The Indian Institute of Technology Madras on Thursday launched the ‘Surendra and Dorothie Shah Chair’ for research on sustainable construction. The Chair Professorship is being established with support from Surendra P Shah, a global expert in engineering materials, whose work has become a world standard.
Shah has led the development of new advanced materials, which have become world standards in these fields, and his work revolutionised the way modern concrete is used worldwide, said an IIT press release.
He currently serves as the Presidential Distinguished Professor, University of Texas, and Walter P Murphy Emeritus Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University. Dorothie Shah is the founding President of the Indo American Museum, now called the National Indo American Museum, in Chicago.
“I am looking forward to continuing involvement with the IIT Madras Research Group. It is rightly poised for facing challenges of not only India and the US but global problems. The Group has already started to work on reducing carbon footprint, which affects the whole world,” he added.
K Ramamurthy, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, will be the first occupant of the Surendra and Dorothie Shah Chair.