Romesh C. Batra
Clifton C. Garvin Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Romesh C. Batra is the Clifton C. Garvin Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, where he has taught since 1994. His research focuses on studying the response of structures exposed to impact loads, such as those produced by improvised explosive devices, and is being supported by the NSF, the ONR, the Army Research Laboratory, and private industries.
Dr. Batra received the 2009 Engineering Science Medal from the Society of Engineering Science (SES), the 2009 Lee Hsun Research Award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the 2000 Reissner Medal from the International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, and the Humboldt Award in 1992. The Humboldt is awarded to “outstanding scientists and scholars from outside Germany whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future.”
Dr. Batra has mentored to successful completion 28 doctoral and 16 M.Sc. students. He has authored or co-authored over 340 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and has published a graduate-level textbook entitled Elements of Continuum Mechanics. Dr. Batra is a Fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Engineering Education, and the SES.
In 2002, Dr. Batra organized the US National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics with over 1,050 participants from 40 countries, which was recognized by the Governor of Virginia, who declared a ‘Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Day in the Commonwealth.’ One of Dr. Batra’s mentees received the much coveted NSF Career Award during his first year as a faculty member, and another one has been honored with the AAM Junior Research Award.
Dr. Batra earned his Ph.D. in Mechanics & Materials from the Johns Hopkins University in 1972. He now lives in Blacksburg with his wife of 37 years, Manju, with whom he raised two daughters. Both girls are proud Hokies who graduated from Virginia Tech with B.Sc. degrees; one daughter now resides in Lake St. Louis, MO and the other in Santa Monica, CA.
"I developed a passion for teaching and sharing knowledge with others during my high school and college days. I lived with my single elder brother in a large city in India rather than with my parents in a small town, since the nearest college was 15 miles away from my parent’s house... I tutored my neighbor’s children in return for home cooked meals, which is the only compensation they could afford."