Jyeshtharaj Bhalchandra Joshi is an Indian chemical engineer, nuclear scientist, consultant and professor, widely known for his innovations in design of multiphase reactors and nuclear reactor designs and generally regarded as a respected teacher. He is currently the Chancellor of the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. He also held the DAE-Homi Bhabha Chair Professor at Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, and is the recipient of Shantiswarup Bhatnagar Prize for Engineering Sciences and many other awards and recognitions. He received the third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 2014 for his services to the field of chemical engineering and nuclear science.
Joshi was born on 28 May 1949, in Masur, Satara district, in the Indian state of Maharashtra, as the son of Bhalachandra (Kaka) Joshi. He passed B.Chem. Eng. (Bachelor's in chemical engineering) in 1971 from the University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), Mumbai after which he started his research, under the guidance of renowned chemical engineer, Man Mohan Sharma. In 1977, he was awarded the Ph.D (Tech.).
Joshi lives in Mumbai and is married to Rujuta and the couple has a son, Aniruddha, who is PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He's known to be an excellent teacher and remains in touch with most of his students at a personal and professional level.
Joshi started his career, in 1972, as joining the faculty of the erstwhile University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), now known as Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. He served as the Director of the Institute between 1999 and 2008. He was also instrumental in upgrading the institute to the status of a deemed university and increased fundraising for the Institute research by way of donations, research contracts and project consultancies. Joshi worked there for the most part of his career, in various positions and retired as its Director in 2009.
He has worked as a consultant and advisor to several large chemical industries in India and abroad. He has developed over 1000 novel multiphase reactors. His area of expertise lies in the design and scale-up as well as process intensification of the reactors making them globally competitive.
He joined as a Homi Bhabha Chair Professor in Homi Bhabha National Institute, Department of Atomic Energy, Mumbai in 2009. During his tenure, he was involved in development of safety systems for Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) as well as research on carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber which subsequently led to the development of the indigenous bullet proof jacket, Bhabha Kavach at BARC. Since 2025, he is the Chancellor of the Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai.
Apart from the academic positions, Joshi has worked on the editorial or advisory board of many known and peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Joshi is credited with many innovative designs in the area of multiphase reactors. He is reported to have successfully developed multiphase sparged and mechanically agitated reactors. This has helped in the set up of large number of commercial size reactors in India and abroad. Joshi published over 665 scientific papers he has published in peer-reviewed journals, with over 32,700 citations with an h-index of 89 on Google Scholar. Chem Tech Journal USA has recommended his procedures five times.
Some of his notable scientific works are:
He is currently involved in research on the biomass valorization for production of biochar and bio-oil, extraction of bioactives sich as tannins, beta-keratinoids, and polyphenols from cashew apple, solar thermal technologies, and design of small modular reactors.
Joshi is widely respected as a mentor-teacher; he has successfully guided over 140 doctoral and 60 masters students and has supervised over 25 post doctoral students. He has taught the course on "Design of Multiphase Reactors" for over 40 years at ICT, Mumbai.
Joshi has been honoured, both academically and socially, by several prominent institutions.
Social recognitions
Academic recognitions