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PREFACE
The Institution of Engineers (India) was founded in 1920 in response to
the felt need of the government of training technical manpower for building
infrastructure in the country at the beginning of the 20 th century. Realising
the need for a multi-faculty integrated approach for technical manpower
development, the government decided in favour of the Institution to
embrace all the faculties of engineering prevalent at that time. The available
models of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers from UK were referred
but the model preferred for India was an integrated model. This model has
not only served the development needs of the country in the initial stages
but has been effectively serving the national needs ever since.
The Institution of Engineers (India), IE(I), has realized that engineers
make huge contribution across the world in the present globalized economy,
but their role is generally not properly understood. Engineering solves global
problems and improves health and wealth of nations.

Engineers help

address the enormous challenges the humanity faces including that of 2

billion people without access to basic amenities.

These propositions drive

IE(I) mission of putting engineering at the heart of society. Institutional

support is necessary for engineers to make their contribution for both the
benefit of society and to create recognition of the value of that contribution.
Activities of the Institution go out to interest the students at the school
leaving stage as well as those who have attained their diploma in
engineering to improve their qualifications.
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The world is experiencing a time of rapid technological advancement,

driven by engineering.

The development no more needs incremental

improvement in efficiencies but factor changes in an innovative mode.

Solutions to important questions lie only with the engineers. As a profession,
engineering needs to work together, nationally and internationally, to ensure
that communication challenges are also addressed and that engineers have
every opportunity to get their important messages across.

Engineering is

for and about people, about making the world a better place to live.
Nearly 40 years ago, to be precise in 1971, Toffler argued that by
changing our relationship to the resources that surround us, by violently
expanding the scope of change and most crucially, by accelerating its pace,
humanity has broken irretrievably with the past. We have cut ourselves off
from the old ways of thinking, feeling, and of adapting.

We have set the

stage for a completely new society and we are now racing towards it. What
we could see only in a diffused manner in the 1970s, we now both witness
and understand better as the dramatic development of technologies, such as
cloud computing, 3-G base global

communication, nano-technology etc.

The recognition of the need for change is a main driving force.

The

engineering profession is being influenced by wider political, social and

economic trends over which it currently has little influence in return.
Building consensus among all interested parties is becoming an
increasingly important element to reinvent the role of engineering in meeting
societys needs.

To enhance the value of engineering to society, we also

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have to maintain our involvement in all stages of the life-cycle of our

products and services. Sustainability, ethics and acceptability are becoming
closely interlinked themes with overarching footprints.

It is extremely

necessary that the engineering fraternity takes the lead in setting ethical
standards in all areas of responsibility. Creative and successful engineering
can be found in the interaction of design and project management.

Risk

management is becoming a central aspect of developing optimum solution,

not least because of growing awareness of financial risks.

The global

competitiveness and market uncertainties have persuaded businesses to

make risk management as an important aspect of their activities to do future
business.

Engineering profession being the driver of business has to also

incorporate the risk management aspect in its operation.

The Perspective Plan of the Institution for the next decade (2012-2022)
reflects that the engineers need to focus on skills development and
upgradation so that in future they can focus on leading efforts to reduce
pollution (first by reducing material flows and then by creating critical
knowledge and skill sets to redesign technologies); and make processes,
infrastructure and systems to be both efficient and productive and
effective. Climate change being the biggest moral, economic, scientific and
technical challenge of our age calls for a visionary approach. Responding to
the challenge of Sustainable Development and Climate Change provides
both the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity the engineering
profession has ever faced.

This dual nature is recognized as the most

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important Convenient Truth ever realized and will possibly be the answer
to the Inconvenient Truth put forth by Al Gore.
Public engagement has been recognized by IE (I) an important aspect
of its functioning, and therefore, its 104 centres in India and 6 chapters
abroad conduct activities by involving the society. Memorial Lectures were
initiated in 1960 to bring in the best of the engineering personalities in the
country to focus attention on emerging technological and engineering
achievements, and also pay tribute to the outstanding engineering
personalities who have made landmark contributions in India.
These Seven Memorial Lectures, delivered every year,

have given

opportunity for the distinguished and eminent engineers from planning,

policymaking, academics, research and industry to highlight engineering
achievements in India and abroad. These lectures present enormous amount
of state-of-art knowledge and reflect the current intellectual pursuit in the
field of engineering.

Wealth of knowledge has emerged over the last 50

years. A synthesis of these lectures reflects outstanding engineering inputs

for

development.

The

Institution

discovered

that

Memorial

Lectures

presented in the New Millennium, i.e., from 2001 to 2011, reflect the current
approach for taking humanity forward.
The first of these lectures was initiated in the memory of Sir M.
Visvesvaraya started at the Annual Convocation of the Institution in 1960.
Dr. Visvesvaraya has been a great visionary, planner and administrator, who
was later also honoured with the Bharat Ratna Posthumously. Subsequently
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Sir R.N.Mukherjee Memorial Lectures was initiated in the memory of a civil

engineer and planner, in 1980. Sir R.N.Mukherjee was the Founder President
of The Institution of Engineers (India). Dr. A.N.Khosla Memorial Lecture was
initiated, in 1988, in the memory of a civil engineer, planner and
administrator. He was better known for his contribution to building not only
Bhakra Dam, but other important hydro projects; and also for becoming
Governor of State of Orissa. Nidhi Bhushan Memorial Lecture, established in
1966, commemorates the memory of a science based personality who
worked hard to serve the society.
1976,

in

the

memory

of

civil

Bhaikaka Memorial Lecture started in

engineer,

educationist

and

technical

administrator, who focused attention to engineering applications for rural

development.

Dr. Amitabh Bhattacharya Memorial Lecture was started in

1992 in the memory of a mechanical engineer having excelled as an

educationist and as an authority in production engineering. Prof. C.S. Jha,
Memorial Lecture was instituted in 2011 in the memory of a electrical
engineer who excelled as an educationist and as technical administrator and
planner. (Details about these are given in the book later)
The deliberations on various occasions, including the Memorial
Lectures mentioned above, have indicated that in the New Millennium rather
than seeking a silver bullet solution, i.e., the one engineering answer to
save the world; will prefer to have a silver shotgun approach i.e., an
integrated solutions based engineering portfolio options, all travelling in
the same direction.

The engineering profession has to now focus on the

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creativity and ingenuity that has delivered todays incredible levels of human
and industrial development so that the same can be directed to the task of
delivering sustainable engineering and development solutions.
The Collection of Memorial Lectures presented at the Engineering
Congresses during 2001

2011 present a significant overview for

engineering fraternity to draw upon.

Realising the moral responsibility of

reaching out such available knowledge to engineers, in particular and people

of the country the Institution is privileged to dedicate this compilation to the
Society.
I wish every one a valuable reading.
Pradeep Chaturvedi, Chairman, Research & Development Committee,
IEI

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