Rajeshwari Chatterjee
| Rajeshwari Chatterjee | |
|---|---|
 Rajeshwari Chatterjee | |
| Born | 24 January 1922 |
| Died | 3 September 2010 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater |
University of Michigan Indian Institute of Science, Mysore University |
| Occupation | Professor, scientist |
Rajeshwari Chatterjee (24 January 1922 – 3 September 2010)[1][2] was an Indian scientist and an academic. She was the first woman engineer from Karnataka.[1] During her tenure at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, Chatterjee was a professor and later chairperson of the department of Electro-communication Engineering.[2][3]
Early life and education
Chatterjee was born in 1922 in Karnataka. She had her primary education in a "special English school" founded by her grandmother. After finishing her schooling she got admitted into Central College of Bangalore where she earned B.Sc (Hons) and M.Sc degrees in Mathematics.[1] In both these exams she ranked first in the Mysore University. She received Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar Award and M.T. Narayana Iyengar Prize and the Walters Memorial Prize respectively for her performances in the B.Sc and M.Sc examinations.[3]
In 1943, after her M.Sc, she joined the Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bangalore as a Research Student in the then Electrical Technology Department in the area of Communication.[3]
She went to C.V. Raman to work under him. Some sources say that Raman refused to take her stating that Rajeshwari had no degrees in Physics.[4] While others say that he was averse to the idea of having women students.[5]
In 1946, she was selected as a "bright student" by the Government of Delhi and was given a scholarship to go abroad to pursue higher studies and she decided to the United States. In the 1950s it was very difficult for Indian women to go abroad to pursue higher education. But Chatterjee was determined to do so. In July 1947, one month before India's independence, she started her journey to the USA on a converted troop ship SS Marine Adder and reached there after 30 days.[4] In the USA, she was admitted to the University of Michigan and obtained her Master’s degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering. Then following the guidelines of the contract she had with the Government of India, she underwent an eight months' practical training in the Division of Radio Frequency Measurements at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington D.C. After the completion of the training she went back to the University of Michigan and resumed her studies. In early 1953 she obtained her Ph.D degree under the guidance of Professor William Gould Dow.[3]
Career in India
In 1953, after obtaining the Ph.D degree, she returned to India and joined the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering at IISc as a faculty member. In the same year she married Sisir Kumar Chatterjee, a member of the faculty of IISc. After their marriage, she and her husband started research in the area of Microwave Engineering, the first such research in India. They soon built a microwave research laboratory.[3]
In the same period, Chatterjee became a professor and was selected for the position of Chairman in the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering. Her main teaching were electromagnetic theory, electron tube circuits and microwave technology. She was very active in research too. In the next few years she mentored 20 Ph.D students, wrote over 100 research papers and seven books related to microwave engineering and antennae.[3]
The books written by her are -
- Elements of Microwave Engineering, by Rajeshwari Chatterjee
- Antenna Theory And Practice, by Rajeshwari Chatterjee
- A Thousand Streams: A Personal History, by Rajeshwari Chatterjee
- Dielectric And Dielectric Loaded Antennas, by Rajeshwari Chatterjee
- Advanced Microwave Engineering: Special Advanced Topics, by Rajeshwari Chatterjee
- ·Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: The Whole World Is But One Family: Real Stories of Some Women and Men of India, by Rajeshwari Chatterjee
- Antennas for Information Super Skyways: An Exposition on Outdoor and Indoor Wireless Antennas , by Perambur S. Neelakanta, Rajeshwari Chatterjee[6]
After retirement from the IISc, she worked on social programmes, chiefly with the Indian Association for Women’s Studies.[7]
Personal life
Rajeshwari's father,B.M.Shivaramajah,was an advocate in Nanjangud.[8] Her grandmother, Kamalamma Dasappa, was one of the first women graduates in the earstwhile state of Mysore.[7] Rajeswari married Sisir Kumar Chatterjee, a faculty of IISc in 1953. The couple had a daughter Indira Chatterjee, who is now a Professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, USA.Rajeswari married Sisir Kumar Chatterjee, a faculty of IISc in 1953.
Awards
For her contribution and works in the field of Microwave engineering, she won many awards. Some of the notable awards and honours are—[3]
- Mountbatten prize for the best paper from the Institute of Electrical and Radio Engineering (UK)
- J.C Bose Memorial prize for the best research paper from the Institution of Engineers
- Ramlal Wadhwa Award for the best research and teaching work from the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers.
References
- 1 2 3 A. Jayaram (18 April 2002). "The nuts and bolts of a superachiever". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- 1 2 D.P. Sen Gupta (1 October 2010). "On her own terms". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Rajeshwari Chatterjee Bio" (PDF).
- 1 2 Gupta, D. p Sen; Gupta, D. p Sen (2010-10-01). "On her own terms". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- ↑ "Remembering Rajeswari Chatterjee, IISc's First Woman Engineer – Connect with IISc". connect.iisc.ac.in. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- ↑ "Rajeswari Chatterjee". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- 1 2 Shashikala, K. "Lucky to be where I am, Rajeshwari Chatterjee" (PDF).
- ↑ "The Hindu : The nuts and bolts of a superachiever". www.thehindu.com. Retrieved 2018-01-20.