Tata Steel organised a felicitation ceremony for Tridibesh Mukherjee, Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering (FR Eng.) today at Steelennium Hall for being awarded the coveted IOM3 Bessemer Gold Award. The function was presided over by Mr. B Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel and Mr. H M Nerurkar, Chief Operating Officer, Tata Steel. With this prestigious accolade, Tridibesh Mukherjee, FR Eng. now becomes the second Indian to get this award after Mr. J. R. D. Tata, who received it in 1986. Other winners of the award include Mr. Stuart Pettifor (formerly COO of Corus, 2005), Sir Brian Moffat (formerly Chairman of British Steel, 1996) and Mr. Lakshmi Mittal (President and CEO, Arcelor-Mittal, 2007).

The Felicitation ceremony was attended by senior executives of Tata Steel, Mr. Raghunath Pandey, President, Tata Workers Union (TWU), Mr. Rakeshwar Pandey, President, Tata Mazdoor Union, Members of TWU and other officers and ex-officers of Tata Steel. While addressing the gathering, Mr. B Muthuraman said, “This is a very rare honour and we are proud that T Mukherjee has received it. One distinguishing characteristic of T Mukherjee is the passion with which he pursues challenges and arrives at solutions. Tata Steel is extremely fortunate to have him. Such thoughts, approach and analytical thinking is unparalleled and we would like to congratulate him for this accolade.”

Mr. H M Nerurkar, COO, Tata Steel recounted his experiences with T Mukherjee in the yesteryears and spoke about the numerous contributions made by him in his tenure at Tata Steel. He said, “This award is recognition of the selfless service by T Mukherjee in the area of technology, metallurgy and research.”

After accepting the acknowledgement, T Mukherjee was extremely humbled by this gesture. He attributed his achievements to Tata Steel and spoke about the support he received from the team at Tata Steel. “I am just the visible tip of the iceberg and the rest of the iceberg is here at Tata Steel in Jamshedpur. The inspiration I get when I am in this city is beyond compare since the aspirational levels of the people in this Company are really very high. I would like thank Tata Steel for all the support it has given me during my stay here.”

The 2008 Bessemer Gold Medal has been conferred by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in the UK to acknowledge T Mukherjee’s outstanding services and contribution to the steel industry.

T Mukherjee, FR Eng. joined Tata Steel in 1971. He moved on to become the Vice President of Operations and in 2001 he was elevated to the position of Deputy Managing Director (Steel), Tata Steel and also became an Executive Director on the Board of directors of Tata Steel. As an outstanding researcher and expert metallurgist, T Mukherjee, FR Eng. is known for instituting innovative scientific techniques in the area of research and development. It was under his guidance that new R&D techniques were implemented which led to an increase in the production of Blast Furnaces in Tata Steel. Under his leadership, Tata Steel modernised its technological and management processes so that today it is one of the most competitive steel producers in the world. He has been instrumental in the various acquisitions of Tata Steel and was closely associated with the various Greenfield projects of Tata Steel. As the Group Director today, T Mukherjee, FR Eng. has been entrusted with the responsibility of integrating Corus into the Tata Steel culture with focus on technology and R&D. His passion for collecting fossils and crystals, he believes has broadened his understanding of the variety of minerals used in the Steel industry. He is also a well known numismatist, with a collection of stamps that are a rarity today.