CLASS 1969,Mechanical Engineer

Dharendra Yog Goswami, also known as Yogi, went to school in Delhi and graduated from Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) in 1969 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has 3 brothers and 3 sisters. After graduating from DCE, he went to USA and received his MS (1971) and Ph.D (1975) from Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. Shortly after receiving his Ph.D degree, he decided to go back to India to fulfill a promise he had made to his mother. His journey back to India in 1975 was mostly by road through many countries of Western and Eastern Europe and Asia over a period of 4 months.However, here turned back to USA within a year because of a number of reasons.

In January 1977, Yogi started his academic career in USA, teaching and conducting research. At present, he is a Distinguished Professor, which is the highest academic title one can achieve at a University in USA and Director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida

Yogi married his wife, Lovely, in December 1977 in New Delhi. They have a son, Dilip and a daughter, Jaya and a grandson, Anjanay. Lovely holds a MSc in Anthropology from Delhi University and also MS in Chemistry from USA. She started a company ATTL, Inc. in 1986 as an environmental laboratory and then developed prototypes of air purification devices based on Yogi’s invention of Photo-electrochemical oxidation (PECO) for disinfection and detoxification of air. Their children, Dilip and Jaya then transformed that business into a successful American company, Molekule, Inc. that manufactures and sells the world’s first molecular air purifier based on Yogi’s invention of PECO. In 2017, Time magazine selected Molekule as one of the 25 best inventions.

Please see https://molekule.com/ for more information.

Yogi has conducted research on Solar Energy from very early on in 1970s, as he was convinced that solar energy was going to be the main energy source of the world in the future. Over the years,he became well respected in the field having published 22 books and over 400 research papers and also serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Solar Energy, a prestigious international scientific journal. He also holds 23 patents. Yogi has been honored by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), American Solar Energy Society (ASES),the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) )and the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) with their highest awards. He has been inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame and the Solar Hall of Fame. He has served as the President of International Solar Energy Societyand a Senior Vice President and a Governor of ASME. Yogi has given advice on Solar Energy Policy to the US Congress (Parliament) and various world leaders, including the former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (both while he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and PM of India). He drafted the Solar Energy Policy that CM Modi adopted for Gujarat.