Nautam Bhagwanlal Bhatt (10 April 1909 – 6 July 2005) was an Indian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

born in

Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city and the headquarters of Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city lies just to the south of the Gulf of Kutch, some west of the state capital, Gandhinagar. The city was the capital of Nawanagar State, Na ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. He was the founding Director Solid State Physics Laboratory,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Nautam was a recipient of

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

Award for his contributions to "Science and Engineering".

Education and career

Bhatt had his schooling in

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...

and early college education at

Samaldas College Samaldas Arts College or Samaldas College is a college in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. It was founded in 1885 by Takhtsinhji, the Maharaja of Bhavnagar State in memory of his Diwan (minister) Samaldas Paramananddas Mehta. It is one of the oldest ...

, Bhavnagar,

. He received his B.A. degree from the

Gujarat College Gujarat Arts & Science College, popularly and previously known as Gujarat College, is one of the oldest educational institutions of India and the second arts and science college of Gujarat, near Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad. It was founded in 1845 a ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

. He then received his MSc degree in physics under the Nobel Laureate, C. V. Raman, at the

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

(IISc),

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Following a year of teaching at Samaldas College, Bhatt was awarded a fellowship by the

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

of Bhavnagar to pursue the doctorate program at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

where he earned his Ph.D. degree in physics in 1939. He has started his career under Dr. CV Raman in Indian Institute of Science as Scholar of Physics. After Indian Independence he started to work for country and founded "Defense Science Laboratory" and worked for development of defense technologies. His Major Contributions for science and technology are: # Development and deployment of the VT Fuse for the Department of Defense in the mid-1960s. # He designed the acoustics of several moderate sized concert halls specifically for Indian Classical Music for a more natural sound. # He established the Solid State Physics Laboratory in Delhi and was its founding Director. # He established the Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI), Pilani. # He founded the Electrical Communications Engineering Department at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. # He was a founding member of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE). In 1969 he was awarded the prestigious

Award by Indian President

Zakir Husain Zakir Husain Khan (8 February 1897 – 3 May 1969) was an Indian educationist and politician who served as the vice president of India from 1962 to 1967 and president of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. Born in H ...

for his great work in the field of "Science and Engineering". Dr. Bhatt designed the acoustics for several theatres and auditoriums in India, including the Odeon and Sheila Cinemas in New Delhi and the Legislative Assembly Hall in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He was also a founding member of the Bharatiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090131221505/http://india.gov.in/myindia/advsearch_awards.php * http://www.princeton.edu/~sondhi/nonphysics/writings/Nautam%20Bhagwanlal%20Bhatt.pdf * http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep102005/895.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20110713005627/http://www.iiscalumni.com/downloads/Alumni_Reminiscences_Prof-Balaram.doc * http://nahar.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/scientist-dr-nautam-bhatt {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatt, Nautam Bhagwan Lall Indian Institute of Science alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering 2005 deaths People from Jamnagar 1909 births