Unique Talents of KGPians: Sri Bandyopadhyay ('68) AKA 'Bandy the Singing Professor'
Information provided by Srikanta Bandyopadhyay ('68) (August 2021)
You can contact Sri at: singingprofessor@gmail.com
Sri Bandyopadhyay (Bandy) (1968, MET, RP) has academic degrees from IIT Kharagpur (India), IIT Kanpur (India), and BARC (India). He then spent time as a senior employee (senior engineer) in ISRO/VSSC Trivandrum India before moving to Australia to pursue his Ph.D at Monash University (Engineering Faculty) Australia.
Until mid-2018 Bandy was an academic then Senior Visiting Fellow in School of Materials Sci & Eng at UNSW Australia Sydney where he worked as a tenured academic for over 23 years, researched/ taught courses covering a) nanotechnology, b) polymer sci & eng, c) fracture mechanics, e) mechanical behavior, f) novel/innovative coal-fly ash recycling, g) polymer matrix, metal-matrix and ceramic-matrix composites, and i) high electronic-conductivity plastics. In 2013, Campus Review Australia selected Bandy as 1 of Top 5 Australian Innovators for his near-whitened fly ash re-invention work. (Read the Campus Review article "Top 5 innovators") (Read the India Chronicle article "Assoc Prof Sri Bandyopadhyay of UNSW Australia: 1 of 5 Top Innovators") **Above information found at https://www.iitkgpfoundation.org/images.html?file_id=JS0S0Zfq3e0%3D**
Sri was selected as a GIAN lecturer in 2016 and 2018 speaking on Composites and Novel Fly Ash Recycling. Below are links to information on the lectures:
2016: 2 weeks (43.5 hours at JNTUH Mech Eng), India
2018: 1 week (20 hours) at IIT-Kanpur, India (Mech Eng & Mat Sci) (View Course Details)
2018: 1 week (17 hours) at NIT Warangal
Interestingly, Sri was invited as a speaker/lecturer at the IITKGP International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering (ACE 2002). J.N. Bandyopadhyay, Co-Chairman of the Conference, sent Sri a letter of appreciation for his lecture and his music function that was held at Netaji Auditorium. J.N. is now retired from IIT-Kharagpur. (Read the letter of appreciation) Also, at CONMAT 2003 Conference organized by Prof J.N. Bandyopadhyay and group of IITKGP Civil Engg, UNSW Australia's Dr Sri Bandyopadhyay and team presented an Invited paper combining UNSW's Mat Eng & Civil Eng research on 'Fabrication, Mechanical Testing and Scanning Electron Microscopic Study of Short Carbon Fibre Reinforced Reactive Powder Concrete (CFRPC) with Improved Fibre Dispersion' (View the Abstract presented at CONMAT 2003 by the team). Note: Bandy also performed a Musical Evening on January 9, 2003, singing "Songs on: Devotion, Romance, Life & Cricket" supported by five professional musicians selected from Kolkata.
In 2004, Bandy assisted as International Chair (inviting professors/researchers from many foreign institutes), the Inst of Engineers India West Bengal Branch's first organized International Nano-Conference in Kolkata at Hotel Taj Bengal. The title of the conference was 'NANO-MATERIALS: SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND APPLICATION'. BE College Shibpur was the supporting Institute.
The second Nano-Conf organized by IE India & IIESTS was in Kolkata in 2019--where Sri was the (honorary) international chair.
In Australia, Sri Bandy organized (as Chair) Aus-Canada-US-NZ (ACUN-1 to ACUN-6) International Composite Conferences: five of these were at UNSW Sydney and one was at Monash University Melbourne. The information regarding these conferences can be found in the Australian National Library (See the records here). The ACUN Conferences were appreciated world-wide (Read the comment in Advanced Materials & Composites News). The ACUN-5 conference at UNSW held in 2006 under Sri's chairmanship, had an invited guest editorial article in the Taylor & Francis Journal "Materials & Manufacturing Process" in 2007. (View it here)
Whilst at UNSW, Sri Bandy was invited visiting professor at U Delaware (Center for Composite Materials) (Read 2016 US Defense Notification) and visiting academic at UCF Orlando (Materials & Nanocenter). Bandy was also visiting professor at Polymer Research Lab EPFL Lausanne (Switzerland), Mat Sci Center IIT Kharagpur India, JNU SPS India (Email from JNU to Sri), BESUS India & Jadavpur Uni India. Sri Bandy made many research-related tours to USA, Canada, Europe, India. (Read Indian Link Sydney article "UNSW scientist takes nanotechnology to India") Sri Bandy earlier worked in Australian Defense Science & Technology Organization (DSTO) Materials Research Laboratories, Melbourne where Bandy earned the Best Scientist Award for his in-situ SEM deformation and fracture research on polymers and composites, the research he presented in the USA, and the UK. Prior to that, Bandy was a materials scientist in the Australian Dept. of Health’s Australian Dental Standards Laboratory researching on bio- and dental materials/prostheses. In his personal life’s passion, Bandy is a qualified cricket umpire, and a singer-songwriter, known as ‘Bandy the singing professor’ having given many international performances including in the USA.
