Imperial College London - Seven Years that Broadened My Boundaries, Exceeding My Expectations.

 

List of Contents

[Note: This post is relatively long; its length is that of a novelette. So, I have added this list of contents to help the reader navigate through my story. The story is in a Q&A format. The questions were framed by the Alumni Office of Imperial College London and are listed below, except that I have added a prologue and an epilogue.]

• Prologue
• Extracurricular activities you were involved in?
• Do you have a website or social media channel you'd like us to feature or tag?
• Your time at Imperial
• What did you learn during your time at Imperial, in class or out?
• Can you tell us about your studies at Imperial?
• Who did you find inspiring at Imperial and why? 
• What is your fondest memory of your time here? 
• What is your favourite place at Imperial and why?
• Your career
• Tell us about the work you're doing now and your journey to this point.
• How has what you learnt at Imperial helped you in your career so far?
• What have been your career highlights and lowlights?
• What would be your advice for current students?
• Before you go…
• What makes you proud to be an Imperial alumnus?
• What one word or phrase would you use to describe Imperial alumni?
• Do you have a favourite quote or saying?
• Is there anything else you'd like to share?
• Epilogue

Prologue:

Imperial College London Alumni Office has recently published my alum story on the College website. They first asked me to respond to a set of questions they sent me for the story. I inquired if there was any word count limit; they said No. So, I took the space I needed to tell my story.

However, when the Alumni Office saw my account, they appreciated it. Still, they felt it was way too long for their website. So, they published an abridged version on their website and urged me to publish the unabridged story on my Blog; if I did, they would insert the link to my Blog story into my College website alum story. In keeping with their suggestion, I give below the whole story.

Before I narrate my story, I wish to tell you briefly about me until I joined Imperial College in 1965. I was born in 1942 in the middle phase of the Second World War in undivided British India. India became independent of British rule in 1947—a milestone event in my life and the lives of millions of Indians. 

After that, I did my secondary schooling in a Bengali medium school and my higher secondary education at St. Xavier's College, an English medium college run by Belgian Jesuit fathers, bachelor of civil engineering at Jadavpur University, and MTech in structural engineering at IIT Kharagpur. Then, I gained two years of professional experience and proceeded to Imperial College London in 1965. 

I went to London with a Commonwealth Scholarship that I was fortunate to have won, and £7.00 (then equivalent to ₹91.00)—which was the maximum amount the Reserve Bank of India then permitted a student going overseas as a one-time travel grant. That limit is £195,000.00 per annum, about 28,000 times today. I give these numbers to give GenZ readers a sense of the geo-socio-economic-political status of India then. That is the backdrop against which my story unfolds.  

I was a good student and an avid learner, and I went to Imperial with great expectations. My story here tells how Imperial enabled me to broaden my boundaries, in class and out, far exceeding my expectations. Looking back, I know that winning the Commonwealth Scholarship was providential, and going to Imperial was life-changing. I am deeply indebted to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK and my alma mater, Imperial College London.

Finally, a disclosure: Writing about one's achievements is difficult. Because one is afraid of appearing to be indulging in self-aggrandisement. Hence, I have tried here to err on the side of understatement. With that disclosure, let me begin my submission.

Extracurricular activities you were involved in?

I researched Structural Engineering within the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at Imperial College for seven years, between 1965 and 1972. My department has a notable building called the Skempton Building. First, I was a doctoral research assistant for four years, and then, after completing  my PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow for three years. As a researcher, I did not have the option of joining any extracurricular activities the College organised. Those were for undergraduate and postgraduate students. However, I pursued an array of extracurricular activities independently.

The Skempton Building (courtesy of Shadowssettle under a Creative Commons licence)

I played squash and badminton in active sports and swam at the College's Ethos Sports Centre at Prince's Gardens. I jogged habitually in Kensington Gardens—come thunder, rain, or snow, I did not skip my jogging. Occasionally, I rowed on the Serpentine in a canoe, stopping periodically under the shade of a London Plane tree. I gazed at the sky and wondered if my parents might also be looking at the same moon in India five thousand miles away.

Winter sports, however, did not agree with me. On one occasion, a friend and I went skiing at Inverness. The ropeway landed us at the top of the ski slope. We skied for a while. But the high wind and biting cold dampened our spirits so much that we rushed back to our hotel to the cosy warmth of Scottish hospitality. I never ventured to the ski slope again!

On the other hand, brain games were my favourite pastime. In the recreation room of my residence halls—Tizard Hall or Weeks Hall—I often played bridge or chess with fellow residents after dinner. Those games lived up to decent standards, as the players were all doctoral researchers in engineering who were generally good at cerebral acrobatics!

I must confess that I never excelled in any of these sports or brain games. But that did not matter to me because mere participation in them made life much richer and more enjoyable.

I also watched various sports. I watched football at Wembley, cricket at Lords, tennis at Wimbledon, and boxing at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre. I had the rare opportunity of witnessing Bobby Moore, the legendary English football captain, lift the FIFA World Cup at Wembley in 1966, beating West Germany 4-2. The striker, Geoff Hurst, completed a hat-trick, the first hat-trick scored in a men's World Cup final. That win quite expectedly made the country erupt in a frenzy of joy.

The Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, pictured in 2017

While sitting there, the iconic Wembley Stadium inspired me. I secretly aspired to design a stadium in India, my home country, equal or larger in capacity. I did not know then that 18 years later, in 1984, I would be meeting the same Bobby Moore in person. He had come as the chief guest to open the newly constructed Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta for the first time to the public. It is Asia's second-largest football stadium, and my consulting firm, H. K. Sen And Associates, designed it jointly with another Kolkata-based firm. I was delighted to give Bobby Moore a tour of the massive stadium and answer his insightful questions about the facilities provided therein. Afterwards, he wrote a congratulatory note, 'A Super Stadium'. I have cherished that writing to this day.

Dr Hirak Sen with the legendary footballer Bobby Moore, Salt Lake Stadium, 1984

Coincidentally, England lifted the FIFA Under 17 World Cup at Salt Lake Stadium in 2017, beating Spain 5-2 in the final. My hero, the English striker, a nimble lad, Rhian Brewster, scored one of those five goals. Earlier, England beat Brazil 3-1 in the semi-finals, where Rhian Brewster scored the first hat trick of the tournament. I caught the uncanny resemblance with FIFA World Cup 1966 at Wembley. My secret aspiration of 1966 seemed to have come full circle and some more!

Bobby Moore's congratulatory note on the Salt Lake Stadium

Another memorable event was watching Mohammed Ali Cassius Clay box at Earl's Court in 1966. He knocked out the British champion Brian London in round three. Ali danced, gyrated, shuffled around London, and unleashed a flurry of punches over a mere ten seconds in round 3. Ali punched at unbelievable speed, and London collapsed like a tumbled sack of potatoes. Ali demonstrated God-like athleticism. Critics claim he was the best athlete of all time, and I consider myself privileged to have watched him in action.

Watching Ali has remained an unforgettable experience in my life. So much so that 50 years later, in 2016, I wrote a blog on that boxing match and re-lived the occasion, entitled 'Ten Seconds to Knockout'. But I have not watched another boxing match since. Because later, I became aware of and subscribed to the adverse views about this sport.

In 1966 and 1967, prodded by a few friends, we went to Brands Hatch in Kent and watched the Formula One Grand Prix and the Race of Champions. I watched in jaw-dropping awe cars like Cooper-Maserati, Ferrari, Porsche, and the new entrant Formula Ford zoom past us at 150 km/h. My adrenaline pumped like never before. The Paddock Hill bend at Brands Hatch was notorious for witnessing fatal accidents at regular intervals. Fortunately, I did not see any deadly accidents during my two visits. However, I did not revisit these hair-raising events as they scared me more than entertained me. Subsequently, I discussed these races with one of my Imperial colleagues, who was researching the effects of a high-impact car crash for the Transport Research Laboratory.

I avidly visited London's famed art galleries and museums as one who loves more tranquil pursuits. Through my successive visits to the National Gallery and Tate Britain, I came to appreciate, among others, the romanticism of Constable's landscapes on the one hand and, paradoxically, also the violence of Turner's seascapes on the other. Constable and Turner were the two most well-known English painters of the 19^th century.

The sparkling diamond Koh-i-Noor overwhelmed me in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. I recalled the chequered journey of that jewel from the Golconda mines in south India to Delhi, Persia, Afghanistan, Punjab, and finally to London and the controversy surrounding it. The government of India claimed ownership of the Koh-i-Noor and has been periodically demanding its return since India gained independence from the British in 1947.

