Ashok Gadgil

Ashok Gadgil (born 1950 in India) works with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley. He is best known for "UV Waterworks" - a simple, effective and inexpensive water disinfection system.

UV Waterworks uses the UV light emitted by a low-pressure mercury discharge (similar to that in a fluorescent lamp) to disinfect drinking water.Effective disinfection at affordable cost is the primary and most importantfeature of UV Waterworks -- allowing an entire system (including costs of pumps, filters, tanks, electricity, consumables, and employee salaries for operation) to sell drinking water at about 2 cents US for 12 liters even in deep rural areas, where personal incomes are commonly less than $1 US per day.

This business model, developed and implemented by WaterHealth International, makes safe drinking water affordable and accessible to even poor communities in developing countries. For UV Waterworks, Dr. Gadgil received the Discover Award in 1996 for the most significant environmental invention of the year, as well as the Popular Science Award for "Best of What is New - 1996".

At LBNL, where Dr. Gadgil is a Senior Staff Scientist in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, he leads a group of about 20 researchers conducting experimental and modeling research in indoor airflow and pollutant transport. Most of that work is focused on protecting building occupants from the threat of chemical and biological attacks. In recent years, he has worked on ways to inexpensively remove arsenic from Bangladesh drinking water, and on improving cookstoves for Darfur (Sudan) refugees.

Dr. Gadgil has substantial experience in technical, economic, and policy research on energy efficiency and its implementation - particularly in developing countries. He has authored or co-authored more than 70 journal papers, and more than 100 conference papers.

In 1998 and again in 2006, Dr. Gadgil was invited by the Smithsonian Institution's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation to speak at the National Museum of American History about his life and work.

Among his other awards are the Pew Fellowship in Conservation and the Environment in 1991 for his work on accelerating energy efficiency in developing countries, the World Technology Award for energy in 2002, and the Tech Laureate Award in 2004. Dr. Gadgil is the Adjunct Professor in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, and was the Map-Ming Visiting Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University.

He has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, an M.Sc. from IIT, Kanpur, and a B.Sc. from Bombay University, all in Physics.

In his spare time he enjoys hiking, gardening, and reading books on topics totally unrelated to his research.

Film

Ashok is featured in Irena Salina's feature documentary .

External links

* [http://eetd.lbl.gov/staff/gadgil/AGadgil.html Personal Website]
* [http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/ima/gadgil_bio.html Courage: Ashok Gadgil] . Short biography from MIT Press. Text adapted from "Inventing Modern America."
* [http://invention.smithsonian.org/video Prototype Online: Inventive Voices podcast featuring a two-part interview with Ashok Gadgil] - From the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation website.