I had a privileged association with Dr.A V. Ramarao at various stages of my professional career. I got initiated as an undergraduate student, then his junior colleague. Also, I had the privilege of completing my research leading to a Ph.D degree under his guidance. In each of my association at different points of time, I did find a legendary person in Prof. Ramarao.
Gifted Teacher
Our Sir joined the Department of Metallurgy in 1969, when I was in my Fourth year of a five year BE course. He taught us Physics of Metals in our final year. This perhaps was a dreadful subject as per our senior batch. Our seniors had created massive fear in our minds about this subject, which was taught by some other Professor at that point of time. And to our pleasant surprise when our newly joined young sir (Dr.A V Ramarao) started teaching the same subject to us, it turned out to be the most liked subject. He certainly had a very different way of teaching any subject. He used to simplify difficult concepts and subjects with a rare sense of precision. And this used to be for any of the concepts such as Dislocations in plastic deformation or be it order-disordered transformations, X- ray diffraction and so on. Had he not taught us the way he used to teach, perhaps we would have never ever really understood all these complex phenomena in Structural Metallurgy.
What was unique about his teaching?
He was very expressive and committed to simplify things for all types of students. Just to highlight a few things that made impact on us,
- Strong Focus on fundamentals
- Strengthen the basic concepts
- Explain any complex phenomenon only after the basic concepts are clear and wherever possible illustrate with mathematical models.
- Relate the phenomenon to its application/engineering aspect.
This teaching methodology was unique for us and sir was gifted with wonderful expressiveness, both vocal and written; that would make a clear impression on students of what he wanted to teach.
I do remember his innovative ways of explaining dislocations and stacking faults by bringing ping-pong balls in class and creating the models. Every teacher can’t be a gifted teacher like him, but we certainly learnt from Sir as to how to make efforts to become a good teacher. And this made him a legendary teacher for me.
How was he as my senior colleague?
It may sound a little harsh but as his junior colleague for a long period of time, I can take liberty in saying that at work he was a ‘Tough Task Master’. Whether it is about missing the scheduled lecture for any reason or asking for a casual leave when teaching sessions are in full swing, One cannot expect him to agree with you unless he is fully convinced about the reasons for taking leave. Of course, this disciplined approach created an everlasting impression on us about the norms for good governance in the department. To take a draft proposal on anything such as a project report or a consultancy report or any proposal to Principal of VRCE, it used to be an elaborate exercise for us, because of his strict benchmarks of perfection. To get his approval without much corrections used to be an achievement for us , while in the worst case situations he used refuse to accept our draft and rewrite the content as per his expectations. Witty and sharp at returning aptly any comment good or bad, Sir used to maintain the decorum in every relationship and contribute for a healthy and jovial atmosphere amongst colleagues. In Sir, we not only saw a good teacher but also saw a mentor for us.
And this made him a legendary mentor for me.
How was he as my Research Guide?
I remember that Sir was guiding a senior Professor from Mechanical Engineering on his doctoral research in the area of Tribology and Wear of metals. Incidentally, I used to teach Mechanical Metallurgy during the same period. During their meetings, I was also called to be a part of these intensely technical conversations . I used to be very happy to have argumentative discussions before we arrived at final answers. The probing questions he used to raise for initiating the discussion followed by detailed qualitative and mathematical analysis proved to be laying the foundation for me to work in the same area for my doctoral research. The guidance which I received from Sir for completing my Ph. D work and writing my thesis , with healthy agreements and disagreements too, became my lifetime treasure. I found a legendary person in Prof. Ramarao who was an exemplary research guide. In Indian scriptures if a thing is to be conclusively confirmed it has to be repeated thrice to verbally affirm the same. Professor Ramarao, our dear Sir ‘IS’ a legendary person; is thus stated thrice here, for it’s confirmation as a truth.
This a tribute to this legendary person, “who not only shaped me but moulded many generations of students into successful Metallurgists and those who had the privilege to receive his unparalleled guidance in various forms.
All of us would always like to remain indebted for his unique contributions in shaping our professional life.
Dr. A V Ramarao 