Ajit Kumar Chattopadhyay

Ajit K. Chattopadhyay (F'91) received the BE degree in Electrical Engineering from Calcutta University (B E College), India, the M. Tech degree in Electrical Machines from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur and the Ph.D degree from the University of Manchester (UMIST), England in 1958, 1963 and 1971, respectively.

After working for more than one year in Guest Keen Williams Ltd., Howrah, India and for sometime in the Indian Standards Institution, New Delhi, he joined the Electrical Engineering Department of IIT Kharagpur in 1960, became a Professor in 1976 and the Head of the Department during 1992-95. During 1969-71, he was engaged in research work in the field of Thyristor AC Drives at UMIST, Manchester as a Colombo Plan Study Fellow. In 1972, he established a Power Electronics Laboratory at IIT, Kharagpur, and pioneered M. Tech course and Ph.D research programs in this field. He has supervised 11 Ph.D theses, 25 M.Tech Projects and authored/coauthored over 110 publications (including 37 in IEEE Transactions/Conference Records) in the field of Electrical Machines, Power Electronics and Microprocessor-based Control of DC and AC Drives. He has filed 4 patent applications. He has authored two complete video courses on Machine Drives with Power Electronics.

During 1980-81, he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq. He acted as a consultant-in-charge of several sponsored industrial projects. He organized a number of continuing education programs on Power Electronics & Drives and was the coordinator of the first National Workshop on Power Electronics-Industry and Academic Interaction held at IIT, Kharagpur in May 1988. He is serving as the IEEE-IAS Calcutta Chair since its establishment in November 1997

For his outstanding contributions in Power Electronics, Dr. Chattopadhyay received the Bimal Bose Award in 1986 from the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), India(I). He was elected IEEE Fellow in 1991 for 'the leadership in the development of Power Electronics research and educational programs in India'. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, a Life Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (IE) and the IETE (I). He was awarded the Bahrain Cutler Hammer Prize in 1986, the Tate Rio Prize (1993-1994) and a Certificate of Merit (1992) from IE for his papers. He has served on the Editorial Boards of the Journals of the IETE (I) and the Electrosoft (UK). He has served on the program committees of many international conferences and chaired many technical sessions in India and abroad.

After his retirement from IIT, Kharagpur, Dr Chattopadhyay worked in the Electrical Engineering Department, Bengal Engineering College (Deemed University), Howrah as an AICTE Emeritus Fellow from July 1996 to March1999. Since April 1999, he is continuing in the same place as a CSIR Emeritus Scientist.

His detailed contact address is:

Dr. Ajit K. Chattopadhyay, Emeritus Scientist
Bengal Engineering College (DU)
P.O. Botanic Garden, Howrah
West Bengal, India 711 103,
Phone: 91-33-668-4561-3, Ext: EE Dept.; Fax: 91-33-668-4564/296
Email: akcee@hotmail.com