He is one of the few composers in the world who can boast of being self-taught. He dedicated his life to music. He is the only Indian to be invited to the Tchaikovsky International Music Competition held in Moscow. He was appointed Producer, Emeritus, All India Radio. He was awarded the Padmashri in 1983. He was also awarded the 'For The Sake of Honour' award from Rotary. He is one of the chosen few who figures in the listing of the 'International Who's Who in Music'.

Church music was his first love. He was elected Honorary Life Member of the Royal School of Church Music, London. He was also recognised as India's best pianist. Alan Hovhaness, the famous American composer, dedicated two pieces to Handel - the "Arjuna Symphony" and an Organ Sonata.

Dr. Sukumar Devotta, Director NEERI, is a Chemical Engineer with Ph. D. in 1978 from the University of Madras, followed by his Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Salford, England during 1979-84. He also obtained M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Salford. Dr. Devotta began his research carrier at NCL, Pune, in 1984, as Scientist E-I in Chemical Engineering Division and quickly rose to the position of Director Grade Scientist in 1996. He assumed the office as Director, NEERI on 1st August, 2003

Scientific & Technological Research & Development

• Chemical process development and process engineering simulation
• Industrial energy conservation
• Alternatives to CFCs
• Global energy policy and protocols.
• Environmental Science & Engineering

Book & Publications

Book: Holland, F.A., Watson. F.A. and Devotta, S. "Thermodynamic Design Data for Heat Pump Systems", Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK (1982)

Monograph: Devotta, S. "High Temperature Heat Pump Working Fluids"HTFS Design Report No. 49, Part 3, UK (1986)

Devotta, S., Finkelstein, A. and Kuijpers, L., "Report of the Task Force on Destruction Technologies" in "UNEP 2002 Report of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel" Volume 3b, UNEP, Nairobi (2002)

Chapter : Sukhatme, S.P. and Devotta, S., "Classification of Heat Transfer Equipment" in "Heat Transfer Equipment Design", Ed - Shah, R.K., Subba Rao, E.C. and Mashelkar, R.A., Hemisphere, Washington, D.C. (1988)

Devotta, S., Iyer, M. and Kammen, D.M., "Case Studies" in "Methodological and Technical Issues in Technology Transfer", A Special Report of IPCC Working Group III, Cambridge University Press (2000).

Andersen, S.O., Carvallho, S.U.M., Devotta, S., Fujimoto, Y., Harnisch, J., Polak, B.K., Kuijpers, L., McFarland, M., Moomaw, W. and Moreira, J.R., "Options to Reduce Global Warming Contributions from Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances, in "Climate Change 2001: Mitigation", Cambridge University Press (2001),

Research Papers: More than 120 research papers in reviewed international journals and conferences.