Dr. Indumathi M. Nambi

Dr. Indumathi M. Nambi has been a Professor in Civil Engineering at IIT Madras since 2005, a primary research focus is on water quality — specifically groundwater, industrialwastewater treatment, and water body restoration. Prof. Indumathi has been activelyadvancing the conversion of research ideas from lab to practice through problem-directed research, projects, and entrepreneurship. She serves on national and state expert committees like the Jal Jeevan Mission, UnnatBharat Abhiyan, and Remediation of contaminated sites with NCEF. She has alsoestablished and served as PI and governing board of Centre for Urbanization, Buildingsand Environment (CUBE), sponsored by the Government of Tamil Nadu, and Centre forTechnology Development, Demonstration and Dissemination, sponsored by Tamil NaduPollution Control Board. Her commitment to training engineers holistically motivated herto help develop a new Minor stream: "Sustainable Environmental and InfrastructureSystems." She is the director of Samudyoga Waste Chakra, a start-up offering sustainablewaste management through carbon-reducing technologies, and founded Water Chakra in2018 to recover water and nutrients from urine using waterless urinals. Prof. Indumathi launched and organizes the "Carbon Zero Challenge", a national-levelcontest promoting cleantech innovation and entrepreneurship among students andearly-stage start-ups. She is also the Principal Investigator of the Ideas to ImpactChallenge, which serves as a precursor to the Carbon Zero Challenge. In addition, sheserves as the National Chairperson for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition.