Prof. Dharmajit Guptasarma, Former Director, CSIR-NGRI Hyderabad has passed away on the afternoon of 7th July, 2018, in Chandigarh. He is survived by his wife, two sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

Prof. Guptasarma joined CSIR-NGRI in 1966 and retired from the Institute in 1992 as Director. During his active career, he dedicated himself to developing new instrumentation and new mathematical equations. He pioneered the design of many instruments for land, airborne and ship-borne operations, including the first proton precession magnetometer. He invented faster, more accurate digital numerical filter operators and developed a novel method for computation of the magnetic field due to an arbitrary polyhedral object. He discovered a relationship between the frequency spectra of true and apparent polarizability of a buried target. He demonstrated the importance of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measurements for the proper understanding of the nature of the ongoing continent-continent convergence. He computed the sensitivity of missile launch systems to the gravity field of the earth structures. His calculations showed that the seismic risk is not the same everywhere along the Himalayan collision belt.

 

With a very down to earth personality, he was also a born teacher and delighted in sharing his knowledge and challenging the minds of younger colleagues and students with perplexing questions and stimulating discussions on all things under the sun. Colleagues and staff of the Institute warmly remember him for his affable nature and cordial interactions. His contributions at the initial stages of CSIR-NGRI are always remembered.

 

CSIR-NGRI deeply mourns the loss of its former Director and iconic figure of geophysics in the country and extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. May his soul rest in peace.