Sitaram Rao Valluri (June 25, 1924 – January 23, 2019)[2] was an engineer and scientist noted for his work in metal fatigue.[3] He completed his doctorate in 1954 at Caltech with a dissertation under Ernest Sechler[4] and stayed thereafter to continue his research work. In 1963, he won the Wright Brothers Medal with George Bockrath and James Glassco for a paper on the relationship between crack propagation and fatigue in metals.[5] He later returned to India and joined the Applied Mechanics Department of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras where he distinguished himself as a teacher, an outstanding researcher and a pre-eminent authority in the field of metal fatigue. He was invited to take over as the Director of National Aeronautical laboratory in Bangalore, later renamed as CSIR- National Aerospace Laboratories to succeed the first director Dr.P. Nilakantan. During his tenure for 19 years, he transformed NAL into a vibrant force in Indian Aeronautics. He was also instrumental in framing the new recruitment and assessment scheme of CSIR, popularly known as Valluri /Varadarajan Committee[6] which recommended a new policy of recruitment and assessment in the CSIR laboratories in the year 1981. This was widely acknowledged as one of the most significant steps which led to the arrest of attrition of bright scientific personnel from advanced scientific institutions in India. He played a major role in the conception of the light combat aircraft (LCA) program in 1980s and briefly served as the first Director General of the Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore, the nodal agency for the design and development of LCA in 1985.
Sitaram Rao Valluri | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 June 1924 |
| Died | 23 January 2019 (aged 94) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
Dr. S.R. Valluri figures in the IISc wall of fame[7] and in the list of recipients of the Padma Shri, awarded by Government of India and the Vasvik industrial research award (1976).[8] He was the founder President of the IISc Alumni association in 1976[9] and an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1971.
References edit
- ^ "Remembering S R Valluri: Titan of Indian Aeronautics". Vayu Aerospace and Defence Review. 2019-04-05. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- ^ "A tribute to Dr S R Valluri, former Director of CSIR-NAL and visionary aero-scientist. - CSIR - NAL". www.nal.res.in. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
- ^ Metal Fatigue (1962) Engineering and Science 25(9), 12-13.
- ^ Valluri, S.R. (1954) Some studies in the fundamental parameters of fatigue, PhD dissertation.
- ^ Valluri, S.R., Glassco, J.B., and Bockrath, G.E. (1963) Further Considerations of a Theory of Crack Propagation in Metal Fatigue, SAE Technical Paper 630386, doi:10.4271/630386.
- ^ "CSIR -New recruitment and assessment scheme" (PDF).
- ^ "IISc Wall of fame-1986".
- ^ "Vasvik award".
- ^ "IISc Alumni Association".
External links edit
- Sitaram Rao Valluri at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- directory page at the Indian Academy of Sciences
- Sitaram Valluri Honorary Citation from National Aerospace Laboratories
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