In July 2004, Sri Bandy met then President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi (View a photo of Bandy and President Kalam). Sri's visit with Dr Kalam Sir eventually initiated and set up the AISRF (Aus-India Science Research Funding) scheme, which started around 2009, between DIISRTE Australia (Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education) and DoST India (Department of Science & Technology). Bandy at UNSW was given Au$1.55 million 3-year funding for the AISRF TA020004 team-project "Nano-composite Materials in Clean Energy-Generation, Storage, Savings and Safety" involving 6 Indian academics from SINP, IITKGP, IACS, IITR & BESU and 6 Australian academics from UNSW, UQ, ANU & Flinders University Australia. The project generated research (over 3 times the expected output) producing a total of 112 publications including: A) 85 journal papers published/under process/draft stage; B) 4 Book Chapters; C) 8 Refereed Conference papers in proceedings, and D) 15 unrefereed conference papers. When Bandy was at IIT-Kharagpur in 2009 for the project, working with IITKGP's Prof A K Bhowmick, he took a photo with then Director Darmodar Acharya. (View a photo of Director Acharya and Sri)
Below you will find more information on Sri's music:
The Respected St Therese Church Mascot Sydney Australia played Sri's song, "The Christmas Day is Knocking on the Door" at their December 13, 2020, Christmas Carol celebration. Here is a link to their Facebook page where you can listen to the piece: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=713295992894631 or https://fb.watch/2lkWN5dcpD/. That song can be found on the album, "Songs from my Heart". Bandy's CD was welcomed by the Whitehouse in 1998 and Buckingham Palace in 2016.
Sri composed and recorded the following Hindi "Holi Song" (Madhuban me Shyama Bihari Khele Holi). Please listen via this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sCa_I6AAUSgK2hnsFg8Kr98ZxZjJW45e/view?usp=sharing
Also, Sri composed and recorded a Hindi "Raghu-Ram" song which can be found on his 'Sangeet Manjari 3' CD. You can listen to "Raghu-Ram" via the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16LL7T2AHhZRvag6pvdAV7ZlX31Y9tXgm/view?usp=sharing
Between 2000 to 2012 Bandy's studio-recorded over 50 English, Hindi and Bengali album songs were in the World category songs website www.mp3.com.au/bandythesingingprofessor/ of MP3 Australia. Bandy's music was enjoyed by listeners and at times they ranked him within Top range. (Check out Bandy on the music charts)
On January 9, 2003, in IITKGP Netaji Auditorium, Bandy also provided a two hour music program, playing harmonium and singing a total 26 Hindi, English, Bengali and Sanskrit songs at IITKGP Civil Engg organized CONMAT 2003 International Conference. (View the program from the event) Bandy's music program was in addition to Bandy's being an invited speaker at the CONMAT event. A certificate of Bandy's peer reviewed research paper presentation/published at/in CONMAT 2003 proceedings can be found here. (View the official letter announcement)
In 2008, Sri was invited by the Hindu Society of Eastern Washington to give a music performance in Richland, WA, (USA) to raise funds for a Temple. He was awarded an honors plaque for his performance. (View the honors plaque) In 2009, South Asian Times published an article about the event. (Read the South Asian Times article)
Bandy and his family gave invited music programs in Australia, USA, India (including IITKGP, JNU, ATIRA) and Switzerland (at Zurich, on India's 50th-anniversary event). Prof P J Roy Chowdhury of Metallurgy/Materials Science at BESUS (now IIEST Shibpur), penned a 'Certificate of Honour' for Sri after he had performed two music programs at the Institute's Professors' Common Room. (View the Certificate here)
Bandy has even composed songs on cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly which the two cricketers greatly appreciated. You can listen to each song by clicking on Sunil and Sourav's names above. Also, you can learn more about the songs by reading the following article, 'Bandy the Singing Professor' creates songs for renowned cricketers.