Formerly technical director of Tata Steel (India), and later Technical adviser to the managing director, Dr Amit Chatterjee passed away on 5 June aged 70 in Jamshedpur where he was living in semi-retirement after retiring from Tata Steel in 2011.
Dr Chatterjee was a graduate in metallurgical engineering from the Benaras Hindu University and was awarded his doctorate and Diploma of Imperial College from Imperial College, London in 1970. He joined British Steel and later Thyssen Steel in Germany before joining Tata Steel in 1972.
In 1980, Dr Chatterjee was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and became confined to a wheelchair, but remained bright and alert despite his confinement.
He continued to work for Tata Steel, Jamshedpur and was a founding director of Tata Sponge Iron (Odisha). He was internationally recognised for his work on direct reduced iron receiving a further Doctor of Science (Engineering) degree from the University of London in 1988 and was made a Fellow of Imperial College in 2005.
On his ‘retirement’ Dr Chatterjee became a founding editor of ‘Steel Tech’ and organiser of its’ annual technical conference which soon became over prescribed.
Dr Chatterjee was a regular contributor to Steel Times International providing technical articles, generally on ironmaking topics, and Steel Times International jointly organised a conference in India with him.