Not just the government of India but the governments of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and even the Taliban outreach have claimed the return of the diamond. The issue is sensitive, and I suspect it will remain on the international political seesaw for a long while. As the controversy grew stronger after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, BBC published a Reels video on this subject in December 2022. It is entitled, 'The 'cursed' diamond set into the Crown Jewels'.

At the British Museum, the Lewis Chessmen, a collection of chess pieces carved from walrus ivory and whale teeth, captured my attention as a chess player. At the Science Museum, opposite Imperial College, the star attraction for me was Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, the precursor of the later-day computer. The enormous blue whale skeleton overawed me at the nearby Natural History Museum. These museums attracted me so much that I revisited them several times in later years, even long after I left the Imperial.

My wife Kalpana and I revisited the British Museum in January 2014

In the realm of performing arts, I watched ballets and plays. I was an enthusiast in my twenties, as were some of my friends. I remember, in 1969, a few friends and I queued overnight at Covent Garden Royal Opera House under the open London sky to buy tickets for a ballet by the illustrious Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev. The trouble we took was more than adequately rewarded. The grace of the subtle fairy-like movements of the famed duo continues to linger in my mind.

Also, I have captivating memories of plays I watched at the West End. Agatha Christie's 'Mousetrap' and John Osborne's 'Look Back in Anger' were noteworthy among the plays I watched. In 1970, I watched 'Oh! Calcutta!' This theatrical revue drew sharp controversy due to its scenes of male and female nudity and raunchy dialogues. Initially, I was intrigued and drawn to it because the title contained 'Calcutta', my hometown. But later, I found no real connection between the play and my hometown and was somewhat relieved. Many critics and I felt the vulgarity of the revue had crossed the line.

On the other hand, the four-hundred-year-old Shakespearian play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' enacted in the idyllic outdoor setting of Regent's Park Open Air Theatre held me spellbound. And listening to the open-air opera/ orchestra at Holland Park enraptured me.

The Chelsea Flower Show was a fixed annual event in my diary. Every year, my friends and I visited the show in May. As most tropical flowers in India are fragrant, I was instinctively attracted to the scented flowers. They included hyacinth, magnolia, gardenia, honeysuckle, and a few varieties of rose. But the bright colours of non-fragrant flowers like sunflower, dahlia, and hibiscus, too, charmed me.

Elsewhere, in the Kew Garden, during springtime, the merry riot of colours of rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias seemed to turn the garden into a fairyland, especially when the wind blew and the weeping willows whispered. The visual memories of landscaped gardens, such as Kew, remain vivid. I recalled that Sir David Prain, the Director of Kew Garden at the turn of the 20^th century, was also the Director of Botanical Gardens Calcutta immediately before that. And, here was I, a Calcutta boy who had visited both Gardens in London and Calcutta, both workplaces of their former Director David Prain, a Scotsman. To me, it appeared serendipitous!

I joined Imperial in 1965 when London was in the middle of the swinging sixties. That year, the Beatles '65 Album jumped to the number one position in the US. At Imperial residence halls and elsewhere, one listened endlessly to 'A Hard Day's Night'. Next year, the world rocked with the 'Yellow Submarine and 'Eleanor Rigby'. Like hundreds of millions across the English-speaking world, I, too, became a Beatles rock band fan.

Later, in 1967, 'Puppet on a String' by Sandie Shaw won the Eurovision Song Contest. The following year, Cliff Richard's 'Congratulations and Celebrations' sent the audience into rapture at the same contest where he was the runner-up. I was thrilled to watch Cliff pace the large proscenium opening at Queen ElizabethHall on the South Bank, singing 'Congratulations and Celebrations'.

In classical music, young maestro Daniel Barenboim emerged on the scene about then. His rendering of Beethoven's Sonata No. 14, 'Moonlight' on the piano, was and remains one of my life's most memorable musical experiences. 

I was a voracious reader. I read essays, novels, plays, and poems in my free time. One weekend, I sat on the wide ledge of the window of my eighth-floor room in Weeks Hall overlooking the greenery of Prince's Gardens and read 'Gone with the Wind'. I did so in one session, interrupted only by food and toilet breaks. I had watched the movie earlier and kept visualising Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in the lead roles. The prevailing racial discrimination of that era deeply stirred me.

I read lots of poetry. One of my favourite poems was Nobel laureate T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets. Even now, I read and reread them periodically. Because they throw up some new interpretations each time I read. I quote below a few of my favourite lines:

'In my beginning is my end. In succession

Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,

Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place

Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass'.

These lines connote the mysticism of spirituality that transcends ordinary understanding. On a mundane plane, however, I suspect the destruction and restoration of houses, factories, and by-passes also resonated with the civil engineer in me.

I read intermittently about architecture, sculpture, and painting. Among others, I read Kenneth Clark's book 'Civilisation' and watched its highly acclaimed thirteen-episode serialisation on BBC2 in 1969. I bought books on Western art and architecture, thick fat books with many illustrations, from a used bookstore on Thurloe Street called 'South Kensington Books', near the South Kensington underground station.

I became enamoured of the world of Western art and architecture and have remained so ever since. In 2021, I authored a paper on the architecture and related aspects of the Victoria Memorial Hall, the most important monument in British India. My paper's title is 'Victoria Memorial Hall, India: engineering, architecture, conservation and modernisation'. The Institution of Civil Engineers London published the article in its Proceedings. I can confirm that I could write this paper because Kenneth Clark introduced me to Western architecture during my Imperial days. His writings have remained inspirational to me.

Frequently, I looked at architecture near Imperial College in South Kensington. Georgian architecture dominates almost all of South Kensington (and much of London). Georgian architecture's symmetry, proportion, and simplicity appealed to the structural engineer in me. Also, the geometric purity of the Renaissance revivalist form in Georgian buildings allured me greatly. I enjoyed walking around the College neighbourhood, dominated by Georgian buildings. It elevated my soul.

However, there are a few significant buildings near the College that belong to other genres of architecture. During my overground walks from South Kensington underground station to the College, I saw the Victoria and Albert Museum in charming Italian Renaissance, built primarily in terracotta, brick and mosaic. On the opposite side, across Exhibition Road, however, the imposing Gothic Revival and Romanesque architecture of the Natural History Museum sadly subdued my soul and baffled my mind. Further down Exhibition Road, the modernist façade of the Mormon Church, also known as Hyde Park Chapel, in Portland stone, with its pointed golden spire, was a contrast that brought a welcome variation to my eyes. That walk down Exhibition Road brought a variety of architecture into view.  

Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London (courtesy of Diliff.jpg under a Creative Commons licence)

Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London (courtesy of Dliff.jpg under a Creative Commons licence)

To the immediate left of the Mormon Church, as I entered Princes Gate Mews, I saw the mid-20^th century modernism in the newly constructed Southside Halls. I lived in one of those halls, Tizard Hall, for one year, from 1966 to 1967. These buildings, specimens of minimalistic architecture, had bare concrete facades and interiors. They appeared cold and uninviting, especially compared to the warmth and grace of the nearby Georgian houses. That was in the 1960s. I hear the College demolished those halls recently, and 21st-century facilities have come up, but I have yet to see them.  

Lastly, I travelled a great deal. During vacations every year, two or three of my friends and I rented a motorcar and camping gear. We went camping at selected destinations across the UK and Europe. During my seven years at Imperial, I toured almost all major European cities—from Moscow to Madrid and Helsinki to Rome. In these cities, I took a keen interest, among others, in art and architecture. Aside from London, my favourite cities are Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and Leningrad (earlier called St Petersburg).

Thus, I had great fun pursuing various extracurricular activities while not researching at Imperial. These included sports, arts, music, ballet, theatre, literature, architecture, landscape, and travel. Looking back with nostalgia, I know these activities helped profoundly shape my personality. They lifted me to a higher level of appreciation of holistic life.

Structural engineering research is an intense pursuit. It tends to encourage a tunnel view of life. My seven-year stint at Imperial immersed me in structural engineering research as planned. Simultaneously, I pursued these multiple extracurricular activities and developed a broader perspective. These activities brought a variety of sights, shapes, sounds, songs, scents, and sentiments to my life. They broadened my horizons and provided relief to my intense engineering research work. Such a broadening was possible due to the location of Imperial in the very heart of London—a swinging cosmopolitan city. 

Thus, Imperial became integral to my existence. It became a part of my DNA and has remained so ever since. 

Do you have a website or social media channel you'd like us to feature or tag?

1. My LinkedIn page
2. My Blog entitled: 'Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers.'

Your time at Imperial

 What did you learn during your time at Imperial, in class or out?

I learned much during my time at Imperial. I have narrated what I learned out of class in one of the sections above. Below, I recall seven lessons I learned and skills I attained while researching at Imperial.

