Rama Govindarajan is an Indian scientist specialized in the field of

fluid dynamics In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...

. She previously worked at the Engineering Mechanics Unit of the

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) is a multidisciplinary research institute located at Jakkur, Bangalore, India. It was established by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, to ...

from 1998 to 2012 and as a professor at the

TIFR Hyderabad Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Hyderabad (or TIFR HYD) is a public research institution in Hyderabad, India. Then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the institute on 19 October 2010. It has operated on ...

Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences from 2012 to 2016. As of 2019 she is working as a professor at International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS),

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. Govindarajan is a recipient of the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-la ...

for the year 2007.

Education

Govindarajan did her undergraduate degree (B.Tech.) in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

from IIT

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

in 1984. She got her master's degree (M.S.) in chemical engineering, from

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, United States in 1986. Her doctoral degree (Ph.D.)

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was on the subject of

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

from the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute wa ...

Bangalore in 1994. She worked in post-doctoral research in the Department of Aeronautics at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in 1994.

Career

Govindarajan started her career as scientist in the Computational and Theoretical fluid dynamics division of

National Aerospace Laboratories The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) is India's first and largest aerospace research firm established by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Delhi in 1959. The firm closely operates with HAL, DRDO, and ISRO and ha ...

, Bangalore, and worked there for a decade from 1988 to 1998. She became a faculty member at the

Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) is a multidisciplinary research institute located at Jakkur, Bangalore, India. It was established by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, to ...

and worked in that position between 1998 and 2012. From 2012 to 2016, she was a professor at the TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences. She has published a large number of technical papers in her field of specialization of fluid physics and has also published a few books. Her main research interests relate to instability and transition to turbulence of shear flows,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

of interfacial flows.

Awards

Of the many awards that she has received so far, the most notable is the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award for the year 2007 for her "original contributions to the understanding of instabilities in shear and non-parallel flows, flow entrainment, turbulent transition and small-scale hydraulic jumps". She was also awarded with the Young Scientist award of 1987 and Outstanding Scientist award of 1996 given by the

. She received the CNR Rao Oration award of 2004 at

JNCASR The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) is a multidisciplinary research institute located at Jakkur, Bangalore, India. It was established by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, to ...

Bangalore.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Govindarajan, Rama Living people Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Mathematical Science Academic staff of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Indian chemical engineers Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2014 Indian women chemists 20th-century Indian chemists Scientists from Hyderabad, India Indian Institute of Science alumni 20th-century Indian engineers 20th-century Indian women scientists 21st-century Indian women scientists Indian fluid dynamicists 20th-century Indian physicists Indian women physicists Women scientists from Andhra Pradesh 21st-century Indian chemists 21st-century Indian physicists 21st-century Indian engineers Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Engineering Science Fellows of the American Physical Society