Predhiman Krishan Kaw (15 January 1948 – 18 June 2017) was an Indian

plasma Plasma or plasm may refer to: Science * Plasma (physics), one of the four fundamental states of matter * Plasma (mineral), a green translucent silica mineral * Quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics Biology * Blood pla ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

. He had been the founding director of the

Institute for Plasma Research The Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) is an autonomous physics research institute in India. The institute is involved in research in aspects of plasma science including basic plasma physics, research on magnetically confined hot plasmas and ...

and served the institute as the director from 1986 to 2012.

Biography

Kaw was born on 15 January 1948 in

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

(Jammu and Kashmir), India. He matriculated from

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a State university in Jalandhar, Punjab * Panjab University, a public collegia ...

(1958) and completed his M.Sc. from Agra University in 1964. He received

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi is a public institute of technology located in New Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 IITs created to be Centres of Excellence for training, research and development in science, engineering and technolo ...

in 1966 under Supervision of Prof. M. S. Sodha, and was the first Ph.D. from the

. Kaw received his Ph.D. at the age of 18, following which he completed his PostDoc at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He had been the founding director of the

and served the institute as the director from 1986 to 2012. He was awarded the prestigious

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

award, India's fourth-highest honor, in 1985 and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 1986. On 28 December 2016, he was awarded the Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Prize of Plasma Physics for his seminal contributions in the areas of laser-plasma interactions, strongly coupled dusty plasmas, and turbulence, nonlinear effect in magnetic fusion devices. He is also a recipient of the 2008

TWAS Prize This is a list of recipients of the TWAS Prize, awarded annually by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Summary Agricultural Sciences Biology Chemistry Earth Sciences Engineering Sciences Mathematics Medical Sc ...

Professional details

Selected articles and talks

* PK Kaw
"Fusion power, who needs it?" (pdf format)
Current Science, 10 July 1993, 65(01) 2

References

External links

Institute for Plasma Research, Gujarat, IndiaPredhiman Kaw, founder of India’s fusion program and former PPPL physicist -- News
1948 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Indian physicists Kashmiri people Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering IIT Delhi alumni People from Srinagar Scientists from Jammu and Kashmir TWAS laureates Indian plasma physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society {{physicist-stub