Prof. KC James Raju and Prof. Surajit Dhara, Faculty of Physics, University of Hyderabad (UoH), have been named the 7th Visitor (President of India) Awards 2021 for Technology Development Visitor Award and Research Visitor Award (Physical Sciences) respectively.
This is the first time two UoH professors have been selected for the award in the same year. Previously, one faculty member was awarded in 2018 and 2020. BJ Rao, vice-chancellor of the university, said it was a historic moment for a UoH faculty member to receive two visitor awards in the same year, as did the Faculty of Physics.
Prof. Raju completed his Ph.D. at IIT Madras and won the best paper award in the process. During his PhD, he developed microwave dielectric resonators for DRDO. Joined the school in 1996 and became the first teacher of the Department of Electronics of the School of Physics. The project later developed into CASEST under the School of Physics in 2014. He has also received the prestigious Abdul Kalam National Scholarship for Technological Innovation from the Indian Academy of Engineering for 2021-22.
Dr Dhara received his Ph.D. from the Raman Institute, Bangalore. He has conducted creative research and made outstanding contributions in the emerging and diverse fields of liquid crystal science and technology. He has been selected for the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Science and Technology Award 2020.
The President of India, who is a visitor to Central Universities, presents the Visitor Awards annually to promote healthy competition among universities and inspire them to adopt best practices from around the world in their pursuit of excellence.