Prof. Armin Klein briefs the gathering about the wind tunnel during the visit of Mr. J. R. D. Tata, 1969

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J. R. D. Tata Visit

Visiting VIPs , Faculty , Academic Facilities

The wind tunnel 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 Sundaram (Aeronautical Engineering Department), Prof. A. Klein “used to prepare for his lectures with Germanic thoroughness” before delivering his lectures.

Seen in the photograph, Prof. B. V. A. Rao (Applied Mechanics Department, extreme left), Prof. D. V. Reddy (Applied Mechanics Department, second from left), Prof. A. Ramachandran (Director, third from left), Mr. T. N. Venkataraman (Chief Security Officer, fifth from left), Prof. S. Sampath (Deputy Director, sixth from left), Prof. A. Klein (Head of Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, third from right) and Mr. J. R. D. Tata (Chairman, Tata Sons Ltd., second from right) and Mr. H. V. R. Iengar (Chairman, Board of Governors, extreme right, facing away from camera).

Collection:

Gourishankar Collection

Album Name:

J. R. D. Tata Visit

Photograph ID:

001/0211/IMG_0237

Album ID:

0211

Date:

16 December 1969

Photographer:

C. Gourishankar (1936-2002). A geologist by qualification, Gourishankar started his career as a photographer after working for many years with the Geological Survey of India. In everything that he did, Gourishankar strove to achieve flawlessness and impeccable quality. Thus his photography too was characterised by this drive for perfection. Every photograph that Gourishankar took was meticulously planned and shot and printed with diligence and patience. Gourishankar carried out most of the official photography at IIT Madras in the 1960s.

Event:

Visit of J. R. D. Tata

Place:

Fluid Mechanics Laboratory