Distinguished Services Award underscores Rajendra Bordia’s global impact

A professor who holds an endowed chair at Clemson University and has founded a worldwide network of researchers and academicians is being recognized by his alma mater’s alumni association.

Rajendra Bordia has won a Distinguished Services Award from the Alumni Association of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where in 1979 he received his Bachelor of Technology in mechanical engineering.

Bordia now serves as the George J. Bishop, III Endowed Chair in Ceramic and Materials Engineering at Clemson and as scientific director of MADE In SC, a statewide program focused on growing research, education and workforce in advanced materials.

From 2013-19, he served as chair of Clemson’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The Distinguished Services Award “recognizes the hard work and dedication of alumni in doing exemplary service by becoming the goodwill ambassadors in various fields and augmenting and supporting the institute’s effort in various ways,” according to the association.

Bordia said it is an honor to be recognized by his alma mater.

“IITK will always hold a special place in my heart,” Bordia said. “This is where I laid the foundation for a career that took me to industry and academia and allowed me to expand knowledge and help prepare the next generation of engineering and science talent. I also made life-long friends who have always been there for me. I thank my teachers and mentors at IITK and colleagues and alumni of IITK who supported my nomination for this special award.”

For the award, Bordia’s most significant contribution was founding in 2008 the Kanpur IIT Research and Academic Alumni Network (KIRAAN). The network now has more than 100 members.

“The goal and activities of this network have been to more deeply engage the large number of IITK alumni, who are in research and academic positions around the world, in the research and academic activities of IITK,” according to the Alumni Association. “The focal areas of this network are supporting the recruitment of faculty members at IITK, providing mentoring and research opportunities to IITK faculty and students, and engagement of the KIRAAN members in research and teaching at IITK.”

Bordia has also mentored the institute’s students and faculty, participated in joint research projects and served as a member of IITK Foundation Board.

Bordia is currently serving as a guest professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar and has had visiting or guest professor appointments at IIT Kanpur, the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and Friedrich-Alexander Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany. Bordia holds Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in materials science and engineering from Cornell University.

Kyle Brinkman, the chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Clemson, said that Bordia’s award is well deserved.

“This award is a testament to the truly global impact that Dr. Bordia has had in his long and celebrated career,” Brinkman said. “His contributions help raise the department’s profile in South Carolina, across the nation and around the world. I offer him my deepest congratulations.”

For more information on the Distinguished Services Award go here. For more on Bordia’s contributions, click here.