The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) has instituted a chair in honour of Prof V Balakrishnan, its former faculty and a distinguished Indian theoretical physicist, that will focus on research and teaching in the areas of natural sciences, mathematics, and theoretical foundation of engineering.
Prof Balakrishnan’s expertise spans several fields and areas, including particle physics, many-body theory, and the mechanical behaviour of solids, dynamical systems, stochastic processes, and quantum dynamics.
“He is an accomplished researcher who has made important contributions to the theory of anelasticity, continuous-time random walks, and recurrences in dynamical systems,” the IIT-M said.
The chair was endowed by Satish Ramakrishna, an IIT Madras alumnus who is currently the Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer of Two Sigma Investments.
"Prof. V Balakrishnan is one of the greatest teachers and researchers who had served in IIT Madras. He Is also the most loved, respected, and adored faculty of the Institute. I congratulate Prof. Sarit Kumar Das for being the first occupant of this illustrious Chair,” Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT-M, said.
Ramakrishna said Balakrishnan is intensely analytical and is a great communicator of a rational approach to life, which is an approach followed by intelligent and purposeful people. The occupants of the Chair have a high mark to aspire to, he added.
In his address, Prof Balakrishnan said there has been a tremendous change in the Institute in the last 40 years. “The rankings have improved, thanks to the efforts of the various stakeholders of the Institute,” he added.
The first head of the chair, Prof Sarit Kumar Das, is a researcher whose work varies from a wide range of heat transfer applications such as nanofluids, biological heat transfer microfluidics, and nanoparticle mediated drug delivery in cancer cells.