Dr. S.P. Bhattacharyya, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, was named a Foreign Member of the Academia Nacional de Engenharia (ANE), Brazil, at the Academy's annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
Professor Pedro M.G. Ferreira, chairman of the nominating committee at the Academy, commended Bhattacharyya for his research career and relationship with Brazilian universities.
"Bhattacharyya is recognized for his outstanding contributions to control theory and for his establishment of the first graduate program in Control Systems in Brazil in the 1970's,” Ferreira said. “Some of his former students and graduates of this program are members of the Academy.
“He is also being recognized for his current ongoing research work in collaboration with researchers at the best Brazilian Universities and for promoting Brazil in the United States through study abroad programs based at Texas A&M University and conducted in Brazil over the last 10 years. The Academy is honored to welcome Bhattacharyya as one of two Foreign Members elected this year."
“Dr. Bhattacharya is internationally known for his contributions to the field of control theory and I am proud that he is our colleague,” said Dr. N.K. Anand, executive associate dean and associate director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.
"I am grateful for this spontaneous recognition from the ANE in Brazil for work I did there 40 years ago, Bhattacharyya said. “It further strengthens my relationship with this country which I love."
Bhattacharyya obtained his B.Tech degree from IIT Bombay in 1967 and his Ph.D. from Rice University in 1971. He joined Texas A&M in 1980 and currently holds the Robert M. Kennedy Professorship I. He has coauthored eight books and nearly 300 papers in the field of Control Systems, was elected IEEE Fellow in 1989, an IFAC Fellow in 2011 and was named a Foreign Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in 2012.