Sitaram Rao Valluri (June 25, 1924 – January 23, 2019) was an engineer and scientist noted for his work in metal fatigue.''Metal Fatigue''
(1962) Engineering and Science 25(9), 12-13. He completed his doctorate in 1954 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 ...

with a dissertation under Ernest SechlerValluri, S.R. (1954
''Some studies in the fundamental parameters of fatigue''
PhD dissertation. and stayed thereafter to continue his research work. In 1963, he won the

Wright Brothers Medal The Wright Brothers Medal was conceived of in 1924 by the Dayton Section of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the SAE established it in 1927 to recognize individuals who have made notable contributions in the engineering, design, developmen ...

with George Bockrath and James Glassco for a paper on the relationship between crack propagation and fatigue in metals.Valluri, S.R., Glassco, J.B., and Bockrath, G.E. (1963
Further Considerations of a Theory of Crack Propagation in Metal Fatigue''
SAE Technical Paper 630386, doi:10.4271/630386. He later returned to India and joined the Applied Mechanics Department of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras where he distinguished himself as a teacher, an outstanding researcher and a pre-eminent authority in the field of metal fatigue. He was invited to take over as the Director of National Aeronautical laboratory in Bangalore, later renamed as CSIR- National Aerospace Laboratories to succeed the first director Dr.P. Nilakantan. During his tenure for 19 years, he transformed NAL into a vibrant force in Indian Aeronautics. He was also instrumental in framing the new recruitment and assessment scheme of CSIR, popularly known as Valluri /Varadarajan Committee which recommended a new policy of recruitment and assessment in the CSIR laboratories in the year 1981. This was widely acknowledged as one of the most significant steps which led to the arrest of attrition of bright scientific personnel from advanced scientific institutions in India. He played a major role in the conception of the light combat aircraft (LCA) program in 1980s and briefly served as the first Director General of the Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore, the nodal agency for the design and development of LCA in 1985. Dr. S.R. Valluri figures in the IISc wall of fame and in the list of recipients of the

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, ...

, awarded by Government of India and the

Vasvik industrial research award VASVIK Industrial Research Award is an Indian award, instituted to recognize and promote excellence in industrial research in the areas of science and technology. The award is given annually to individuals or groups and carries a citation and a ca ...

(1976). He was the founder President of the IISc Alumni association in 1976 and an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1971.

References

External links

*
directory page
at the Indian Academy of Sciences
Sitaram Valluri Honorary Citation
from National Aerospace Laboratories 1924 births 2019 deaths California Institute of Technology alumni 21st-century American engineers Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering 20th-century Indian engineers {{Engineer-stub