20. Rajeshwari Chatterjee (1922 -2010)

 


 

Mrs. Rajeshwari Chatterjee (1922-2010) was a mathematician and electrical engineer, one of the first engineers in India. Her special subjects were electromagnetic theory, microwave technology and radio engineering. She was the first engineer from Karnataka and to complete her Ph.D. She has made many contributions to antenna design in aircraft and spacecraft. World War II ended.  After returning from abroad, she worked as a professor at  the Indian Institute of  Science, Bangalore. She continued her social work with the Indian Association of Women Studies.

 

Rajeshwari was born on January 24, 1922 in Karnataka. Rajeshwari's schooling was at a special English school founded by her grandmother, Kamalamma Dasappa, the first woman graduates in Mysore. After school, she had planned to study history, but she chose Physics and Mathematics as her subjects in college. And graduated from Bangalore Central College with B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. (Mathematics). In both these graduation classes, she  got first rank from Mysore University. As a result, she was awarded Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar Award,  MT Narayana Iyengar Prize and the Walters Memorial Prize. In 1943, she joined the Indian Institute of Science in the Department of Electrical Engineering. She was interested in doing research under Prof. CV Raman but due to some technical reasons her wish was not fulfilled.

After the Second World War, the British formed an interim cabinet to hand over power to India. It has been decided to give scholarship to study abroad to study promising students. Rajeshwari applied for a scholarship for higher studies in the field of electronics and its practical applications. She was interested in studying at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA. In the 1950s, there were many obstacles for women from India to study abroad. However, in July 1947, a month before India's independence, she sailed to America. She reached there after 30 days of travel. Rajeshwari holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan. As per the instructions of the Government of India, she also received special training in radio frequency measurements at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington DC, USA for eight months. After that, she returned to the University of Michigan in 1949 and continued her studies again with a scholarship. In 1953, she researched under Prof. William Gould Dow and received her Ph.D.

Professional career in India

After graduation, she returned to India in 1953. Joined the Indian Institute of Science as a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Communication. She taught electromagnetic theory, electron tube circuits, microwave technology and radio engineering. In the same year, she married Sishir Kumar Chatterjee, who was a teacher there. Then they both continued their microwave research. They also built a laboratory which was the first microwave laboratory in India.

In the same year, Rajeshwari was appointed as the head of the Electrical Communication Department. She has guided  20 students for  Ph.D.  She has published more than 100 research papers and seven authoritative books. After leaving there in 1982, she participated in many social activities. One of them was the Indian Association for the Education of Women.

Books

• Elements of Microwave Engineering

• Antenna Theory and Practice

• A Thousand Streams: A Personal History

• Dielectric and Dielectric Loaded Antennas

• Advanced Microwave Engineering: Special Advanced Topics

• Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: The Whole World Is But One Family: Real Stories of Some Women and Men of India

• Antennas for Information Super Skyways: An Exposition on Outdoor and Indoor Wireless Antenna, co-authored by Perambur S. Neelakanta[10]

Family matters

Rajeshwari's father Sivaramaja was an advocate in Nanchangad, Mysore. Grandmother Kamalamma Dasappa was one of the earliest graduates of Karnataka. Rajeshwari and her husband Sishirkumar Chatterjee have a daughter. She, Indira Chatterjee is now a professor in the Department of Electrical & Biomedical at the University of Nevada, USA.

Awards and recognitions

• Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar Award for first rank in the BSc (Hons)

• M T Narayana Iyengar prize and the Waters Memorial prize for the first rank in M. Sc.

• Mountbatten prize for the best paper from the Institute of Electrical and Radio Engineering (UK)

• J.C Bose Memorial prize for the best research paper from the Institution of Engineers

• Ramlal Wadhwa Award for the best research and teaching work from the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers.

Professor Rajeshwari passed away on 3 September 2010 at the age of 88.

Reference

https://connect.iisc.ac.in/2017/05/remembering-rajeswari-chatterjee-iiscs-first-woman-engineer/

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