1. Structural engineering research skill: Imperial helped me hone my skills in structural engineering research, both analytical and experimental. I learned how to tweak the analytical model progressively until its predictions matched the experimental results to an acceptable degree of accuracy. 

Through such experience, I gained the skill to solve many structural engineering problems. The answers to such issues were hitherto either unknown or too arduous for anyone to have attempted earlier. I acquired the confidence that I could solve them, provided I had the required time and resources. That confidence was the most significant benefit I gained during my stint at Imperial.

2. Evaluation of my abilities: Imperial is one of the world's top institutions and attracts many distinguished academics. During my years at Imperial, I worked with or had the opportunity of watching in close quarters many acclaimed scholars in civil engineering. They included, among others, Professors -  Sir Alec Westley Skempton,  Arthur Lempriere Lancey Baker, Alan Wilfred Bishop, Stanley Robert Sparkes, and John Clifford Chapman. 

Among my eminent research colleagues were Dr Patrick Dowling (later Vice Chancellor of Surrey University), Dr Roger Hobbs (later an Emeritus Professor at Imperial), and Dr Graham Owens (later President of the Institution of Structural Engineers). Exposure to such a galaxy of civil engineers encouraged me to evaluate my place in the global matrix of civil engineers.

My mentor and peers continually reviewed my research work, and their review gave me a good evaluation of my ability. Some of my research projects were done collaboratively between Imperial College, on the one hand, and any one of the following institutes, on the other: Cambridge University, École Polytechnique, and University of Liège. Such collaboration required me to work closely with the academics of these renowned institutes. It gave me an excellent opportunity to assess my engineering research abilities compared to these academics. 

Furthermore, professional bodies such as the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) funded most of my projects. Experienced engineers of CIRIA or a similar body appraised every report or article I authored singly or jointly with their funding. 

Thus, my work was reviewed by my mentor, Dr J. C. Chapman and peers from the above institutions. Those reviews were credible markers of my competence as a structural engineering researcher. Over the years, I assessed that I belonged within the top segment of the global matrix of structural engineers.

That was a profound realisation. It empowered me to take on complex structural engineering projects later in my professional career and consider such projects as opportunities and not burdensome. This realisation is the priceless legacy that I received from Imperial. 

3. Hard work has no substitute: I learned that dedicated hard work has no substitute. I observed how untiringly my professors and colleagues worked despite being brilliant. At the same time, I noted with anguish how one of my doctoral research colleagues slowly withered away. He had an outstanding undergraduate track record but did not work diligently in his doctoral research. Consequently, he left Imperial without a doctoral degree after being at it for several years. It was a harsh reminder that brilliance is not enough. One needs to work with dedication.

Later, I looked more closely at the importance of hard work and concluded that talent is not necessarily innate. Talent can be developed at the confluence of three factors: dedicated hard work, done under the tutelage of a competent mentor, and in a supportive environment. From that understanding, I wrote a blog in 2020 entitled 'Talent is not Innate. It is Developed.' 

I worked under Dr J. C. Chapman, an inspirational mentor, and I had many distinguished colleagues at Imperial. We all worked with dedication in a harmonious, collegial ambience under the guidance of accomplished gurus. Imperial offered us the rare confluence of hard-working fellow researchers, accomplished mentors, and a conducive environment. And that confluence enabled many talents to develop.

4. Innovate and push the boundaries of knowledge: The solution to every research problem calls for innovation in analytical and experimental works. Without innovation, there was no solution. We continually innovated and pushed the boundaries of knowledge, even if by a tiny bit each time. That is what Imperial taught us. The excitement of innovation and the joy of adding to the existing knowledge footprint kept us going at our dedicated hard work. 

5.  Use of computers and programming: In the mid-1960s, engineers began using computers primarily for research. In 1965, when I joined Imperial, I had the shared usage first of an IBM 7090 and, later, of an IBM 360. Those were the early days of computers—those machines occupied large rooms but had a tiny fraction of the power of a present-day PC. I quickly learned the recently developed FORTRAN 4 programming language. After that, I did all my analytical research on these IBM computers using the programs I wrote for the specific problem. 

So did my colleagues for their respective research work. We all helped each other with programming. Our mentors did not know how to program and could not use computers. They depended on our programming skills and mentored us through their deep understanding of structural behaviour.

Those were exciting days. Learning to use computers from its introductory days in engineering has been a great asset that I gained at Imperial. I used that asset effectively throughout my professional career. So, I am indebted to Imperial in more ways than one. 

6. Academia and industry collaboration: During the latter half of the 1960s, consulting firms in Britain brought some of their problems, among others, to Imperial for computerised solutions. It was because those firms did not have the training then in computer programming. 

For example, Freeman Fox and Partners (now known as Hyder Consulting) brought the problem of composite columns of the interchange between M4 and M5 at Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, to Imperial College. It was the most complex junction on the British motorway network, a free-flowing interchange on four levels. They came to my mentor, Dr J. C. Chapman, who entrusted me with this work because we had already developed a computer program for that problem. We found a satisfactory solution to the issue under the guidance of Dr Chapman. It was hugely rewarding for me to work with the senior expert engineers of Freeman Fox. 

Dr William Brown, a Freeman Fox partner and an alum of Imperial, liaised with me on the Almondsbury project. He was a distinguished bridge designer, and we got on very well. Due to that camaraderie, Dr Brown graciously escorted me on a tour of the under-construction Bosphorus bridge in 1973 when I visited Turkey from India. He was the principal designer of the bridge, and I was privileged to ride the construction elevator to the top of one of the towers with him. I saw the mighty suspension bridge that connected Asia and Africa for the first time. It was a memorable learning experience thanks to Dr Brown and my Imperial connection. (Now, there are two more bridges across the Bosphorus). 

Another example of such industry problems was my laboratory investigation of the Ronan Point collapse in Newham, East London, 1968. A gas explosion in the kitchen of an 18th-floor apartment triggered a progressive collapse of one corner of the 22-story tower. Dr Chapman and I investigated the cause of the failure using laboratory models. We did the investigation in collaboration with the designers of the building, and our study threw significant light on the cause of the progressive collapse. 

Ronan Point Collapse, Newham, East London, 1968 (courtesy  of Derek Voller under Creative Commons licence)

Solving that kind of problem gave me a deep insight into the minds of highly skilled professional designers while I was still a researcher. That insight has been significant learning from my Imperial days and helped me resolve many complex issues later in my professional career as the leader of my consulting firm in India. 

7.  Writing technical articles: I also learned to write technical papers using precise substantiated statements. Dr Chapman was highly skilled in writing technical articles and taught me that art. Over the years, he and I jointly authored many reports and documents. 

For the first paper we jointly wrote, Dr Chapman made me revise the draft paper as many as six times before accepting the final version. When he asked me to change the fourth version, I became slightly exasperated and asked, 'Dr Chapman, doesn't this look fine?'. His reply came promptly, and I remember it verbatim. He said, 'Look, there could be half a dozen ways of telling a story, and I would be willing to accept your way, even though that might be different from mine, so long as it was one of the half a dozen ways.' 

Those words hit me like a stinging slap on my cheek, and my face became red from ear to ear. I always remembered that rebuke and never quibbled about revising a draft again. I drew comfort from what Nobel Laureate Ernst Hemingway famously said about revising drafts. He said, 'I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.' That was my valued learning process. 

However, to my credit, Dr Chapman made only a few edits to our later joint articles. In one of our last papers, he made only one tweak. At one place in that paper, I had written, 'It is reasonable to assume….'. After consideration, Dr Chapman changed that to 'It is not unreasonable to assume…'. That day, I was a happy man as I realised that I had been able to meet the exacting standards of my mentor. I learned the art of writing technical papers. 

However, one of my eminent fellow researchers was critical of Dr Chapman's emphasis on choosing the right words and phrases. He felt Dr Chapman was fastidious, even punctilious, with his English to the extent that he killed the free flow of the text. But I disagreed with him because my Guru was a proven warrior, and I was comfortable following his way. We were writing technical articles that demanded exactitude. We were not writing creative essays that allowed a free flow of imagination and text. 

I have narrated earlier in this story the substantial horizon broadening extracurricular activities I pursued during my time at Imperial, but out of the classroom. 

Thus, at Imperial, I learned many technical skills, broadened my horizons in class and out, and gained lasting confidence in my abilities.

Can you tell us about your studies at Imperial?

The primary area of my research at Imperial was the behaviour of steel-concrete composite construction. The work interpreted and quantified the complex interaction between steel and concrete in composite construction. The work led to, among others, rational design rules for shear connectors between the two materials (such as headed welded studs). The outcome of research at Imperial went into formulating a part of CP-117. It was the code of practice on composite construction published in the 1960s.

