Dr. Arun Deb - The Man on a Relentless Mission!

Dr. Arun Deb and his better half Mrs. Dhriti Deb                                           Pic courtesy: Tyger Williams, The Philadelphia Inquirer 

Our alma mater, being a heritage institution of one hundred and sixty-five years, has churned out countless alumni, both men and women, who went on to make us all proud with their tremendous achievements, both at a national level as well as internationally. Understandably, many of these spectacular achievements have been in the professional and academic domains, where our alumni have established themselves at the pinnacle for several decades.    

But today, we would like to narrate the story of Dr. Arun Deb (1957 CE), one of our very own, and his unrelenting passion for providing clean and safe water to rural households in some of the most downtrodden areas of our country.

Dr. Arun Deb graduated from our esteemed institution in Civil Engineering back in 1957, post which he joined the faculty at B.E.College and was soon sent to the University of Wisconsin, USA, where he completed his Master of Civil Engineering (M.S.) in 1961. On his return, he joined the B.E.College faculty once again and completed his PhD in Civil Engineering, in the year 1968 (Calcutta University).

What followed was half a century of teaching, consulting and research, particularly in the fields of Environmental Engineering and Water Resource Engineering, spanning across India and the USA, winning him innumerable number of awards and accolades. Some of the most prominent achievements include the following:

·      The Institution of Engineers, India - Public Health Engineering Gold Medal (1973)

·      AWWA-PA Section Life Time Achievement Award for contribution in water industry (2000)

·      AWWA Volunteer of the Year (2001) as recognition for helping in water supply in developing countries

·      Water For People - Miller Founder Award 2002

·      American Society of Civil Engineers, Stephen D. Bechtel Life Time Achievement Award (2004) for contribution in Pipe Line Engineering

·      National Academy of Engineering, USA, Grainger Prize Silver Award (2007) for Mitigation of Arsenic from Drinking Water in Villages of West Bengal

·      American Society of Civil Engineers Best Project Finalist Award for the Arsenic Project (2008)

·      Distinguished Alumnus Award, Bengal Engineering and Science University (2010)

·      Listed in Marquis’ WHO’s WHO in AMERICA 2007- 2010

Dr. Arun Deb delivering a speech at his alma mater, IIEST Shibpur.

After an impressive and impactful five decades, Dr. Deb retired from his position of Vice President, WESTON Solutions Inc., an environmental consulting and management firm based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, drawing the curtains on a glorified professional career.

But 'Arun da', as he is fondly called, was far from ready to call it a day!

Since then, he has been actively involved with numerous social and humanitarian initiatives and served in a number of NGOs, helping the under privileged with water, sanitation and education. His latest engagement with a non-profit organization in India called Nishtha, has completely changed the lives of the entire community, particularly that of women, in some of the most downtrodden villages of India. In a recent webinar on Sustainability, organised by ADI Associates and GAABESU, some of the team members of Nishtha, a diverse group of fascinating women, shared their incredible story of turnaround and acknowledged the integral part played by Dr. Deb in making it all happen.

Arun Deb receiving a welcome by the students of a girls' school on Sagar Island, West Bengal.

In January 2021, Dr. Deb was featured in an article by The Philadelphia Inquirer, which covered the story of his tremendous contribution to the society. The article can be read below.

People like Dr. Arun Deb never retire. They simply move on from one meaningful innings in life to another, more impressive one!

Published by: Amitabha DAS - EE, 1997