Ajoy Ghatak

Ajoy Ghatak
Born	9 November 1939 Lucknow, India
Alma mater	Delhi University Cornell University
Known for	Research on photonics, fiber optics and education in India
Awards	Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Optica Fellow OSA Esther Hoffman Beller Award ICO Galileo Galilei Award SPIE educator award
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Indian Institute of Technology National Academy of Sciences, India
Thesis	Non linear prompt neutron kinetics in multigroup diffusion theory  (1964)
Doctoral advisor	Mark Nelkin
Notable students	Anurag Sharma, Sasikanth Manipatruni

Ajoy Kumar Ghatak is an Indian physicist and author of physics textbooks.

Ghatak has written over 170 research papers and more than 20 books. His undergraduate textbook on Optics ^[1] has been translated to Chinese and Persian and his monograph on Inhomogeneous Optical Waveguides ^[2] (coauthored with Professor Sodha) has been translated to Chinese and Russian. ^[3]

In 1995, he was elected Fellow of the Optica (society) "for distinguished service to optics education and for his contribution to the understanding of propagation characteristics of gradient index media, fibers and integrated optical devices". ^[4]

Education

He received his M.Sc. from Delhi University and Ph.D. from Cornell University. ^[5]

Career

Ghatak joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1966. ^[4] He retired as an Emeritus Professor of Physics at IIT Delhi in 2007. ^[6]

Ghatak is currently the President of the National Academy of Sciences, India. ^[7] He also spends his time writing books and doing special guest lectures at universities and colleges in India and internationally. ^{[8] [9]} In recent years, he has taken a keen interest in bringing the genius of Albert Einstein to the wider public and was invited to present a TEDx talk, "Inside Einstein's mind" ^[10] in 2017.

Selected awards and honors

• Optica (society) Sang Soo Lee Award (2020) "For his seminal role in the development of fiber optics and guided wave photonics and for pioneering optics education in India." ^[11]
• SPIE Educator Award (2008) "in recognition of outstanding contributions to optics education" ^[12]
• Esther Hoffman Beller Medal (2003) of the Optica (society) "for outstanding contributions to optical science and engineering education" ^[13]
• Galileo Galilei Award (1998) of the International Commission for Optics "for outstanding contributions to the field of optics which are achieved under comparatively unfavorable circumstances" ^[14]
• S. S. Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology – Physical Sciences (1979) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research "for significant work in the field of inhomogeneous optical wave-guides, theory of aberrations for optical systems comprising inhomogeneous media and self-focussing of laser beams" ^[15]

Selected publications

Some publications include: ^[16]

• Ghatak, Ajoy (2010), Einstein And The Special Theory Of Relativity, Viva Books Private Limited, ISBN   978-81-309-1478-7
• Thyagarajan, K.; Ghatak, Ajoy (2010), Lasers: Fundamentals And Applications (2nd ed.), Springer, ISBN   978-1-4419-6441-0
• Ghatak, Ajoy (2009), Optics (4th ed.), McGraw-Hill Education, ISBN   978-0-07-338048-3
• Ghatak, Ajoy (2009), Basic Quantum Mechanics (with CD), Macmillan Publishers India Limited, ISBN   978-0-230-63916-4
• Lakshminarayanan, Vasudevan; Ghatak, Ajoy; Thyagarajan, K. (2001), Lagrangian Optics, Springer, ISBN   0-7923-7582-3
• Ghatak, Ajoy; Thyagarajan, K. (1998), An Introduction To Fiber Optics, Cambridge University Press, ISBN   0-521-57785-3
• Ghatak, Ajoy (1996), Introduction To Quantum Mechanics, Macmillan India Limited, ISBN   0-333-92419-3
• Ghatak, Ajoy; Thyagarajan, K. (1989), Optical Electronics, Cambridge University Press, ISBN   0-521-30643-4
• Eliezer, Shalom; Ghatak, Ajoy; Hora, Heinrich (1986), Fundamentals Of Equations Of State, World Scientific, ISBN   981-02-4833-4
• Ghatak, Ajoy; Lokanathan, S. (1984), Quantum Mechanics: Theory And Applications, Macmillan Publishers India Limited, ISBN   9781403923417
• Ghatak, Ajoy; Sodha, M. S. (1977), Inhomogeneous Optical Waveguides, Springer, ISBN   0-306-30916-5

References

1. Ghatak, Ajoy (23 March 2009). Optics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN   978-0-07-338048-3.
2. Sodha, M. S.; Ghatak, Ajoy (1977). Inhomogeneous Optical Waveguides. New York NY: Springer. ISBN   978-0-306-30916-8.
3. Miranda House events (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011, retrieved 8 November 2010
4. Ajoy Ghatak biography, International Commission for Optics, archived from the original on 13 July 2010, retrieved 7 November 2010
5. Ghatak, Ajoy (1964). Non linear prompt neutron kinetics in multigroup diffusion theory (Ph.D. thesis). Cornell University. OCLC   77223065.
6. IIT Kharagpur's biography on Ajoy Ghatak (PDF), Indian Institute of Technology, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2011, retrieved 8 November 2010
7. NASI Council 2021-22
8. BESU Events 2010, archived from the original on 18 November 2010, retrieved 8 November 2010
9. SPIE Events, archived from the original on 20 July 2010, retrieved 8 November 2010
10. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Inside Einstein's mind, E=mc^2 | Ajoy Ghatak | TEDxJIIT". YouTube . 14 November 2017.
11. "Sang Soo Lee Award". The Optical Society. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014.
12. SPIE Educator Award , retrieved 8 November 2010
13. OSA's Esther Hoffman Beller Medal , retrieved 8 November 2010
14. ICO Galileo Galilei Award, archived from the original on 9 July 2011, retrieved 8 November 2010
15. S. S. Bhatnagar award for Physical Sciences, archived from the original on 27 September 2011, retrieved 8 November 2010
16. The full list of publications can be found here Archived 14 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 8 November 2010)

External Links

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