Late Dr. Hiralal Das
(06/04/1942 - 04/10/2016)
The first Professor Hiralal Das Memorial Lecture was delivered by Professor Barindra Kumar Sarma at the Indira Miri Conference Hall today (April 6, 2017). The oration was organised by the Department of Physics.
Extending a warm welcome to the packed audience at the Indira Miri Conference Hall, Dr. Bulumoni Kalita, Assistant Professor of the Department of Physics stated that Professor Hiralal Das taught in several Colleges in Delhi after his Ph.D. before joining the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. After a stint at the IISc he joined the Department of Physics, Dibrugarh University. Since 1985 he started his teaching and research at Gauhati University till his retirement in 2005. Professor Das passed away in 2016. He was a brilliant Physicist whose area of interest was Condensed Matter Physics. Inaugurating the firstProfessorHiralal Das Memorial Lecture on his birth anniversary today, Professor A.K. Buragohain, the Vice Chancellor paid rich tribute to late Professor Das. Professor Buragohain recalled his close association with the eminent Physicist and stated that Professor Das had remarkable simplicity in his life and was a deeply committed researcher and teacher. Professor Pradip Kumar Bhuyan, UGC Emeritus Fellow in the Department also addressed the gathering.
Professor Barindra Kumar Sarma in his scintillating lecture traced the history of X-Ray Crystallography first by narrating the famous deliberations at Munich, Germany in the early years twentieth century among the well known Physicists of the time, viz., W.C. RÖntgen, Max von Laue, Paul Peter Ewald, Arnold Sommerfield, Paul von Groth and others regarding their experimentation leading the understanding of the wave nature of the X-Ray. Professor Sarma also discussed the pioneering experiments of the W.H. Bragg and his son W.L. Bragg in application of X-Ray Diffraction in the understanding crystal structure of matter. He also explain the work of G.N. Ramachandran on Collagen, a protein.
In conclusion Professor Sarma pointed out the immense importance of elucidating the crystal structure of proteins to gain a deeper understanding of the life processes in the living system.
Earlier in the day Professor Sarma enthralled the students in a special lecture program in the Department.
Professor Kalyan Bhuyan, Head of the Department offered the Vote of Thanks.