Accomplished civil engineer to lead two seminars
KALAMAZOO--A civil engineer is coming to Western Michigan University next month to lead two seminars as a visiting scholar.
Dr. Chandrasekhar Putcha, professor of civil and environmental engineering at California State University, Fullerton, will lead the seminars Thursday and Friday, Feb. 9-10. Putcha will address "Basic Principles and Applications of Reliability and Risk Analysis to Civil Engineering" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in Room D115 of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He also will speak on "The Mathematical Formulation of the Poverty Index" at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 10, in Room 6625 of Everett Tower.
Putcha has served on the faculty of CSUF for more than 30 years. His expertise lies in the areas of reliability, risk analysis, optimization and mathematical modeling. He has worked as a consultant for various industrial partners, including Boeing and Northrop Grumman, and various government agencies, such as NASA, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
He has applied his work through various engineering disciplines, including industrial engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering. Putcha has an extensive research record of more than 120 publications and his work has been included in refereed journals and conference proceedings. In 2007, Putcha received the campus-wide Outstanding Professor Award at CSUF for an exemplary record of teaching, research, professional activity and service as a professor.
Putcha's visit is through the Visiting Scholars and Artists Program. Established in 1960, the program significantly contributes to the intellectual life of WMU and the community. The program provides funds for academic units to bring distinguished scholars and artists to campus. These visitors meet with faculty and students in their fields and address the community at large.
Since the program began, it has supported more 600 visits by scholars and artists representing more than 60 academic disciplines.