I researched for seven years, from 1965 to 1972. I earned my PhD and DIC (Diploma of Imperial College) in 1969 on the strength of my research during the third and fourth years. I hesitated to submit my PhD thesis as I wanted to take the investigation to the next level before writing my thesis. However, Dr Chapman convinced me there was enough material for a PhD, and I should submit it. I wrote my thesis at his urging and found that it sailed through. Once again, I understood my Guru knew best!

I published the outcome of my research, either singly or jointly with my mentor Dr Chapman and others, in the form of theses/ dissertations, as papers in refereed journals and the proceedings of international conferences, or, in one case, as a design monograph. I also authored several internal reports for Imperial College.

I mentored, under the overall guidance of Dr Chapman, three postgraduate students in completing their dissertations.

Below is a list of selected publications I authored/co-authored:

1. 'Concrete-filled tubular steel columns under eccentric loading' The Structural Engineer, Journal of the Institution of Structural Engineers, London, May 1969 - cited even four decades after its publication.
2. My PhD Thesis, published by the University of London - Entitled: 'Triaxial Effects in Concrete-Filled Tubular Steel Columns', 1969 - cited 34 times  
3. Design Monograph (170 pages): 'Ultimate load tables for concrete-filled tubular steel columns. - Construction Industry Research & Information Association (CIRIA), London, U.K., 1970.
4. 'Analysis of non-linear structures' - International Conference on Variational Methods, Southampton, U.K.,1972.
5. 'Triaxial stresses in short circular concrete-filled tubular steel columns' - RILEM Symposium, Cannes, France, 1972.
6.  'Victoria Memorial Hall, India – Engineering, Architecture, Maintenance, and Upgradation' - the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 2021.

Based on the reviews of my works by peers and feedback from fellow researchers, it is reasonable to say that my research pushed the boundaries of knowledge, transformed the field, developed innovative solutions, and continues impacting composite construction.    

Who did you find inspiring at Imperial and why?

I drew inspiration from many outstanding people at Imperial. Here, I have selected three of those who influenced me the most.  

1.   Dr J. C. Chapman:  Dr J. C. Chapman was my mentor. I worked under his guidance for seven years between 1965 and 1972, first as a doctoral researcher and later as a postdoctoral fellow. 

      Dr John Clifford Chapman (Jack to his colleagues and Dr Chapman to his students)  had a distinguished teaching and research career in structural engineering at Imperial spanning several decades. He mentored fifty researchers, leading to their respective PhDs and publications in refereed journals. Students came to him from across the globe. During my time, for example, his students included Kevin Moffatt from New Zealand, Don Williams from Australia, Peter Lim from Singapore, S. P. Sarna/ Prabir Neogi/ me from India, Bijan Aalami from Iran, Lloyd Yam from Hong Kong, Alexander Stamenkovic from Yugoslavia, Ian Tereszkevic/ Peter Malewski from Poland, Patrick Dowling from the Irish Republic, and Graham Owens from England. 

Dr John Clifford Chapman

      Dr Chapman treated all his students equally. He could easily bridge the considerable sociological and cultural divergences these students brought. The unifying strand was structural engineering. Everything else became secondary. This way, Dr Chapman worked beyond borders; to my mind, this is his single most remarkable legacy. He was a straightforward person who preferred to understate rather than overstate. Never pompous, always humane. I remember him as a guru and a fair-minded human being. 

He was a slim man of medium height and wore a midnight blue three-piece lounge suit. In his mid-forties, he had a receding forehead and wore a bowler hat while travelling. He lived in Haywards Heath, came by British Rail to Victoria, and invariably read a technical paper or thesis during the 45-minute train ride each way. From Victoria station, he travelled underground to South Kensington station. Then, he walked the distance between the underground station and the Civil & Environmental Engineering building (now known as Skempton Building) along the long underground tunnel. He never used the overground route, even though that was more pleasant because the underground tunnel saved him time. 

I mention this because, on the way back, he would usually ask one of his mentees to walk with him in the evenings. During the walk, he discussed specific problems of the mentee's research work. He walked very fast, and we, his mentees, approximately twenty years his junior, found it hard to keep up with him. I did this walk with him many times. He was a man in a hurry and remained focused on structural engineering.  

Dr Chapman was a good squash player. He played squash with one of us twice a week in rotation during the lunch break. He beat me and all the other researchers hollow, except Don Williams, who won occasionally. My mentor was fighting-fit in his body and mind. I am privileged that he was my mentor.  

Dr Chapman was a great structural thinker, and it is one of my greatest fortunes that I have had the opportunity of working under him for seven years. He had an invisible third eye, which could visualise the deflected shape of any structure under a given loading condition. Dr Chapman attached a little value to the volumes of printouts churned out by his students using fancy computers unless those tallied with his perception. He used the computer outputs merely to confirm his perception and to add supporting finer numbers in the papers published subsequently.  

Due to Dr Chapman's unifying influence, we, his students, became a family away from our homes. We worked together, helping and complementing each other without rivalry or jealousy. We went for lunch in groups across the Exhibition Road to the South Side halls (then brand new, now demolished and replaced by 21st-century buildings). In summer, we would go for post-lunch walks in the Kensington Gardens and partied together once or twice a year. We had a great time together, devoid of any pettiness or backbiting. Such a bonhomie was possible due to the excellent work culture Dr Chapman instilled in us.  

Dr Chapman took me to the meetings of the CP117 code committee, which was then formulating the provisions of steel-concrete composite design under the chairmanship of the legendary Oleg Kerensky. Dr Chapman was a member of that committee. I helped him with the detailed data that years of research at Imperial had produced and accumulated. It was a large committee comprising a room full of eminent structural engineers. I noticed that Dr Chapman seldom spoke, but when he did, his point was almost always accepted. That quintessentially was Dr Chapman.  

He urged me to become a chartered member of the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers. He proposed my application for membership at both Institutions. With such an eminent proposer, my applications sailed through. I passed the qualifying processes and got my membership at both Institutions without glitches.  

Institution of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, London (courtesy  of Eluvietie under a Creative Commons licence)

I planned to apply for a job at Boeing, Seattle, California, in 1971. They were offering generous packages. I asked Dr Chapman what he thought about it. He promptly said, 'But, Sen, I am sure you don't want to be a part of the brain drain.' I quipped, 'But I already am!' Dr Chapman knit his eyebrows and looked at me in askance for a few seconds, and he smiled and said, 'I thought you belonged here.' Though it came unwittingly, I took that as an enormous compliment from my mentor. I told myself, 'Dear man, your training period is over. It is time for you to veer off doing your stuff without the cover of a mentor.' That is when I started thinking of returning to India permanently. 

I slightly regret that Dr Chapman never invited me to his home in Haywards Heath. Not just me; he did not ask any of his students home. It was probably because Dr Chapman was an intensely private and shy person who seldom smiled. He never discussed his early career or his family. Four Indians, including me, did PhD under him during my time. However, he never told any of us that he had spent a year in India as a captain of the Royal Engineers. It was shortly after the Second World War while India was still under British rule. I came to know about this from another source. I found it puzzling. 

My regret dissolved much later in 1996 during one of my visits to London. Dr Chapman invited me for lunch at the Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall. The neoclassical club building is substantial, and its facilities are similar to clubs in Kolkata of the colonial era. I was familiar with the club culture as I am a member of three clubs in Kolkata, founded more than a hundred years ago during British rule. During lunch, Dr Chapman told me Athenaeum inducted intellectuals and geriatrics as members. In his case, he said wryly, it must have been the latter! Quite unusually for him, Dr Chapman opened up about his experience in India and his family. Then he asked about my wife and kids, which he had never done before. I felt emotionally closer to my mentor.  

I was deeply saddened when Dr Chapman died in 2011 at age 88. I wrote my eulogy for him in my Blog entitled 'Dr. John Clifford Chapman - mentor extraordinaire, passes away'.  

Five years later, in 2016, I was pleasantly surprised to find his son Andrew Chapman's appreciative comment on that Blog. In the 1960s, in his office chamber at the Imperial, Dr Chapman used to keep a framed family photograph on his side cupboard. The family comprised Dr Chapman, his wife Judy, daughter Sarah, and son Andrew. Andrew was then a junior schoolboy. Fifty years passed, and Andrew commented on my Blog about his father, my revered mentor. It touched a deep cord in me.

2.   Professor S. R. Sparkes:  I was fortunate to have Professor S. R. Sparkes as the head of structural engineering. He was an extraordinary human being. He laughed heartily and encouraged unreservedly. Everything around him was sunny and bright. He was a well-built, handsome man with blonde hair and mostly wore a camel hair topcoat to colour-match admirably with his blonde hair. 

