Palle Rama Rao

FREng Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK a ...

is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

scientist noted for his contribution to the field of Physical and Mechanical

Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

. He has collaborated and conducted research activities for over dozen universities and associations all over

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and abroad. He has been honoured with the titles of

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

in 2011 by president of India for his contributions to scientific community. He is acting as the chairman, Governing Council, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI),

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

Education

Palle Rama Rao did his MA (Physics) from

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

, MSc (

Nuclear Physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies t ...

) from

Andhra University Andhra University ( IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the bigge ...

; and PhD (

) from the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (now

Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi (IIT BHU) is a public technical university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1919 as the Banaras Engineering College, it became the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu Univ ...

). During 1966–67, he was postdoctoral research associate in the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

. He joined the Faculty, Department of Metallurgy,

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

(IISc),

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

in 1960, moved to

in 1962 as Lecturer and then continued to work there as Professor of Physical Metallurgy (1975–82).Thereafter he was appointed Director,

Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) is a research laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Defence Research Complex, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad. It is responsible for the development and manuf ...

, Secretary to the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, Department of Science and Technology and Ocean Development & Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. He was honoured as Fellow, INSA, National Academy of Science,

Indian National Academy of Engineering The Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), founded in 1987, comprises India's engineers, engineer-scientists and technologists covering the entire spectrum of engineering disciplines. The Academy is registered under the Societies Reg ...

, Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences; President,

Indian Institute of Metals Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) was formed in Kolkata in 1946 under the leadership of Dr. Dara P. Antia, who was then Chief Metallurgist of Indian Aluminum Co. The IIM is over 60 years old premier professional Metallurgical Institute set up to ...

, Materials Res. Soc. of India.

Work

Although, he remained associated with a large number of academic institutions all over

in a wide range of subjects, his research interests were centred on metallic behaviour and Mechanical Alloy Development.

Academic and research achievements

Rama Rao began his research career with X-ray diffraction study of structural imperfections including development of new methods of analysis of X-ray line-broadening and prediction and experimental verification of fault configurations in double hexagonal close – packed crystals. He then turned to high temperature mechanical behaviour of metallic materials (tensile, creep, fatigue and fracture characteristics) some of which were undertaken for the first time in the country. He became involved in research-based alloy development during his tenure at the Hyderabad defence laboratory. Notable among these efforts is the development of an ultrahigh strength high fracture toughness low alloy steel. His current research interest is in understanding the effects of solutes on mechanical properties of magnesium and its hot workability. A major recent research programme addressed basic issue of fracture toughness in single phase and dilute alloys.
He has to his credit nearly 160 journal papers, 30 edited volumes and over 50 publications in conference proceedings.

Other contributions

Rama Rao contributed to setting up the Heavy Alloy Penetrator Plant,

Tiruchirapalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

, the first full-fledged ordnance factory to come up in India based on indigenous R&D, the International Advanced Research Center for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials, Hyderabad, Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Center, Hyderabad, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, Safety Research Institute, Kalpakkam and the Technology Development Board of DST. He was Editor of the ''Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals'' and the ''Bulletin of Materials Science'' and served on the Editorial boards of ''Materials Science and Engineering'' (an international journal), ''International Journal of Fatigue'' and ''International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping''. He also served as INSA Council Member.

Recognition

Professor Rama Rao was conferred the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Engineering Science in 1979, Homi J. Bhabha Award for Applied Sciences (1986),

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

(1989), Prize for Materials Science by INSA (1989), Tata Gold Medal (1992) by Indian Institute of Metals (IIM), Platinum Medal (1994), National Metallurgist by the Union Ministry of Steel (1999), Jawaharlal Birth Centenary Award by the

Indian Science Congress Association Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first week of January. It has a ...

(ISCA) (1999),

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

(2001),

Sisir Kumar Mitra Sisir Kumar Mitra (or ''Shishirkumar Mitra'') MBE, FNI, FASB, FIAS, FRS (24 October 1890 – 13 August 1963) was an Indian physicist. Early life and education Mitra was born in his father's hometown of Konnagar, a suburb of Kolkata (then C ...

Memorial Lecture Award (2001),

Meghnad Saha Meghnad Saha (6 October 1893 – 16 February 1956) was an Indian astrophysicist who developed the Saha ionization equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars. His work allowed astronomers to accurately relate the spe ...

Medal (2004), Millennium Plaque of Honour (2003), Life Time Achievement Award" instituted by the Ministry of Steel, Government of India,

Ashutosh Mukherjee Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee (anglicised, originally Asutosh Mukhopadhyay, also anglicised to Asutosh Mookerjee) (29 June 1864 – 25 May 1924) was a prolific Bengali educator, jurist, barrister and mathematician. He was the first student to be awa ...

Memorial Award (2009), G. M. Modi Award For Innovative Science, 2011 & Technology and

, 2011. He was elected International

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

(UK), the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World,

Ukrainian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; uk, Національна академія наук України, ''Natsional’na akademiya nauk Ukrayiny'', abbr: NAN Ukraine) is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine th ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

, US

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

(2012), National Academy of Sciences, India,

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administra ...

and

. He has been President,

, Bangalore (1995–98),

(2001–02), ISCA (General President) (1997–98), IIM (1990–91), Materials Research Society of India (1992–94), Indian Nuclear Society (2008–09), and International Congress on Fracture (1989–93); and Vice-President, International Union of Materials Research Societies (2002–03). American Society of Materials awarded him their Distinguished Life Membership in 2004.

Notes