Durgam and Subha Chakrapani Family Trust Medal

About

Durgam and Subha Chakrapani Family Trust Medal for the PhD programme at the Department of Robert Bosch Centre for the Cyber-Physical System has been instituted by alumnus Dr Durgam Chakrapani through an endowment to IISC.

Entitlements

• Medal and certificate presented during the convocation ceremony

Durgam Chakrapani pursued his Master’s in foundry Engineering at the Indian Institute of Sciences (1962-64), after graduating with a B.E. (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Madras University viz P.S.G College of Technology, Combatore. Following graduation at IISc., he was a founding partner and managing director of a nonferrous foundry and builders hardware manufacturer in Salem, his native town (’64-69). He was selected to participate in postgraduate training in ductile iron, malleable iron, and steel casting foundries in Leipzig, Magdeburg, and Dresden (in former East Germany) ’64-66.
He joined the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana campus as a research assistant to pursue a Ph.D. in Metallurgy and Material Science. (’69-’74). After graduation, he served as the manager of the corrosion control laboratory at the University of Illinois and continued post-doctoral research. (’75-’76).
In 1976, he joined the consulting engineering and applied research company cofounded in mid-1940s in Portland, Oregon by a former University of Illinois graduate as metallurgical/corrosion scientist and progressed to become Director, Vice President, and for the final thirty years as its President prior to his retirement in 2008. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the states of Oregon, Washington, and California. He is a member of numerous professional bodies in the fields of metallurgy, material sciences, corrosion, electrochemistry, consulting engineering, and management. He has authored/co-authored over seventy-five publications in peer-reviewed journals, and presented papers at several international conferences in Europe, UK, Japan, India, and USA. He is the recipient of the Jacquet-Lucas Gold Medal in 2001, sponsored by ASM.
He is a founding member and past president of Kalakendra, a performing arts organization in Portland, Oregon which is in its fourth decade offering outstanding artists to a growing population of Indian Americans and interested populace in Oregon. He served as a panel member at the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington DC during the GW Bush administration.
He is a founding Charter member and served on the board of TIE-Oregon, an incubator/investor for start-up companies which is in its second decade of successful presence in Oregon. He has invested in over a dozen start-up companies with several successful exits.
He is enjoying his retirement years golfing, investing in real estate/stock market, traveling internationally/domestically, and spending time with grandchildren.
Subha Chakrapani, the life partner of Durgam celebrated their 55th Anniversary in May 2022. She is a founding partner and MD of a jewellery business specializing in high-carat gold and diamond jewellery hand-crafted from various regions of India, serving an ever-expanding Asian population. Thanks to Durgam’s Dad, a well-known jeweller in Salem, she inherited the skillset.
Over the years Subha and Durgam have been actively involved in organizing communal activities, music groups, housing/ hosting visiting artists, and philanthropy.