Professor Stanley Robert Sparkes

     I joined Imperial as a Commonwealth Scholar in 1965. After a few months of my joining, Prof Sparkes, perchance, met me on the corridor. As was his practice, he engaged in a lively conversation with me. He was glad I was a Commonwealth Scholar and asked about the scholarship's value. His face fell when I told him I got £56 per month. He quickly said, 'But Sen, that is even below subsistence level! How do you manage?'. I told him I ran a tight budget but wasn't complaining. I was grateful to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission for this fantastic opportunity at Imperial. 

I thought that was the end of the chapter. But no, Prof. Sparkes met my mentor, Dr Chapman and me a few weeks later. He told us that he had arranged for a fund to pay me a significantly higher monthly amount. He had looked up the terms of the Commonwealth Scholarship. Since the amount paid by the College would be more than the scholarship amount, I would have to forego the scholarship amount. So, I unhesitatingly relinquished the remaining tenure of my scholarship and became an employee of Imperial. As an employee of Imperial, I got all the benefits and received annual salary increments. After I completed my PhD, my salary had a quantum jump. Furthermore, I earned extra amounts from consulting work that came to the College either to Prof. Sparkes or Dr Chapman. On some of those, they co-opted me into the team. 

That extra amount made such a lot of difference in my life. I could now afford the extracurricular activities I listed earlier in this story. Not only that, but I could also upgrade my wardrobe. In 1965, I landed in London with one suit made in Calcutta. Later, I bought a second suit from the down-scale Burton Menswear on Oxford Street. With my finances easing, courtesy of Prof Sparkes, I slowly graduated to three-piece suits from Simpsons of Piccadilly (now known as DAKS). However, I returned to India before I fulfilled my final sartorial aspiration of owning bespoke suits from Saville Row. But I have no regrets about that because the brand of my dress was secondary to me! 

46 Gordon Road, Ealing, London W5 (courtesy of Google Maps)

I lived in halls of residence for three years until I was no longer entitled to hostel accommodation. The augmented income enabled me to move to an apartment. I rented a sizeable single-bedroom apartment. It was in a corner building at 46 Gordon Road at its T-junction with Carlton Gardens in Ealing, London W5, within walking distance of Ealing Broadway underground station on the District Line. I took the District Line directly to South Kensington to get to Imperial. I seldom drove as driving took much longer.

The building had front and rear gardens, and the locality was leafy. Magnolia trees lined the side lane Carlton Gardens abutting the building. I had a charming view from my kitchen window when the magnolia blossomed in white, pink, and purple shades. 

In the corner, that post box in the trademark post-office-red colour witnessed me drop many letters to my parents in Kolkata. In emergencies, we used telegrams, which went out of service in the UK in 1982 and India in 2013. Thus, the millennials and Gen Z have never seen a telegram in service in the UK. So, I give below the picture of a congratulatory telegram I received from my parents and family after I completed my PhD in 1969. The telegram is a kind of historic specimen.

My parents and family sent this congratulatory telegram to me after I completed my PhD in 1969. It is a historic specimen of a product obselete in the UK for four decades and India for one decade

The landlord, Stewart Muir, was a sophisticated person who invited me for a drink once or twice a year, and we chatted on wide-ranging issues. I lived there for three years happily.

Laleham Court, Chobham Road, Woking, Surrey (courtesy of Google Maps)

           

By then, my income at Imperial had risen further. So, I bought a three-bedroom apartment in a DOE (the Department of Environment) commended complex. It was called Laleham Court, located on Chobham Road in Woking, Surrey. It was an upscale complex. My apartment had three bedrooms, was fully carpeted, centrally heated, and had two full bathrooms. I had to get the association's approval regarding the colour of my window curtain; the association ensured that the fabric went with the external facades of the buildings!

I made a small down payment with my savings and took a Woolwich Equitable Building Society loan. Getting the loan and buying the apartment went like a breeze; no comparison with the huge hungama one would go through in India then. That was the first real estate investment I made with the expectation of a good value appreciation, and it did appreciate. I was lucky because, in 1971 and 1972, property prices in England rose unprecedentedly.

It was a twenty-six-minute train ride out of Waterloo on a fast train with one stop in Byfleet. The passengers in that train were all city gentry wearing bowler hats and pinstripe suits and carrying immaculately folded umbrellas. They read the Telegraph or the Financial Times in peaceful silence. Though I stuck with the Guardian and the Times, I followed their attire and attitude and travelled first class to avoid undue attention. Thus, I almost entered the cusp of gentrification in England. But I returned to India before completing the process! 

Professor Sparkes's thoughtful concern early in my career at Imperial removed my initial financial constraints. I have remained ever so grateful to Prof Sparkes for his consideration. 

Professor Sparkes and Mrs Sparkes lived in Harrow on the Hill—a small hamlet in northwest London, one of the city's hidden gems. Mrs Sparkes winked frequently. So, everyone called her Winkie. In July 1967, Prof and Mrs Sparkes invited a few of my research colleagues and me for dinner at their home. Two of us did not have transport. So, Prof Sparkes graciously offered us a lift from Imperial to his home. He drove an Austin Princess, a sizeable black luxury sedan. 

A Friday evening, we were going through the congested streets of London. At one crossing where Prof Sparkes had the right of way, another motorist broke the rule and crossed his path. Prof Sparkes gently hooted to alert that person. To this, the violator responded with an obscene gesture through shut windows. Prof Sparkes was a cool guy. He softly muttered, 'Look at his pugnacity!' and drove on. The two of us did not say anything. But I remember that event because I instantly realised I had never heard anyone use the word 'pugnacity' in conversation. I knew that word well, but only in written text form. It was the first time I listened to the word in a conversation. Such incidents fascinate me because I am keen on the nuances of the English language. 

At home, Prof and Mrs Sparkes treated us to drinks and an excellent dinner. But the real treat was a surprise. After dinner, he switched on his brand-new television. We watched BBC2 in colour. On July 1, 1967, BBC2 launched colour television to the British public. It was the first time many of us watched colour television. That evening's experience was memorable. 

In the winter of 1969, Prof and Mrs Sparkes visited New Delhi. IIT Delhi had a collaborative arrangement with Imperial, and Prof Sparkes chaired the committee at Imperial. At the same time, I also visited Delhi on a vacation after completing my PhD. I stayed at the home of one of my four elder brothers, Dr S. K. Sengupta. He was a senior central government official credited for his significant contribution toward malaria eradication in India during the 1960s (alas, malaria is back again in India). He, my sister-in-law Kalyani, and their preteen daughter, Soma, lived in Safdarjang Enclave in New Delhi. Prof and Mrs Sparkes came to my brother's apartment for dinner at my invitation. Both loved my sister-in-law's cooking, and we had a convivial evening punctuated by Prof Sparkes's hearty laughter. I was delighted they visited our family home. 

Later, sadly, Prof Sparkes had both retina detachments and used a series of lenses, like the telephoto lens of a camera, to read documents. But that did not dampen his indomitable spirits. Watching him taught me to take life's ups and downs with equanimity.   

I am indebted to Prof Sparkes in more ways. In the United Kingdom, I had to renew my visa every year. It was an arduous process and required a recommendation from Prof Sparkes. So, in 1969, after I completed my PhD, Prof Sparkes wrote a strong proposal supporting my visa application. He unequivocally told the visa officer that if I returned to India, it would be a gain for India and a loss for Britain! This time around, the visa officer removed all restrictions on my stay. He stamped the passport: 'The holder can stay and work in Britain as long as he wants.' It meant I could ask for British citizenship and get it whenever I desired. 

Yet, I stayed in Britain until 1972 to complete the ongoing research projects. Then, I returned to India despite having a highly remunerative job offer at Fluor Corporation in Farnborough. I returned to India to be near my ageing parents and do my bit for my country. 

3.   Denis Denness:  I was blessed to have met Denis Denness and, later, his wife, Joyce Denness. I met Denis at Imperial College. He was a dedicated lab technician and worked on the lab experiments of my research projects. Denis assembled the experimental setups that my research needed and assisted me during testing. 

Denis and Joyce Denness

He was a short, plump person with large, smiling eyes. He wore a trench coat over a shirt, tie, and cardigan and carried his homemade sandwich for lunch. His demeanour was kind and friendly, not just toward me but everyone. 

Denis was highly skilled at his job. The testing rigs, specimens, and measuring devices required careful planning and meticulous execution. Peter Giles and Jack Neale, the head and deputy head of the lab technicians, oversaw the process. Peter was outstanding at finding ways to accommodate an experimental rig's complex demands. While he was outwardly formal, outside college hours, he was friendly. Once, he invited me to his home over the weekend. I helped him and his wife shop at the local Waitrose, and we had enjoyable meals and outings. It made a welcome change for me. 

