Amulya Kumar N Reddy

Amulya Kumar N. Reddy (21 October 1930 - 7 May 2006) was Professor in the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, and Convener of the Center for the Application of Science and Technology to Rural Areas (ASTRA), at the Indian Institute of Science, in addition he was Secretary, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology.[1] At the time of preparing this paper he was also Senior Visiting Research Scientist at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University. He had very wide experience with energy studies in developing countries, ranging from policy issues to the very intensive, detailed studies of individual villages that he and his colleagues at ASTRA have carried out in South India.[2]

Amulya Kumar N. Reddy
Born(1930-10-21)21 October 1930
Banglore
Died7 May 2006(2006-05-07) (aged 75)
Banglore
Nationality Indian
Alma mater
OccupationCricketer, Electrochemist, Author, Energy analyst, Rural energy practitioner
Years active1958 - 2000
Spouse(s)Vimala Pawar
Awards
Websitehttps://www.amulya-reddy.org.in/

Early life

On October 21, 1930, he was born in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). He did his schooling at St Joseph's School, Bangalore. In 1946, he was selected as a Opening batsman and leg break bowler for the Madras University cricket team.[3] After the Independence of India in August 1947, he joined a student strike for a responsible government in Mysore. In 1948, he met many socialist leaders and was a student activist.[4]

In 1951, he married Vimala Pawar.

University education

In 1951, he completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Master of Science in Physical Chemistry from Central College, Bangalore. Then he joined Central College, Bangalore as a Chemistry lecturer. From 1955 to 1958, he completed his Doctorate from the Imperial College of Science & Technology, London, in Applied Physical Chemistry.[5]

While in London, he worked as a railway porter at Waterloo station, London.

Academic career

After completing his Doctorate in 1951, he joined Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu as a Senior Scientific Officer. In 1961, he moved to US as a Post-doctoral fellow at John Harrison Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania.[6] In 1966, he joined Department of Inorganic & Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore as an Assistant Professor. In 1969, he Co-authored with J.O’M Bockris, of the two-volume text-book “Modern Electrochemistry”.[7] In 1973, he decided to quit Electro-Chemistry. In 1974, he became a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science, and in the same year, he became a convener of Cell for the Application of Science & Technology to Rural Areas (ASTRA), founded at IISc. The next year, he was involved in setting up the Karnataka State Council for Science & Technology (KSCST)  with M.Y. Ghorpade (then Finance Minister of Karnataka) and Satish Dhawan (then Director, IISc). In 1975, he took a sabbatical till 1976 for attending United Nations Environment Programme at Nairobi, Kenya.[8]

In 1978, he met Jose Goldemberg from Institute of Electrical Engineering and Energy, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, Thomas B Johansson from Department of Environmental and Energy Systems Analysis, University of Lund, Sweden & Robert H Williams from Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA). Amulya and they formed the ‘gang of four’.[9]

In 1983, he took a 2-year sabbatical for attending Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. In 1985, he returned to IISc and took over as chairman, Department of Management Studies. In 1986, he started work on the alternative energy paradigm called DEFENDUS (Development Focused END Use oriented Service directed)[10]

In 1988, he published his book on ‘Energy for a Sustainable World’. In 1991, he retired from IISc.

Retirement and aftermath

After his retirement from IISc, in 1991, he started International Energy Initiative (IEI) as its Founder and President and in 1994, he started ‘Energy for Sustainable Development (ESD) as the journal of the IEI. In next two years, he co-edited books ‘The technology transformation of rural India’ and ‘Rural energy planning'. In 2000, at the age 70, he took voluntary retirement from many positions like Chairman of IEI.[11]

Honours and awards
Honours, Awards and Achievements of Amulya Kumar N. Reddy.
Year Award Note(s)
1978 Rathindra Puraskar at Shantiniketan, India
1985 B.D. Tilak Lecture Award of the Indian National Science Academy
1988 Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Energy, India
1992 Awarded the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy 1992 Champion of Energy Efficiency Award[12]
2000 Volvo Prize The Volvo Environment Prize for the year 2000 had been awarded jointly to

Professor José Goldemberg (Brazil), Dr. Thomas B. Johansson (Sweden),

Professor Amulya K.N. Reddy (India) and Dr. Robert H. Williams (USA)

for their outstanding collaborative achievement since the early 1980s of

working out a new policy-driven approach to the technical analysis of

world energy needs and how they could be provided for the early decades of this century.[13]

2004 Sir M. Visvesvaraya Award for Senior Scientists (Science and Technology) 2004

Death and legacy

On 26 May 2006, Amulya Reddy died in Bengaluru.

Source and references
  1. Reddy, Amulya K. N.; D'Sa, Antonette; Sumithra, Gladys D.; Balachandra, P. (1995-11-01). "Integrated energy planning: Part II. Examples of DEFENDUS scenarios". Energy for Sustainable Development. 2 (4): 12–26. doi:10.1016/S0973-0826(08)60147-7. ISSN 0973-0826.
  2. "Some of well known Reddy's Scientists | Reddy Society | Reddys Community | Reddys Information | Reddys History". www.reddysociety.com. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  3. "Amulya - Home". www.amulya-reddy.org.in. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  4. "Amulya K N Reddy: A socially responsible maverick". www.downtoearth.org.in. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  5. BALACHANDRA, B. S. REDDY & P. "A scientist truly Amulya". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  6. "Amulya - Institutions". www.amulya-reddy.org.in. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  7. "Formats and Editions of Modern electrochemistry : an introduction to an interdisciplinary area / Volume 2. [WorldCat.org]". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  8. Environment, U. N. "UNEP - UN Environment Programme". UNEP - UN Environment Programme. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  9. "José Goldemberg, Amulya K N Reddy, Robert H. Williams, Thomas B Johansson". Volvo Environment Prize. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  10. Reddy, Amulya K. N.; D'Sa, Antonette; Sumithra, Gladys D.; Balachandra, P. (1995-11-01). "Integrated energy planning: Part II. Examples of DEFENDUS scenarios". Energy for Sustainable Development. 2 (4): 12–26. doi:10.1016/S0973-0826(08)60147-7. ISSN 0973-0826.
  11. David, Stephen (January 15, 1996). "Amulya K.N. Reddy: Helping the rural poor in solving power problem". India Today. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  12. Howard Geller John DeCicco Skip Laitner*, Howard Geller John DeCicco Skip Laitner* (October 1992). "THE EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME BENEFITS FROM INVESTING IN ENERGY CONSERVING TECHNOLOGIES" (PDF). Energy Efficiency and Job Creation. .: 56 – via .
  13. "Amulya - Timeline". www.amulya-reddy.org.in. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
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