Prof. VM Pandharipande, the first Director of VNIT Nagpur and former Vice-Chancellor of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, has been honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award 2024 by the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (IETE), New Delhi. Earlier in his career, he also received the Ramlal Wadhwa gold medal from IETE.
Dr. Pandharipande is an alumnus of Nagpur University and has dedicated four decades to teaching at IIT Kharagpur and Osmania University. Over the years, he has published more than 170 research papers and has guided many scientists and faculty members in pursuing their Ph.D.s, especially in the areas of Microwave and Radar Engineering. He has also worked on several research projects sponsored by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and coordinated two World Bank projects. Recognizing his contributions to education, he has been awarded the Best Teacher Award by the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Osmania University.
In recognition of his lifetime achievements, Dr. Pandharipande will deliver the Homi Bhabha memorial lecture at a mid-symposium organized by IETE, which will be held in Bhopal on September 14th this year.
Apart from his teaching and research contributions, Dr. Pandharipande has also established a Centre for Excellence in Microwave Engineering at the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, University College of Engineering, Osmania University, with the support of Astra Microwave Ltd, Hyderabad. He currently serves as the Honorary Director of the center and continues to teach at the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Osmania University.
