ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024 19 which I attended as ASM International’s President, I inquired with K. Sivan, the Deputy Director of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), about India’s needs for an integrated approach for researching, developing, and deploying lightweight material and durable materials for India’s burgeoning space program. My question was based on ASM’s tremendously successful AeroMat event. Realizing the need for this investment, ISRO, as supported by Pradeep and other ASM volunteers, launched the ADMAT/SKYMAT Conference: Make in India, Fly in Space! This conference has now been transformed as ADMAT, serving other market sectors depending on materials for areas such as defense. Pradeep championed ADMAT to promote space materials in India, while inviting other international participants with resulting collaborations to focus resources on challenging materials problems facing India and the world. AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK TO SEATTLE With Pradeep’s penchant for travel and seeing no boundaries, he is an international leader, especially in the realm of materials science, technology, engineering, and manufacturing. This is demonstrated threefold by his manufacture of steel forgings via Pradeep Metals, microwave processing technology for materials processes in the “back shop” of his company and serving ASM International for decades. Pradeep Metals serves customers around the world with precise, high performance steel forgings for demanding applications in North and South America, Europe, and Japan, especially with respect to chemical processing, oil and gas, and off-highway vehicles. Touring Pradeep Metals, I noted the mix and seniority of associates. Pradeep commented that approximately 85 associates have worked at the company for 25 to 30 years. Key leadership roles of chief financial officer and export manager are led by women. Additionally, a steady stream of students pass through Pradeep Metals annually to gain firsthand experience of forging metal. Visiting Pradeep Metals is like visiting the Wright brothers’ bicycle shop, since in the back Pradeep is also investing in innovative processes to reduce carbon emissions related to iron processing via microwaves. When he has time with this team, he continues his research that started decades ago at MIT and Air Products, in innovative materials and processes. He collaborated with experts from Japan, USA, and Europe to develop microwave-based technologies. His resume now includes six patents and multiple papers, as he shares this technology with the world. Of these presentations many were made at ASM International events. His contributions to science and technology are recognized by the Government of India and he was appointed on the boards of reputed organizations, such as the Technology Development Board, India Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, IIT Mumbai Research Park, and National Institute of Advanced Manufacturing. This brings me full circle to an untold story; back to that first meeting in Seattle. I did not know him at the time, but as we both happened to be leaving the hotel lobby for dinner, I asked him to join me for a drink at “a club.” He was taken aback thinking of, well you know, “a club!” What he didn’t know was that he was to be my guest at the Columbia Tower Club on the 75th floor of a high rise building in downtown Seattle, with commanding views of Puget Sound and Mount Rainier. It was a marvelous evening, during which our friendship was forged. I’m not sure of the Indian term, perhaps karma, but it was my daana to him, which has lasted since then. Therefore, I am delighted to introduce you to my good friend, Pradeep Goyal, President of ASM International whose personal and professional lives exemplify dharma in every way possible, from Mumbai to Materials Park and everywhere in between! ~AM&P Pradeep, second from left, is recognized as a leader at MET & HTS 2018. The Ekal Abhiyan Trust, an NGO Pradeep chairs, provides vital services to the community.
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