Chandrasekhar Putcha At a Glance

By Mimi Ko Cruz

Age: 59

Residence: Yorba Linda

Family: Married to Annapurna; daughter, Anila; and son, Aditya

Years at Cal State Fullerton: 26

Areas of Expertise: Reliability and analysis of structures, failure-mode
effects analysis and optimization of structures

Hobbies: Jogging, biking, listening to music, light reading

Languages spoken: English, Hindi and Telugu

Publications/grants: Published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and received research funding from such sources as NASA and the Army, Navy and Air Force. His research has helped make the space shuttle safer and the Navy’s wharf structurally sound.

What he’s doing this summer: In June, he presented his research on risk analysis on the lumbar spine at the American College of Sports Medicine conference in New Orleans. He also made two presentations on risk analysis of aircraft structures and development of new methods in optimizing structures at the Canadian Conference of Applied Mechanics in Toronto. He also traveled to Boston to work on his risk analysis of dam gates project, which is being funded through a $27,000 grant from the Army Corp of Engineers. In July, he will be back on campus and then at the Marshal Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, working on a NASA-funded software reliability project. And, he is awaiting word on other similar grants that are under review.

His philosophy on life: “Be good and true to yourself and others.
The good you do to others will come back to you.”

His advice to students: “Work hard for your goals and help others whenever you can, while being honest with yourself.”