On the other hand, Jack Neale was casual and friendly with the technicians and the researchers. I remember him climbing the steel stairs, three steps at a time, leading up to his office on the mezzanine floor, exclaiming, 'Woof, Woof'. He shouted like that all the time; from that, one knew where he was in that vast laboratory occupying two and a half floors. It was not a stimming behaviour or a quirk. I thought he was hyper-acidic and belched for relief. 

At times, for big setups, other lab technicians, like Malcolm Bracken, helped Denis.   Consequently, over the years, all my experiments requiring substantial loading using hefty hydraulic jacks and intricate measuring equipment went smoothly without any accidents. For example, we tested full-scale concrete-filled tubular steel columns. In one set of lab tests, the column specimens were 3.05 m long and 16.94 cm in diameter. They tested to 750 kN loading at 47.62 mm eccentricity. Now, 750 kN was a significant loading that could lead to life-threatening accidents if a mishap occurred. I remain obliged to all these gentlemen who took care of every detail, resulting in the smooth conduct of experiments. 

Eccentrically loaded column testing rig

We had two tea breaks and one lunch break. In the early part of my tenure, when I was new in the lab, I became curious when Malcolm jovially shouted at lunchtime, 'It's din-dins time'. I deduced din-dins was the colloquial form of dinner, but this was lunchtime, so why call it dinner? I learned later that the term also refers to a meal at midday, especially when it is the day's main meal. Play of English words, as I said, fascinated me.

One other lab technician helped Denis and me with the experiments. His face I remember, but not his name. He spoke pure Cockney, most of which I could not decipher. I had read Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. And I had watched its recently released film version, 'My Fair Lady', in which the protagonist, Eliza Doolittle (portrayed by the unforgettable Audrey Hepburn), spoke incessant Cockney. It required Prof Higgins (inimitable actor Rex Harrison) to make meaning out of the Cockney. In my case, Denis interpreted the Cockney for me and served as a social and cultural bridge when I needed one.  

Denis and I worked well as a team in the lab. We developed a friendship bridging our considerable age and cultural gap. He and Joyce were a kind-hearted couple who took me under their wings and gave me unconditional love, expecting nothing in return. Their home at Kemble Road, a townhouse in Forest Hill, a district in southeast London, gradually became my second home. I called him Denis and her Aunt Joyce. She worked in an administrative post in the local district hospital. 

Their son and only child, Robin, was several years my junior—already working in the real estate sector. Denis's nephew, Tony Bray, a solicitor, was a frequent visitor and was my age. Denis and Aunt Joyce had Victorian moral values. They grew up reading 'How Green Was My Valley' set in a mining area of Wales in Victorian Britain. On the other hand, Robin and Tony were products of the modern age that witnessed the gradual dismantling of the British empire. They did not carry any Victorian-era baggage but resembled more the US baby boomers. They bantered and laughed endlessly. The five of us combined tradition and modernism and got on famously. 

Once a month, or thereabout, the Denness family would invite me to their home for Sunday lunch. After a delectable four-course lunch, we would animatedly discuss everything over cups of coffee and lumps of chocolates. Other invitees also joined. 

In 1968, for example, we hotly discussed the infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech by the Conservative MP Enoch Powell. His speech strongly criticised immigration, especially Commonwealth immigration to the United Kingdom. The address caused a political storm, making Powell one of the most talked about and divisive politicians. The Times newspaper declared it 'an evil speech'. That was the first time a British politician appealed to racial hatred in this direct way in Britain's post-war history. It led to his dismissal from the Shadow cabinet by Conservative Party leader Edward Heath. 

Regardless of that dismissal, that speech instilled fear in my mind and the minds of many non-whites in Britain. Although I felt safe in the South Kensington area, I would avoid going to places like Euston or Warren Street in the late evenings. Be that as it may, I never faced racial discrimination during my seven years in the United Kingdom. Imperial College was a paradise for students and researchers of colour.  

At the Denness home, we discussed, among others, gender issues. As late as 1972, in one such discussion, we unanimously concluded that Britain could have a woman prime minister only after 2028. That would be the centenary year of women getting voting rights for the first time. How wrong could we be? Just seven years later, Margaret Thatcher became the first female British prime minister and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century! 

Denis and Aunt Joyce were a harmonious couple who never raised their voices at each other. While he executed home repair works with precision, Aunt Joyce prepared gourmet dishes in the kitchen. Nobody cooked better a chicken vol-au-vent, roast mutton, or shepherd's pie. 

In the latter half of the 1960s, middle-class English homes began drinking more wine than earlier. Their favourites were the Rhine Valley Liebfraumilch or French Cabernet Sauvignon. However, Denis was a nationalist and didn't like drinking foreign wines. He preferred his scotch whiskey. 

Occasionally, Denis drove us in his immaculately maintained Wolseley sedan through the meandering roads of the beautiful English countryside in the late summer afternoons. Tony followed in his Citroen ID19 DS, the unforgettable model with its endearing shape. Denis felt openly uneasy that his nephew drove a French car, and that car was trailing his Wolseley steadfastly. He barely glanced at his rear-view mirror to avoid seeing the trailing French car. He was such a thoroughbred nationalist. Once, I mentioned to Denis what Einstein thought of Nationalism. The renowned scientist had said, 'Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind'. It triggered a long debate, but Denis did not relent. 

The rolling meadows were pristine green, with cattle grazing here and there. We stopped at preselected, sought-after tearooms and had hot scones with clotted cream washed down with first-flush Darjeeling tea. Those were idyllic drives—experiences I cherished. 

Once, I told them how Rembrandt's painting 'The Night Watch' held me spellbound. I saw it during one of my trips to Amsterdam. The colossal painting hung majestically at the Rijksmuseum in the full glory of the play of light and shade. A few months later, on my birthday, Denis gifted me a 30-inch x 20-inch oil on canvas, an authorised copy of the central part of the painting. I was overwhelmed by his thoughtful affection. When I returned to London after a vacation in India in 1969, I took gifts of Indian products for each family member, which they heartily appreciated. 

The Night Watch by Rembrandt, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam ( in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

I returned permanently to India in 1972, but we kept in touch. Denis died earlier than expected, but Aunt Joyce lived a fuller life. She and Robin and his family moved to Bedford. Robin, his wife Anne, and their two sons, Ben and Dan, looked after ageing Aunt Joyce very well. In 2011, my wife Kalpana, son Kaustuv, daughter Kasturi, and I visited them in Bedford. Aunt Joyce was delighted to meet my family. It felt like a family reunion after a long gap. 

A few years later, Aunt Joyce passed away in her early nineties. Even up to a year before her death, she sent me birthday cards handwritten in her beautiful cursive hand every year. Today, Robin and I continue to remain in touch. 

It was like a divine intervention that I met Denis at Imperial College; from there, we bonded like family. Their affection made my days in London happier. I was the youngest of my family, living in an alien culture far away from home. The Denness family stabilised me in navigating a foreign land's conflicting social, cultural, and emotional ambience. I am eternally grateful for the invaluable support the Denness family gave me. 

While Dr Chapman mentored me academically and Prof Sparkes safeguarded my employment, Denis, on the other hand, sheltered me socially, culturally, and emotionally. In their different ways, they inspired me to navigate the challenges and opportunities of my life in and out of Imperial College. As I write this story, all of them have passed away, but their memories continue to shine brightly for me.  

What is your fondest memory of your time here?

In November 1965, about a month after I joined Imperial, there was a hushed murmur in the room while we were working at our desks after the mid-morning tea. Everybody rushed to the large glass-paned windows and looked out. We looked at an inner square surrounded by the Civil Engineering and other faculty buildings.

It had started snowing, the first snow of the year. Pristine white snowflakes fell silently from the sky on the tree leaves, rooftops, vehicles, and outdoor people—on their hats and topcoats. We watched the spectacle as if white flower petals were floating and falling from the sky like divine blessings. Slowly, a white blanket covered everything in sight. It was fascinating.

I went to London from the tropical Gangetic plateau in India and had never seen snowfall earlier. That first sight of snowfall is the fondest memory of my stay at Imperial. It compares with my soul-stirring first sights in my earlier years of the majestic Himalayas in Kangra, the boundless sea in Puri, the incredible Taj Mahal in Agra, and, a few years later, the impeccable sculpture of David in Florence (a statue that has been copied thousands of times but never equalled or surpassed in the past five hundred years).

That first sight of snowfall is my fondest memory of my time at Imperial.

