Professor Bhagavatula Dattaguru (born in 1942) is an Indian engineer and academic. He has received several awards, including the Padma Shri Award, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2005 in the field of science and engineering.
Education
Dattaguru had his school education at different board schools in the district where his father, Raghavendra Sastry, worked as a teacher and a headmaster. He has a long association with Andhra Loyola College (ALC), where he did his Intermediate (old scheme) and B.Sc degree (Physics main) during 1955-57 and 1957-59 respectively. In his degree, he stood first and secured gold medal from Andhra University, to which Loyola College was then affiliated.
A great lover of science, Dattaguru moved to Bangalore for higher studies and joined the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). He went on to complete BE in electrical engineering during 1959-62 and ME in aerospace technology during 1962–64.
Career as professor
Dr. Dattaguru continued his association with the IISc by joining its faculty in the aerospace engineering department in 1964. After receiving his PhD in 1973, he worked there as an assistant professor, associate professor and a professor, before retiring as Chairman of the aerospace engineering department in June, 2004.
During his time at the IISc, Dr. Dattaguru worked with the space technology researchers, including the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Kota Harinarayana, Kasturi Rangan and R. Chidambaram. As a faculty, Dr. Dattaguru guided a number of research scholars. He visited the US, Australia, Hong Kong and several other countries as visiting professor. Dr. Dattaguru became an emeritus professor of the IISc after his retirement and now he is a visiting professor at Jain university, Bangalore.
Positions held
Chairman (1999-2003), Department of Aerospace Engineering, IISc
Senior Resident Research Associate of National Research Council, (USA) at Fatigue and Fracture Branch of NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA (1980-1982) Chairman (1996-2000), Council for Scientific & Industrial Consultancy, IISc Coordinator (1987–91), Joint Advanced Technology program, IISc Coordinator (1993-2000) Member of ARDB Structures Panel President (2001-2003) Institute of Smart Materials, Structures and Systems President (2003–04), Advanced Computing and Communications Society Member of the Governing Board, RV-TIFAC Composite Design Center Vice president, Institute of Smart materials, Structures and Systems (ISSS). Member(1985–93), Co-ordinator (1993-2000), Aeronautics R&D Board, Structures Panel. Indian Representative, Executive Council of International Congress of Fracture (ICF) (1984–89). Associate editor, Journal of the Aeronautical Society of India, 1988 Guest editor for three Special Issues of the Journal on Fracture Mechanics, published in honour of Prof. G.R. Irwin. Member, Working Group for Development of Fracture Control Plan on PSLV Programs, VSSC, Trivandrum. Member, Task team for Fracture Criterion in Design of Pressure Vessels/Rocket Motor Casings formed between VSSC, Trivandrum; NAL, Bangalore; and IISc, Bangalore. Member, Mission Advisory Committee, Advanced composites Mission, DST, New Delhi. Senior Associate, National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore. Visiting Scientist, Analytical Services Materials Inc., Hampton, Virginia, USA (1987)