By Nurul Islam Laskar, MMN,
GUWAHATI, JUNE 2: Dr Paruchuri Gangadhar Rao took over as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Science & Technology Meghalaya (USTM) on Monday. His association with the institutions of ERDF is not new as he was involved in several international seminars and projects taken up by USTM, RIST etc in recent times. Till recently he was the CSIR-Technical Consultant at CSIR-North East Institute of Science & Technology (CSIR-NEIST) at Jorhat, Assam, formerly known as RRL, Jorhat, where he was also the Director of the Institute from 2002 to 2012.
Born on December 31, 1950, PG Rao obtained his B Tech in Chemical Engineering from REC (NIT), Warangal in 1974, and M Tech in Chemical Plant Design from IIT, Madras in 1976. He obtained his Ph D from IIT, Madras in 1995 in the area of Polymer Engineering. Dr Rao occupied various positions at CSIR-NEIST and CSIR-CLRI, before attaining the position of Director.
Dr Rao has specialised in chemical process design & development. He was involved in providing basic engineering packages to eight processes, five of which were commercialised. At Central Leather Research Institute, Madras, Dr Rao’s significant scientific contributions were in the area of process development for leather chemicals, design of leather chemical plants, modernisation of leather industries etc. Dr Rao was honorary faculty at Anna University, member of the Academic Councils at Tezpur and Assam Universities in the recent past.
At an austere function organised at USTM, on the outskirts of Guwahati, to welcome Dr Rao in his new post, Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor USTM expressed the hope that the wisdom and vast experience of the new VC would usher in a new era of learning and research in the University which would be a harbinger for the development of the region.
In response, Dr Rao said, “I have had many offers from across the country to take up lucrative positions but I chose USTM because my heart lives in the North East.” Rao was all praise for the Chancellor of the University, Mahbubul Hoque, whom he termed as a ‘model edupreneur’ and said while major universities in the West are being run as entrepreneurships in education, USTM is perhaps the first of this kind in the country. Addressing the top functionaries of the University Rao said, “I want all of you to get into a mission mood and serve the people with all dedication. If USTM thrives, we all shall thrive and the country will be benefited by our good work.”
Dr RK Sarma, Pro VC of USTM was also present on the occasion.
Speaking exclusively to Muslim Mirror on the sidelines of the day’s event, Mahbubul Hoque informed that the Federation of Aligarh Alumni Association (FAAA) has invited him to attend the XIIIth Annual Convention of the Association in Chicago from June 20 to 22, 2014. Aligarh Alumni Associations from Arizona, Atlanta, Birmingham, California, Chicago, Cleveland, Colorado, Michigan, New England, New Jersey, New York, Houston Texas, San Antonia Texas and Virginia would be converging at the Convention. In a letter addressed to Hoque, Dr Saif Sheikh, President Elect of FAAA, stated, “Several of the member organisations of FAAA are involved in supporting education of economically deprived population of India. These member organisations will present their work at the Convention. You will get an opportunity to learn about various programmes and initiatives that FAAA and member organisations have taken for the betterment of education in India.”