On Sunday, 9th July 2023, we Aryaanites had the golden opportunity to interact with a
world renowned personality, Prof J N Reddy, one of the most distinguished researcher
and professor of structural mechanics in the field of engineering!
Prof Reddy has been the recipient of several significant awards including the
Timoshenko award (which is regarded as highest international award in the field of
applied mechanics), ASME award for eminently distinguished engineering achievement
and several other honours and medals too. He is soon to receive the prestigious IACM
Congress Medal (Newton-Gauss Medal) which honors individuals who have made
outstanding, sustained contributions in the field of computational mechanics.
Prof started the session by introducing himself and telling us about his humble
beginnings right from childhood to his time at Oklahoma state, where he said he got
many opportunities that helped shape his career. As a student at the Oklahoma State
University he was intrigued by computers which sparked his interest in that line of work.
He later joined prof J T Oden for his PhD at the university of Alabama. He got a job at
the Lockheed missiles and space company as a research scientist but he was always
drawn towards academics.
Prof said that his passion for teaching and research is what led him to write books for
young students. As of today he has written over 24 books and 800 journal papers! As a
student myself it was truly touching to hear about how he enjoys devoting time to teach
and work with young people in research. Prof Reddy is really a gem to all the aspiring
engineers and scientists around the world!
The fact that his sole purpose of writing books was to facilitate learning in others is
truly inspiring.
Prof also told us about some general things related to the world of engineering and gave
us students much needed advice on being a good student and engineer. This has only
made us work harder to achieve our goals! We all learnt the important lesson that the
ability to learn, and learn well, is what plays a crucial role in the life of an engineer.
We were so lucky to get an insight into the versatile and complex field of structures!
Prof introduced us to a powerful tool used in the industry- The Finite Element Method,
which is used commonly to solve engineering problems.
“Be passionate about what you do and devote sufficient time to learn, teach and devote”
Then prof answered various questions posed by the listeners flawlessly and with
extreme clarity. Overall the interactive session was truly enlightening. Prof has been a
fantastic speaker and motivator to us!
We are grateful to VPD sir and Tanmay sir for giving us this incredible opportunity to
interact with Prof Reddy. It has truly made us reimagine the world of engineering and
mechanics!
-Soha Santosh Sarmalker
Class 12, MAHSS