Dr. Agarwal is the Emeritus Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India. He has held several academic and administrative positions including Dy Director (Faculty), Dean of Industrial Research and Development and Chairman of Mechanical Engineering Department at the same institute. He has also been a consultant to various Indian industries and visiting faculty in international universities. He has guided the Indian appliance and other refrigeration and air-conditioning industry on non-ODS technologies during the changeover from CFCs.

Professor Agarwal has been with IIT Delhi for the past 37 years and actively contributing towards teaching, research and development in the field of Refrigeration & Air-conditioning, Energy Efficient Technologies, Energy Conservation and Non-ODS (Ozone Depleting Substances) technologies for Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. He has guided 15 Ph.D.'s and 66 Master's theses. He has published over 70 research papers in International journals and conferences. He was the Vice President of IIR commission B-2, Vice President of Indian Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of ASHRAE and ISHRAE. He was chairman of Bureau of Indian Standard Committee on Refrigeration & Air-conditioning and reviewer of number of journals.

Prof. Agarwal is currently the Co-chair for United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Technical Options Committee (TOC) on Refrigeration, AC and Heat Pumps and also a member of Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP).

Professor Agarwal is the recipient of 1998 US EPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award and 2007 US EPA Best of the Best Award for the Technical Leadership in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning and his contributions to save the Ozone layer. He has also received (2007) the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and TEAP Champions Award in recognition of his extraordinary service to the Parties of the Montreal Protocol and the global effort to protect the Ozone Layer. Recently he has received a certificate of recognition for his work to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which is the joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007.