Manoj K. Choudhary, MS '76

Manoj Choudhary.

"I am an alumnus of your great department (MS, 1976) and have very fond memories of the time I spent there.  Buffalo was the first place I came to in the U.S. after leaving India and was treated most kindly by the UB community.  I remain most grateful for the education I received  from the Chemical Engineering Department. I have tried to keep in touch and even now, some 43 years later, when I pass by the Buffalo area, I drop by the main campus (the department began its movement to the Amherst campus just at the time I was completing my degree)."

-Manoj

Biography

Manoj Choudhary is a 1976 graduate from the University at Buffalo, earning his MS in Chemical Engineering. After graduating from UB CBE, he went on and eventually obtained his Sc.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After post-doctoral research at MIT, he worked at Owens Corning’s Science and Technology Center in Granville, Ohio from Sept. 1982-March 2018 and was a member of its Senior Technical Staff. At Owens Corning (OC), he laid the foundations for advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based simulation of several key materials processes, including glass melting and polymeric foam extrusion. His contributions were at the core of some of the most significant glass and polymer process technology and product developments in OC during the past 35 years.

Dr. Manoj Choudhary is currently the President of MKC Innovations, LLC and Senior Advisor for Strategic Affairs to the Board of Directors of Glass Service, a.s. Dr. Choudhary is also an Adjunct Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Ohio State University. His professional interests include development of innovative materials processes and products through the application of engineering fundamentals, physics, chemistry, materials science, and advance computational approaches. He has worked with a broad range of materials systems including metals, glasses, polymers, and minerals. 

With an impressive academic and professional career, he has authored over 60 technical reports in OC, published 59 papers and several book chapters, and holds 10 current and pending patents. Dr. Choudhary is a Fellow of the British Society of Glass Technology, and a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society. He has presided over several professional organizations including the International Commission on Glass, Industry-University Center for Glass Research at Alfred University, the Glass and Optical Materials Division of the American Ceramic Society, and the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council, of which he was also a founder. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the American Ceramic Society and a Specially-appointed Professor of China State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass.

Dr. Choudhary says he enjoys reading, especially essays and short stories but also travelogues and poems and writings on history and current affairs. In addition, he enjoys listening to songs from Hindi cinema (Bollywood) of the 1950s and 1960s, cinema and theater, but wishes he had more time to indulge in them. He is active physically through yoga, walking, and biking. His wife, nor his daughter or son share his passion for materials, but his immediate family shares a passion for cuisine and movies. 

Manoj receiving award.

Manoj Choudhary, awarded the ICG President's Award during the opening session of the International Congress on Glass June 2019 | Boston

Manoj receiving award at Memorial Lecture.

Manoj Choudhury, Atma Ram Memorial Lecturer October 15, 2019 | Kolkata, India

Awards and Honors

  • Atma Ram Memorial Lecture - October 15, 2019 (Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI) in Kolkata, India)
  • International Congress on Glass (ICG) President's Award 
  • Falih N. Darmara Award (Materials Science & Engineering Department at MIT)
  • Prof. S. K. Nandi Gold Medal (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur)
  • Friedberg Memorial Lecture (American Ceramic Society)
  • Samuel R. Scholes Award Lecture (Alfred University)
  • Owens Corning’s highest Technical Achievement Awards