Guruswami Ravichandran - Biography#
Guruswami (Ravi) Ravichandran is the Otis Booth Leadership Chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS) and John E. Goode, Jr. Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He received his B.E. (Honors) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Madras in 1981, Sc.M. in Engineering and Applied Mathematics in 1983 and 1984, respectively, and Ph.D. in Solid Mechanics and Structures with minors in Materials Science and Applied Mathematics from Brown University in 1986. After a year of post-doctoral work at Caltech, he joined the faculty of the University of California, San Diego as an Assistant Professor in 1987 and returned to Caltech in 1990 as a faculty member. He has held distinguished visiting scholar appointments at Ecole Polytechnique (CNRS Senior Scientist), Tokyo Institute of Technology (Chair in International Cooperation) and Indian Institute of Science (Aditya Birla Chair).
Ravichandran is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, andforeign member of the International Academy of Engineering and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was awarded Doctor honoris causa (Dhc) by Paul Verlaine University. He was named Chevalier de l'ordre des Palmes Academiques by the Republic of France. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Academy of Mechanics (AAM), and Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM). He is a recipient of Presidential Young Investigator award from the National Science Foundation. He received the Warner T. Koiter Medal from ASME, A.C. Eringen Medal from SES, Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award from Pi Tau Sigma and ASME. His other awards and honors include William M. Murray and B. J. Lazan awards from SEM, and Distinguished Alumni Award from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy. He has delivered numerous plenary and keynote lectures, and named honor lectures including the Midwest Mechanics Lecture (10 Universities) and the Southwest Mechanics Lecture (4 Universities). He received best paper awards from ASME, BSSM, and SEM for his significant scientific and technical contributions.
Ravichandran has provided distinguished service in leadership positions and contributed significantly to education. He served as the 6 th Director of the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech (GALCIT) from 2009-2015. During this period, he was the Chair of the Aerospace Historical Society, which annually awards the International von Karman Wings Award. He has served as Option Representative for the graduate Aerospace program and the undergraduate Mechanical Engineering program. He played a key role in developing and administering the dual Masters degree program in mechanics between Ecole Polytechnique and Caltech. This program was recognized by the Institute for International Education with the 2010 Andrew Heiskell Award for innovation in international exchange. He is a past President of the Society for Experimental Mechanics.
Ravichandran is recognized internationally for his contributions to mechanics of materials, with emphasis on dynamic deformation, damage and failure, micro/nano mechanics, wave propagation, composites, active materials, cell mechanics, and experimental methods. His publications and patents have had a significant impact on education, research and industrial practice in engineering sciences, particularly in aerospace, materials and mechanical engineering disciplines. More than 75 graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and visiting researchers trained in his research group occupy prominent ositions around the world in academia, government and industry.
