P Rama Rao gets Padma Vibhushan; Padma Shri for Subra Suresh

New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) Noted metallurgist P Rama Rao andDirector of the US'' National Science Foundation Subra Sureshwere today chosen for the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shriawards respectively.

Rao, a former secretary in the Department of Science andTechnology, had stints in the Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation and also served as the chairman of the AtomicEnergy Regulatory Board.

All through his professional career, his researchinterests were centered on metallic behaviour and alloydevelopment.

In 2008, Rao had submitted a report to the DefenceMinistry making suggestions for the revamp of the DRDO.

Rao is a recipient of the Padma Shri (1989) and the PadmaBhushan (2001).

Suresh, who has been chosen for the Padma Shri, is one ofthe closest scientific advisers of US President Barack Obama.

He took over as the Director of the National ScienceFoundation (NSF) in October last year for a six-year term.

Suresh, 54, served as Dean of the Engineering School andas Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology.

A mechanical engineer who later became interested inmaterials science and biology, Suresh has done pioneering workstudying the biomechanics of blood cells under the influenceof diseases such as malaria.

Suman Sahai, Chairperson of Gene Campaign, a grassrootslevel research and advocacy group, was chosen for the PadmaShri.

Gene Campaign has been largely considered for raising thenational debate on the dangers of seed patents and its threatto food sovereignty.

Indian-born American physicist Mani Lal Bhaumik was alsoamong the Padma Shri awardees.

Bhaumik was born in a small village in Tamluk, in WestBengal and is credited with the development of excimer laser,which found application in the Lasik corrective eye surgery.

Among the Padma Shri recipients were Prof. M Annamalai,Mahesh Haribhai Mehta, Coimbatore Narayana Rao Raghavendran,Prof. E A Siddiq, Gopalan Nair Shankar.

Suryanarayanan Ramachandran has been chosen for the PadmaBhushan in the Science and Engineering category.