Santanu Chaudhuri

Chief Technology Officer at Thermax Limited

Chicago, Illinois, United States

About Santanu Chaudhuri

Santanu Chaudhuri is Chief Technology Officer at Thermax Limited. Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Energy Transition & Deep Tech Leadership: With over 27 years of global experience at the intersection of multiscale science and industrial engineering, I specialize in accelerating the journey from molecular-level innovation to gigawatt-scale deployment. I am driven by the goal of engineering a net-zero future through technical excellence and strategic industrial leadership. As CTO of Thermax Ltd, I lead the R&D and technology strategy for an 8,000-strong global workforce, dedicated to building the infrastructure for a decarbonized future. My expertise lies in orchestrating Intelligent Sustainability—the integration of High-Performance Computing (HPC), Physics-informed AI, and data-driven methodologies to solve the world's most pressing energy challenges. Industrial Decarbonization: Establishing global technology portfolios for large-scale CO2 capture, Electrolyzers for H2 production, and sustainable materials design. Energy Transition Solutions: Leading the development of Green Hydrogen production, long-duration energy storage in flow batteries, and Waste-to-Biofuel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Circular Economy: Pioneering Waste-to-Energy and biomass-to-biocrude pathways through advanced thermochemical processes. Deep Tech Innovation: Utilizing Generative AI and Machine Learning to compress the materials discovery cycle for catalysts and alloys. Used adaptive design principles for manufacturing lines and built predictive maintenance into Digital-Twin-based virtual experimentation capabilities. Collaborative Leadership: I have led high-impact research programs funded by global agencies and institutions, including DOE, ARPA-E, NSF, ARL, and EPRI. I am passionate about building academic-industry and public-private partnerships that translate lab-scale breakthroughs into commercial reality. My past industry portfolio includes Boeing Company, Ford Motors, GM, GE GRC, GE Vernova, Avista Utilities, Siemens, Plug-Power, Reli-On (Cummins), HPCL, and Total Energies. More importantly, I worked with many startups where real breakthroughs happen, and they continue to amaze me with their dedication and vision.

Skills

  • Leadership
  • Editorial

Additional experience

  • Professor of Materials Engineering

    University of Illinois at Chicago

    Started September 2017

Education

  • PhD, Stony Brook University
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulations, University of Oxford