What is your favourite place at Imperial and why?

In my time, approximately twenty of us worked in structural engineering doctoral research. We had two successive large rooms on the fourth floor of the Civil Engineering Building (now Skempton Building). Ten of us had our desks in each of those large rooms, and sandwiched between the two large rooms was a tearoom with an adjoining pantry. This tearoom was undoubtedly my favourite place at Imperial.

In the tearoom, men from many countries assembled. Kevin Moffatt from New Zealand, Don Williams from Australia, Peter Lim from Singapore, Edit Amana from Nigeria, Harry May from South Africa, S. P. Sarna/ Prabir Neogi/ Sharad Gadre/ me from India, Bijan Aalami from Iran, Lloyd Yam from Hong Kong, Alexander Stamenkovic from Yugoslavia, Ian Tereszkevic/ Peter Malewski from Poland, Patrick Dowling from the Irish Republic, and Collin Billington/ Roger Hobbs/ Bill Bailey/ Tony Duke/ Peter Kinsey/ Paul Lyons/ Graham Owens from England. These were researchers over my seven years stay, though not all of them simultaneously.

We had only one woman in structural engineering research or faculty. Ms Letitia Chitty was a senior faculty member in her late sixties with a formidable reputation as a structural researcher. She had a separate room at the far end of the fourth floor, where she immersed herself in her work. We only occasionally saw her in the corridors. Other than Ms Chitty, there were no female researchers in structural engineering.

So, the tearoom brightened when Prof Sparkes's secretary, Fiona Williams, or Dr Chapman's secretary, Claire Beresford, walked in with their tea mugs and kettles to use the pantry. They were cheerful young ladies who were our gateways to Prof Sparkes or Dr Chapman. They scheduled our appointments with their bosses. Both were efficient and engaged the researchers in brief, animated conversations. Mary Quant introduced miniskirts in England in 1964. Like many other young women in London then, Fiona and Claire experimented with the length of their skirts but never entirely went to Mary Quant's mini size. Because Imperial then was a somewhat conservative place. Their brief presence was like a breath of fresh air in the otherwise male-occupied tearoom.

In England, in those days, we had two tea breaks, one mid-morning and the other at the traditional teatime. We gathered in the tearoom for 15-20 minutes during these two breaks,. Most of us had biscuits with our tea or coffee. My favourite was McVities Chocolate Digestive, which went well with Tetley tea. But Lloyd Yam was an exception. He had two giant toasts, copiously buttered, and sugar sprinkled all over, adding up to hefty calories. He offered everyone a helping of such toasts. The calorie-conscious among us refrained, but I sometimes had one from him. It reminded me of my home in India, where we took similar buttered toasts covered with a layer of sugar.

Lloyd came from a wealthy family in Hong Kong. He owned a new golden-yellow coloured E-type Jaguar and wore branded clothes and accessories. Once, he took me out for a drive in his Jaguar in Hyde Park, where he drove at such high speed as if he was in Brands Hatch, way beyond the stipulated speed limit. It scared the walkers in the park, who hurriedly jumped away from the road onto the pavement for safety. It scared me, too. Never again I rode with him in that Jaguar. 

It was rather unusual that Lloyd was doing structural engineering research. We all came from middle-class families because primarily middle-class families sent their kids to study engineering. Wealthy family kids generally go for liberal arts, law or business management. Lloyd Yam was an exception. So was Paul Lyons, and both did well with their research.

A handful of our friends were married. Occasionally, one of them would bring a cake baked by his wife at home, and we all shared it merrily.

The conversation in the tearoom flowed freely from sports and cultural events to food and beverage, motor cars, travel, hobbies, natural calamities like earthquakes (of professional interest to structural engineers), and country-specific issues. It was a mini league of nations—all young achievers bubbling with energy and positivity. We had no bickering, jealousy, or backbiting; we only had an occasional good-humoured banter and plenty of laughter. It was a happy tearoom.

Sharad Gadre, Prabir Neogi, and I went out infrequently for an Indian meal at a restaurant or Sharad's modest dig at Earl's Court. He was a reasonable cook, and we shared a chicken curry and rice meal that he cooked for us. More importantly, Sharad was a passionate musician, both vocal and instrumental. He sang Bollywood songs and Indian classical ragas and played the Sarod. Music was our main attraction at his dig.

Prabir Neogi and I, on the other hand, lived in the Southside Halls and frequently played chess in the evenings.

After so many decades, I have kept in touch with many tearoom friends. Among them is Dr Patrick Dowling (PhD Imperial), formerly President of the Institution of Structural Engineers and Vice Chancellor of Surrey University. I met him after many years in Hong Kong in 2008 at the Centenary Conference of the Institution of Structural Engineers. Later, we met several times in London. In 2009, he took me to the Athenaeum Club in Pall Mall for lunch, where Dr Chapman had brought me earlier. Patrick and I had a delightful meeting. We reminisced about our days at Imperial and discussed what we had done since then. He updated me on many of our familiar friends from the tearoom. Sadly, Patrick passed away in April 2023 after living a full life. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Dr Patrick Dowling (left) and Dr Hirak Sen, the Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London, 2009

Dr Graham Owens did his MSc and PhD at Imperial under Dr Chapman. Later, in 2011, he was elected the President of the Institution of Structural Engineers, and in that capacity, he visited Kolkata. I was then, as I am now, the Country Representative of the Institution in Kolkata. In that role, I coordinated all engagements for Graham in Kolkata. Among others, he delivered the keynote address to the chartered members of the Institution in eastern India, and I had the privilege of chairing that meeting. We had a few memorable days visiting several institutions in Kolkata.

Dr Hirak Sen (left) chaired a meeting of the Institution of Structural Engineers, and Dr Graham Owens, President, the Institution, delivered the keynote address, the Bengal Club, Kolkata, 2009

I am in regular touch with Dr Paul Lyons (PhD Imperial), the founder and chairman of a successful structural engineering software company based in Kingston on Thames. I have visited his office more than once in the last two decades. During one of my London visits in 2014, I invited him for dinner at a restaurant off Oxford Street, and as usual, we caught up on old times.

Dr Paul Lyons (left) and  Dr Hirak Sen, London, 2014

The same year, I met Peter Malewski, who did his MSc dissertation under Dr Chapman, and I was his immediate mentor. However, Peter left structural engineering long ago and moved to strategic development at the National Archives Kew, Richmond, Surrey. I met him at the Archives, and he graciously gave me a VIP tour of that unique facility. Later, we chatted at the café of the Archives about our days at Imperial. As Peter said, 'It was a blast from the past'. Such blasts enrich life immeasurably.

Dr Hirak Sen (left) and Peter Malewski, London, 2014

Another tearoom friend, Dr Peter Lim (PhD Imperial), did exceedingly well financially and lives with his wife, Amy, in an elegant bungalow in the posh part of Dulwich. Peter and Amy are lovely hosts. During some of my recent London visits, they invited other familiar friends like Dr David Nethercot (Emeritus Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College) and me to their home for lunch. And we caught up big time.

On my part, I took Peter and other friends for lunch or dinner at commercial restaurants or the excellent restaurant in the basement of the Institution of Civil Engineers' impressive building at One Great George Street. I meet other friends from the tearoom vintage during my annual visits to London. (Alas, the Covid menace interrupted my visits over the past three years).

Another tearoom friend was Emeritus Professor Roger E Hobbs (PhD Imperial). He was the most singularly focused researcher I have encountered. In Hindu mythology, Mahabharata, the main protagonist, Arjuna, was an ace archer who succeeded by focusing only on the target and nothing else. Likewise, Roger was totally concentrated. He was a man of few words with a sense of wry humour. Roger worked at his desk facing the wall, not the room's interior like most of us. That way, he minimised distraction.

He later joined the faculty at Imperial. Three decades later, in 1996, I met him at Imperial. He was then the head of structural engineering, the same position that Prof Sparkes once held. In Roger's office, I also met Dr Chapman, who was then an Emeritus Professor. That meeting renewed and updated our long-term association. Roger and I have been in touch continually, either in person during my London visits or via email. He is now an Emeritus Professor at Imperial and simultaneously serves as a consultant to industry.

Emeritus Professor Roger E Hobbs (pictured in the 1980s)

In 2019, when my wife and I visited San Francisco, we met Dr Bijan Aalami (PhD Imperial) at his home in Palo Alto. An Iranian, Bijan, moved to the USA in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979. His wife, Marianne is a medical doctor. Bijan and I met after nearly five decades, but we connected instantly. Bijan founded a post-tensioned structure analysis software company and was doing very well. In 2014, he authored a book entitled 'Post-Tensioned Buildings | Design and Construction' and was happy to gift me a signed copy. We had tea and some delectable pastry Marianne had made. Such memories of spending time with old friends are dearly cherished.

