Dr. P. Jegathambal

Dr. Jegathambal Palanichamy is a Professor at the Water Institute, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, with over two decades of academic and research experience in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. She holds a Post Doctoral qualification in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from RWTH Aachen, Germany, and a Ph.D. in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and RWTH Aachen under the DAAD Sandwich Programme. She also holds an M.E. in Environmental Engineering from Government College of Technology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, where she ranked first, and a B.E. in Civil Engineering from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai Kamarajar University, where she secured first rank.

Her research expertise encompasses water and wastewater treatment technologies, hydrological modelling, soft computing techniques including artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics, GIS and remote sensing applications, and sustainable management of groundwater and water resources. Her academic and research work includes electrocoagulation, nanobioremediation, microbial fuel and desalination cells, capacitive deionization, polymer nanocomposite membranes, biochar, hydrogels, nanoparticle transport, groundwater quality assessment, rainfall-runoff modelling, artificial recharge, desalination, wastewater treatment, geophysical studies, environmental isotopes, climate change impacts, green hydrogen generation, and CO₂ capture. She has also guided academic projects involving AI/ML algorithms, multivariate analysis and geostatistical tools for groundwater assessment.

Dr. Palanichamy has served as Professor at the Water Institute, Karunya University, since 2008 and has previously held academic and research positions at RWTH Aachen, the National Institute of Technology, MNM Jain Engineering College, IIT Madras, and Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology. She has led several externally funded research projects supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and other agencies, including projects on electrochemical treatment of industrial effluents, nanobioremediation, nanoparticle transport, groundwater recharge, and wetland management. She has also contributed to consultancy projects related to the management of Point Calimere Ramsar Site and conservation and management of Loktak Lake, and has supervised 22 international interns through IAESTE on projects related to water treatment, desalination, groundwater modelling, and bioremediation.

Her research has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed journal publications in areas including electrocoagulation, water and wastewater treatment, nanocomposite membranes, groundwater modelling, desalination, bioremediation, hydrogeochemistry, and sustainable water management. She is a DAAD Research Ambassador (India) for 2025–2028 and has received recognitions including the Women Researcher Award, Excellence in Technology Development Award at the World Aqua Congress, and the DAAD Short-Term Stay and Postdoc Fellowship.