'. Scientific Reports, [Details]
(2016) '2D nanostructures for water purification: Graphene and beyond'
Saoirse Dervin and Dion D. Dionysiou, Suresh C. Pillai (2016) '2D nanostructures for water purification: Graphene and beyond'. Nanoscale, [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
IWA (International Water Association) conference
Suresh C. Pillai Keynote Address IWA (International Water Association) conference [Details]

Conference Contributions

  Year Publication
(2016) E-MRS Annual Conference, ,,
Suresh C. Pillai (2016) EMRS Meeting. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], E-MRS Annual Conference, ,, Lille, France . [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2009 Nominated for the One to Watch award 2009 Enterprise Ireland
2011 Industrial Technologies Award 2011 Enterprise Ireland
2009 Hothouse Commercialisation Award 2009 from the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Hothouse, DIT
2009 Enterprise Ireland Research Commercialisation Award 2009¿ Enterprise Ireland

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Royal Microscopical Society, UK FRMS (Fellow) 01-FEB-10 /
Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, UK FIMMM (Fellow) 01-MAR-11 /

Patents

  Patent Number Title Granted
US 9,210,934 A Surface Coating 01-DEC-15
US 8,551,909 Visible Light Activable Photocatalyst 01-OCT-13
GB2521405 Anti-microbial surface coating 01-DEC-15

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
Academic Council Member 2016 / 2019
ISO- International Standards Organisation Natiional Delegate 2013 / 2017
CEN standardization committee on Photocatalysis (CEN TC 386 Natiional Delegate 2012 / 2017

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
California Institute of Technology (Caltech), CA, USA Post-doctoral researcher 04-APR-02 / 04-APR-03
Trinity College Dublin Research Fellow 05-APR-03 / 04-APR-04
Institute of Technology, Sligo Senior Lecturer in Nanotechnology 02-OCT-13 /
Dublin Institute of Technology Research Manager, Lecturer, Centre Director 05-APR-04 / 01-OCT-13

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2009 DCU MBA Management
2002 Trinity College PhD Nanotechnology

Modules Taught

  Term (ID)) Title Link Subject
201600 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 32945ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
201600 CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL HAZARDS 33155CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL HAZARDS
201600 CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL HAZARDS 33154CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL HAZARDS
201600 RESEARCH METHODS IN HEALTH 33275RESEARCH METHODS IN HEALTH

External Collaborators

  Name Organisation / Institute Country
Prof Yurii Gunko Trinity College Dublin IRELAND
Prof. Tony Byrne University of Ulster UNITED KINGDOM
Prof. Kevin McGuigan RCSI IRELAND
Dr. Sixto Malato PSA Almeria SPAIN
Prof. Dionysios (Dion) D. Dionysiou University of Cincinnati U.S.A.