This is what I was trying to say. Its a matter of pride and fact that Indians worked hard to be where they are not due to some
'ayaram gaya ram'.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=47126651
Nagi Naganathan is dean Univ of Toledo Engg
RICHARD SPRINGER
[ THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2003 06:30:25 AM ]
After a nationwide search and interview process, the University of Toledo has appointed "Nagi" Ganapathy Naganathan, currently interim dean of the university's college of engineering, to the position on a permanent basis.
"It's a good feeling being selected after a very rigorous process," Naganathan said in a phone interview from Toledo, Ohio.
On the University of Toledo faculty since 1986, he is a tenured professor of mechanical, industrial and manufacturing engineering. Naganathan served as founding chair of the mechanical, industrial, and manufacturing engineering department from 1995-2000, despite being the youngest member of the department of mechanical and industrial engineering when the post was created.
Named interim dean in November 2000, Naganathan, 45, also serves as
director of the Dynamic & Smart Systems Research laboratory at the university.
His research interests include smart material systems and structures, robotics and microcomputer applications in electromechanical systems. The author of more than 90 publications, he has served as a consultant for companies including General Motors, Dana, Proctor and Gamble, Eaton and Reed Air Products.
"Under the interim leadership of Dr Naganathan, the College of Engineering has made great strides in community engagement," said Alan Goodridge, provost and vice-president for academic affairs at the University of Toledo. "I anticipate we will see great things in the future with Nagi at the helm."
Naganathan said that the University of Toledo, which enrolls about 21,000 students annually, has an excellent reputation in academic circles, but he intends to be an evangelist to get the word out across the US. "We want (to attain) a national prominence for all the right reasons. There are good things going on here."
"The College of Engineering has a great opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of northwest Ohio," he said in a statement. He will earn an annual salary of $163,000.
Born in Chennai, Naganathan grew up in the "city of temples," Kumbakonam, in Tamil Nadu. He graduated from Regional Engineering College, Trichy, under the umbrella of the University of Madras, with a B. E. in mechanical engineering.
Viewing himself as "just one in a zillion (in India) with a bachelor's in engineering," he passed the entrance exam and enrolled at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Two weeks into the program, he received word that he was admitted to the master's program at Clarkson University, New York, so he headed to the US in 1979.
"I am the youngest of nine (siblings). I have four brothers and four sisters. All stayed in India. I knew that I could not do anything new. Being the youngest, my parents had seen everything, so I decided to go to the (US)"
Naganathan received an MS in mechanical engineering from Clarkson in 1981 and a PhD in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University in 1986.
A key mentor in his career, he said, was the late Indian American engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati, Abe Soni, who died in February 2000 after a heart attack.
Soni was not only Naganathan's PhD advisor, but also helped him with public speaking and other areas associated with his thesis. "I miss him very much. Next to my parents, he was the greatest influence in my life."
Naganathan's current products include the design, analysis and experimentation for smart material systems and devices involving
piezoceramics and magnetorheological fluids, with applications to vibration control in automobiles. The National Science Foundation and several automakers are sponsoring the research.
He has secured more than $2.6 million of sponsor funding for the university's research programs. Naganathan was also named the 2003 Engineer of the Year by the Toledo Society of Professional Engineers and is a recipient of the University of Toledo's Outstanding Teacher award.
Even while he was acting department chair, he continued to teach at least one course, a "senior design clinic," for graduate students to do special projects for private industry, a program he co-founded.
The class forms into a mini-consulting team that works for 15 weeks on products, many of them for the disabled, such as modifying lawn tractors for use by handicapped people. The University of Toledo completes 15-20 such projects each year. Naganathan also recently joined the disabled committee of the local Rotary Club.
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