OBITUARY

Prof. B.L. Dhoopar (1933-2016) Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Late Prof. Bhushan Lall Dhoopar was born on 4th June 1933 at Khaur, Dist: Attock, West Punjab (now in Pakistan). He obtained the Bachelors degree (BSc Eng) in Mechanical Engineering from IT-BHU in 1957 and immediately after that, joined the same Department as a Lecturer. While teaching at IT-BHU, he was on study leave to complete the MTech degree from IIT Kharagpur in 1961. He joined the Mechanical Engineering Department of IIT Kanpur in 1963 as a Lecturer. Subsequently, he became Assistant Professor in 1968, Associate Professor in 1970 and Professor in 1973. Before becoming the Associate Professor, he was on study leave to complete his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970.
After joining the Institute, Prof. Dhoopar was very active in the formulation of the academic programs and setting up the laboratories of the Mechanical Engineering Departmental in particular and of the Institute in general. His contribution to the formulation of a core course on Engineering Design and a 3-course sequence on Mechanical Design is very significant. Prof. Dhoopar was a very dedicated teacher. He taught both UG and PG courses in the areas of Solid Mechanics and Vibrations and UG courses on Design. Even though he was a strict disciplinarian inside the class-room, he was very friendly with students outside the class room. Many students (even from other departments) used to approach him for guidance about their academic as well as personal problems.
Prof. Dhoopar worked in the area of vibrations and composite materials. He guided several PhD and MTech students and published regularly in journals and conference proceedings, both international and Indian. He was an active member of the Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ISTAM) and its President during the year 1987.
Prof. Dhoopar contributed significantly to the senate proceedings of the Institute in his capacity as the Senate Coordinator, Senate Parliamentarian and Chairperson of important Senate Committees like the Educational Policy Committee, Rules Committee, Honorary Doctorate Committee etc. He held some of these positions on more than one occasion. He was the Head of the Department during 1978-1980 and the Dean of Student Affairs sometime later. From 1980 till 1993 (when he retired from the Institute), the Departmental faculty often looked upto to Prof Dhoopar for advice in steering the Department in the right direction.
Prof. Dhoopar was very active socially both within the Campus as well as in Kanpur City. He helped several staff members of the Campus.
After retirement, he was the Chairman, Board of Governors of NIT Kurukshetra and Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Prof. Dhoopar was a man of principle and sacrificed his personal comforts for the sake of his principles. He passed away at 8 PM on 6th November, 2016. He is survived by his wife and three sons. Institute mourns this loss of our esteemed colleague.

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OBITUARY

Dr. Rai Mahesh Kumar Sinha (1945-2016) Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Dr. Rai Mahesh Kumar Sinha was born in Gorakhpur on 25th October 1945. He completed his B.Sc. from Gorakhpur University, M.Sc. from Allahabad University, M.Tech from IIT Kharagpur and Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. He joined IIT Kanpur as Assistant Professor on 16th December, 1975 and became full Professor on 1st January 1986.

Dr. Sinha's research work was widely respected in the areas of language technology and applied artificial intelligence for Indian languages. In early 70s, he was one of the first persons to work onwork on Devanagari OCR. In late 70s and early 80s, he worked on Indian script enabling and their computer processing. He is the originator of the multi-lingual GIST technology / IDC, ISCII coding, INSCRIPT keyboarding and several other Indian language technology. Starting late 80s, he has been working on computer processing of Indian languages. He is the originator of AnglaBharati and AnuBharati technology for translation from English to Indian languages and vice-versa. He was a member of TDIL working group, National Translation Mission Advisory, Technical Advisory Committee of CDAC, Standardization committee, Associate UNESCO chair in ORBICOM. He is founding president of Society for Machine Aids for Translation and Communication (SMATAC), Fellow IETE and Senior Member IEEE.He has been a visiting professor at Michigan State University, Wayne State University, INRS Quebec and Asian Institute of Technology. He is regarded as a stalwart in the area of Indian language processing.

Academicians, fellow researchers in Indian Natural Language Processing and colleagues at IIT Kanpurdeeply mourn his passing.

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OBITUARY

Prof. K. Sri Ram ( ) Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Prof. K. Sri Ram graduated from BHU (MSc Physics) in 1956 and joined DAE subsequently. He worked with Dr Raja Ramanna before going to US in 1960. After his PhD from University of Florida (Nuclear Engineering), he taught at the University of Cincinnati (for four years) and returned to IITK in 1970 as a faculty in ME.  During his years at IITK, he inspired many students to take up higher studies.

He was the architect of NET Programme initiated in 1974 and he nurtured it as its Head for 14 years. The nuclear radiation laboratory (at IITK) was the first of its kind in the country outside DAE.  The curriculum of NET PG programme was designed by him and it served as a benchmark in the country. The DAE-IITK MoU recognized it as equivalent to BARC Training School resulting in NET students joining BARC directly.

Prof Sri Ram was the prime mover of the building, Central Nuclear Laboratories, where Van-de-Graff unit and NET programme were housed for many years. It was the state-of-the-art building when it was built in early 1970s.

He served as a member of IITK Governing Board. He served in several DAE and IAEA Committees. He visited Iran as an IAEA expert and visited their nuclear facilities. He was a Visiting Professor at Ohio State University and University of Cincinnati. He also was L&T Chair Professor at IIT Bombay.

Prof. Sri Ram retired in 1997 and settled in his native place, Hyderabad, since then. He passed away on October 14 at 5 AM. He is survived by his wife and two sons. Institute mourns this loss of our esteemed colleague.

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OBITUARY

Prof. Singamsetti Surya Rao (1938-2016) Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Singamsetti Surya Rao was born on 8th of June 1938 in a farmers' family in a small village called Immadivarappadu near Amalapuram in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.

After studying in ZPH School, Amalapuram, and St. Joseph College, he completed his B.E. (Civil Engg.) in 1958 from JNTU College of Engg., Kakinada; and M.E. (Power Engg. & Hydraulics) in 1960 from IISc Bangalore. Then he went to the University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA and completed his Ph.D. in Mechanics and Hydraulics in 1965. During his PhD, he worked with Prof. Hunter Rouse, who is a very well-known scientist for his research on the mechanics of fluid turbulence.

Prof. Surya Rao joined as a faculty member in the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur in 1965. He became professor in 1980 and served as the Head of the Department from December, 1994 to December, 1997. He worked as a Visiting Scientist at the Delft Hydraulics Laboratory's de Voorst Lab in The Netherlands for 2 years during 1975-76. Prof. S. Surya Rao published numerous articles in international and national journals; presented several papers in conferences; and guided four PhD and many master’s theses. He also conducted short-term courses on Hydraulic Structures under the QIP program.

His major contribution to the Department of Civil Engineering was the development of the Hydraulics Laboratory during the formative years of the department. He retired in 1998 and then worked for ten years at the Gitam University, Vizag campus from 1998 to 2008. He also published a book entitled Hydraulic Structures recently.

He was living in Vijaywada with his daughter when he breathed his last on 31st July 2016 at about 5:30 am. He is survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter. He was a principled man, dedicated to his work/profession, and was a very kind hearted individual. May his soul rest in peace.

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