S.S.V. Ramakumar

Sankara Sri Venkata Ramakumar is serving as the executive director of the Research and Development(R&D) center of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). He joined IndianOil R&D Centre in 1988 and has over 28 years of experience. IOCL is ranked as India's energy public sector unit (PSU) on the Fortune 500 list (Rank 142). Dr. Ramakumar has a successive experience of more than thirty years in the field of research and development and the downstream hydrocarbon sector, principally in the spheres of Refinery Process Research Streams, Lubricant technology (automotive lubricants), Nano-technology Research, Engineering, Technology promotion & forecasting, Tribology, and Catalyst development.
Dr. SSV Ramakumar has contributed to the development of India’s home-grown, OEM-approved marine lubricant technology. He led the indigenization of IndianOil’s flagship- INDMAX technology. He is presently working toward various alternative energy programs- the Indian Oil Hydrogen Research program, guiding committees that work on drawing the strategies for the inclusion of hydrogen in the energy mix. Other energy programs include waste-to-energy, bioenergy, solar energy, and energy storage.
== Early life and Education ==
Dr. SSV Ramakumar was born in Andhra Pradesh. He was schooled at the ZP High School, Pasumarru (AP). In 1982, he obtained his bachelor's degree from the Hindu College, Machilipatnam, Krishna University, pursuing Chemistry (Major). He earned his master's degree (Chemistry) from IIT Roorkee (formerly, University of Roorkee) in the year 1984 and from the same institute four years later, in 1988 received the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Chemistry.
== Career ==
Dr. SSV Ramakumar is the director of IndianOil, Research & Development (R&D). He joined the Indian Oil board as a director in February 2017. As director (Planning & Business Development), he led IndianOil’s Petrochemicals, Natural Gas, Exploration & Production, Alternate Energy & Sustainable Development, International Business and Explosives verticals, and Corporate Planning. Serving alongside the board of IndianOil, Dr. Ramakumar is on the boards of LanzaTech (USA), Green Gas Limited- a joint venture of GAIL (India) Limited, and IOCL- GGL is engaged in the City Gas Distribution (CGD) business in four geographical areas (GAs), and IndianOil Total Pvt. Ltd. (joint venture with IOCL), which is engaged in the manufacture and market of high-quality bitumen derivatives and specialty products for the growing road-building industry in India. He is also a non-executive director on the board of Lanzatech, New Zealand Ltd.
Dr. Ramakumar is present on the board of IOT Biogas Pvt. Ltd., which looks over the biofuel business, IndOil Montney Ltd., which handles IndianOil’s upstream business in Canada, Oil Industry Development Board (India), Central Pollution Control Board (India), and Society for Petroleum Laboratories & India Energy Forum, and Research Advisory Board (RAB) of ICAT, under the Scientific & Research Organisation (SIRO).
* He is the founder secretary and currently President of the International Council of Internal Combustion Engines (Indian Chapter).
* He is a member of the Indian Society of Fuels and Lubricants.
* He is the senior vice president of the National Lubricating Grease Institute (Indian Chapter).
* He is the National President of the Tribology Society of India.
In 2017, IndianOil and LanzaTech signed a Statement of Intent to construct the world's first refinery off gas-to-bioethanol production facility in India. The commencement of the project took place under Ramakumar’s supervision at IndianOil’s Panipat refinery in Haryana, India.
Under his leadership, Surya Nutan- an innovative solar cooktop for an average Indian consumer was launched in 2022. Also, he is working toward the dispensation of Green Hydrogen as petrol and diesel.
== Honors and Awards ==
Dr. Ramakumar has been honored with memberships in scientific societies and for presenting research papers at international conferences. He has published 95 research papers in peer-reviewed leading journals of the domain like wear, Tribology, transactions, RSC Advances, Nanoscience and Technology, Lubrication Science, etc. He holds four patents (granted) and 20 patents filed. Recently conferred with the Fellowship of the National Academy of Engineering, he has received many awards:
* Dr. SSV Ramakumar won the NRDC Invention Award for the innovation, Development of Nano additized High-Therm LPG for metal-cutting applications in March 2017.
* He won the WPC Excellence Award for INDMAX Technology at the World Petroleum Conference in July 2017. In addition, IndianOil also won the top honors for the unsurpassed scale of implementation of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) as it had led the distribution of deposit-free LPG connections to below-poverty-line families.
* IndianOil R&D team won the FIPI Innovator of the year 2021 Award for the development and commercialization of Xtraflo- drag-reducing additives (DRA) during the FIPI Oil and Gas Awards 2021 held in New Delhi. Dr. Ramakumar received the award from Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing.
* He holds a doctorate in chemistry from IIT-Roorkee (erstwhile University of Roorkee) and has been conferred with its Distinguished Alumni Award for the year 2021 in Technology & Innovation domains.
* He is named the 2022 F&L Asia Person of the Year. This honor recognizes an individual's contribution to the fuels & lubricants industry in Asia.
* He also won AIMA Innovation Award.
Category:Executive Director
Category:People from Andhra Pradesh