It was a different and interesting initiative: the students and admirers of the renowned metallurgist Dr E G Ramachandran raising $100,000 (around Rs 65 lakh) to set up a chair in his name. In a matter of weeks the appeal for contributions met with overwhelming response.
Led by B Muthuraman, former Vice Chairman, Tata Steel, several well-known personalities recalled the passion, knowledge and other excellent qualities of their guru EGR.
EGR obtained his PhD from the University of Sheffield at the age of 22. He had served at the Department of Metallurgy, IISc, Bangalore, as a faculty at the National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur for nine years and Prof of Metallurgy at IIT-Madras during 1961-85. His students recalled EGR inspiring generations of metallurgists and establishing the Metallurgy Division in the Indian Institute of Metals.
The sixth EGR distinguished lecture series was presented by Prof K A Padmanabhan, Member, Research and Innovation Advisory Board, TCS. In his lucid presentation Dr Padmanabhan traced the remarkable developments in the manufacture of steel.
