Photographs

Prof. Armin Klein addresses the group at a wind tunnel in the Applied Mechanics Department, 1969

Campus Facilities , Academic Facilities

Mr. Tata visited IIT Madras in December, 1969. He visited some of the laboratories and facilities at the Institute during his visit. 

The wind tunnel in the photograph was a part of the Applied Mechanics Department and was located in the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory (One of the workshop-type laboratories). It was assembled by a team of German technicians and it was operational by the late 1960s.  Technically, it is a low-speed closed circuit, open test section variant with a single fan variable speed DC motor Ward Leonard Drive. The wind tunnel was eventually dismantled some decades after it was put up.

Prof. Santhakumar Sundaram (Aeronautical Engineering Department) notes that he used to see parts of the wind tunnel lying outside the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory before it was assembled by the Germans. This was in the mid 1960s. “I have, as a student, seen some large steel shells like nozzle, collector, diffuser lying in the sun and rain just outside the large shutter of the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory just across the road from the Aeronautical Engineering Department.”

Prof. A. Klein was the Head of Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. According to Prof. Santhakumar, Prof. A. Klein “used to prepare for his lectures with Germanic thoroughness” before delivering his lectures.

Seen facing the camera from left is Mr. J. R. D. Tata (Chairman, Tata Sons Ltd.), Prof. A. Klein (Head of Fluid Mechanics Laboratory), Prof. A. Ramachandran (Director) and Prof. S. Sampath (Deputy Director).