Anil Bajaj Receives Caughey Dynamics Award

Professor Anil K. Bajaj of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, and a graduate from the Aerospace, Engineering, and Mechanics department, received the 2019 Thomas K. Caughey Dynamics Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for his expertise in nonlinear dynamics. 

Bajaj graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Ph.D. in Mechanics in 1981, and promptly joined the team at Purdue. He was presented with the award at the AMD Honors and Awards Banquet in Salt Lake City during the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. Bajaj has led the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue since 2011, has educated doctoral student for over four decades, and has held numerous leadership positions. He served as Chair of the Graduate Committee and Associate Head for research and graduate education. On top of that, he has made efforts to increase the minority population studying mechanical engineering. 

“My interests in nonlinear dynamical systems and its applications to structural stability and multiphysics systems developed in Doctoral Studies under Professor Patarasp R. Sethna. He was very passionate and intellectually curious about uncovering complex dynamic phenomena in nonlinear systems,” Bajaj said. “I see reflected in me his influences, not only about research but also about academic integrity, interactions with colleagues as well as mentoring students. Others at UMN who made learning fun included Professors Dan Joseph and Thomas Lundgren, and the fellow student K. R. Rajagopal.”

The Thomas K. Caughey Dynamics Award was established in 2008, and is awarded annually to experts in the field of nonlinear dynamics who have made significant contributions to teaching and research.

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