From left: Kalpana Sen, Dr Hirak Sen, Dr Bijan Aalami, and Dr Marianne Aalaami, Palo Alto, California, USA, 2019

I tried to contact my old friend, Dr Lloyd Yam. I heard he settled in Burlingame, a suburb south of San Francisco. After a few phone calls, I learned from one of his distant relatives living in the Chinatown of San Francisco that Lloyd had passed away two years ago. It deeply saddened me. Many memories, including the memory of his speeding yellow Jaguar, flooded back to me. I thought of my departed friend, 'That only God, my dear, / Could love you for yourself alone / And not your yellow Jaguar.' It was a slightly tweaked version of my favourite lines, 'That only God, my dear, / Could love you for yourself alone / And not your yellow hair.' The Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote those famous lines. I prayed that the soul of my deceased friend might rest in eternal peace.

Dr Sharad Gadre (PhD Imperial) migrated to the US in the 1960s with a lucrative job with Boeing in Seattle, California. We authored a joint paper while he was in Seattle and me at Imperial College, London. It is paper #4 in the list of selected articles hereinabove—which I had the privilege of presenting, on our joint behalf, at an International Conference in Southampton in 1972. However, I found in 2019 that Sharad had left structural engineering many years ago and was teaching Indian classical music in California.

Dr Prabir Neogi (PhD Imperial) and I co-authored a paper with Dr J. C. Chapman. It was published in 1969 in the Structural Engineer, the flagship journal of the Institution of Structural Engineers. That article remains a significant contribution to steel-concrete composite construction—paper #1 in the list of selected papers hereinabove. In 2001, my wife Kalpana and I visited Prabir at his home in Ottawa, Canada, where he moved from Imperial in 1967. 

Dr Prabir Neogi (left) and Dr Hirak Sen, Kolkata, 2013

In the 1970s, he left structural engineering and joined the Canadian government employment. Until his retirement in 2012, he served as a distinguished Senior Policy Analyst in the Department of Industry of the Canadian government. Prabir and I meet every year when he visits Kolkata, his hometown and mine. We share our life experiences and talk about everything else under the sun.

The bonding of Imperial cemented in that tearoom bridges decades of no contact effortlessly. I made many friends and gathered many memories in that mini-league of nations of a tearoom. They are eminent professionals, and it has been an enriching experience for me to know them.

That tearoom was unquestionably my favourite place at Imperial.

Your career

Tell us about the work you're doing now, and your journey to this point.

Before narrating what work I am doing now, let me recount my journey to this point. On my return to India in 1972, I worked for one year and a half at the Calcutta office of the globally reputed consulting firm W. S. Atkins (now known as ATKINS). After that, in late 1973, I founded my consulting firm, H. K. Sen And Associates, a proprietary concern, and I never looked back.

Over the years, I continued my professional development through affiliations with distinguished professional institutions. Simultaneously, I engaged in a variety of horizon-broadening activities and volunteer work. In the process, I received a few awards for my work, bolstering my spirit.

W. S. Atkins, Calcutta:

I returned to India with a job offer to work as a senior design engineer at Atkins's India office in Calcutta. In 1971, W S Atkins's headquarters in Epsom, Surrey, brought one of their problems to Imperial for a solution. They came to Prof Sparkes, who inducted me to assist him. The project required me to work interactively with Atkins—they came to Imperial, and I visited their Epsom office periodically. It was then that Atkins offered me a job at their Calcutta office. So, my first (and, as it happens, the last) employment, post my stint at Imperial, came to me also through my work at Imperial. As I keep saying, my indebtedness to Imperial is enormous.

Atkins Calcutta was designing the 14 km long shore spans of the high-level Vidyasagar Setu across the Hooghly. My assignment was to prepare the geometric design of the shore spans. The geometric design of roads and bridges on that scale had not been done in India earlier. Also, the work did not belong to my expertise in structural engineering but in highway engineering. 

However, I had done two semesters of Highway Engineering during my MTech at IIT Kharagpur. The office knew this and asked me to lead a team to complete the geometric design. I had no choice. I sought one month for preparation, during which I intensely updated my highway engineering knowledge. I also studied the recommendations of the American Association of State Highwayand Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the equivalent UK standards. There was no Indian standard on the geometric design of highways then.

After one month, I was ready—the confidence I gained at Imperial in solving complex problems stood me in good stead. I chose my team of engineers, and we plunged into the project. My team comprised a few bright engineers (all structural engineers, though), and through our collective effort, we completed the assignment. Fitting in the alignment, cross-sections, crest and valley curves, and transition curves to wind in and out the camber at the horizontal curves make it a complex exercise—this was a pioneering work in Highway Engineering in India. 

In their wisdom, rightly, Atkins Epsom office sent one of their senior highway design engineers to Calcutta to vet our geometric design. Fortunately for my team and me, he found no errors and approved our computations and design. Construction began in 1979, and the bridge was opened to the public in 1992--the delay was due to political and financial reasons. However, long before that, upon completing this assignment, I left Atkins Calcutta in late 1973 and founded my consulting firm.

Hundreds of millions of vehicles have comfortably used the shore ramps/viaducts and the main span across the river in the past three decades. Vidyasagar Setu is the second bridge across the Hooghly in Kolkata, connecting the city with the rest of India to the west of the river. It is a vital transportation link of national importance. Therefore, my contribution to this significant project brings much satisfaction to me. These days, when I meet some old team members of Atkins Calcutta, they also express similar pride and joy in their work on that national project.

H. K. Sen And Associates, Kolkata:

I founded H. K. Sen And Associates as a sole proprietary concern in 1973. Initially, I was a one-person band, but it grew reasonably rapidly. Within 15 years, the firm had over 100 employees and offices in Calcutta, Delhi, and Hyderabad. We designed and delivered many nationally acclaimed projects across eight states of India. Below is a selected list of such projects arranged category-wise:

1.     Recreational:

• Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, Asia's second-largest football stadium for the Government of West Bengal.
• Horse Racing Complex in Hyderabad with India's biggest Grandstand for Hyderabad Race Club
• Sports and Cultural Complex comprising an indoor stadium, cricket stadium, open-air theatre, and auditorium (largest hall in Andhra Pradesh) in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, for the Vishakhapatnam Port Trust.

2.      Integrated Township:

• Four integrated townships, each comprising dwelling units, hostels, bungalows, offices, schools, hospitals, markets, clubhouses, cinema hall, telephone exchange, petrol pump, CISF barracks, armoury and six bulk services—water supply, sewerage, drainage, electricity supply, roads and bridges, boundary wall and gates: for the NTPC Limited in Vindhyanagar, Madhya Pradesh and Dadri, Uttar Pradesh; for Bharat Coking Coal Limited in Dhanbad, Jharkhand; and NHPC Limited in Rangit, Sikkim

 3.      Multi-storeyed Building:

• Residential buildings in Calcutta
• Faculty Quarters for Jadavpur University, Calcutta
• Faculty Quarters for Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

 4.      Health, Educational and Institutional

• Hospital for the Indian Oil in Haldia, West Bengal
• Sickbay at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
• Mechanical and Food Technology Building Extension at Jadavpur University, Calcutta
• Birla Industrial and Technological Museum Building in Calcutta

5.      Industrial:

• Export Factory Complex for Exide Industries at Haldia, West Bengal
• Hot Metal Repairing Shop for Durgapur Steel Plant, West Bengal
• Wagon Works Extension, Paper Machinery Project, West Bengal
• Cupola and Ropeway Structure in Durgapur, West Bengal
• Electronics Complexes at Salt Lake and Kalyani, West Bengal
• Air-brake Laboratory at RDSO Campus, Indian Railways, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

6.      Civil Aviation:

• Domestic Airport Terminal Building in Kolkata for Airports Authority of India

7.      Thermal Power:

• Main Powerhouse Building for Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Project, for NTPC Limited, in Vindhya Nagar, Madhya Pradesh

8.      Urban Development:

• Survey, Valuation, and Land-Use Plan for prime urban land on both banks of River Hooghly for Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata

9.      Roads & Bridges:

• A road bridge on NH1 in Karnal for Haryana PWD—sharpest skew angle in India--the design was vetted by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India.
• 21 spans of shore viaducts for Vidyasagar Setu Interchange and Approach Roads
• Erection, installation, and tensioning technology of the main cables of the cable stay system of Vidyasagar Setu

10.     Construction Management Services:

• Complete Construction Management Services for the construction of Salt Lake Stadium to provide on-site construction management services and quality assurance

11.      Environmental:

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study for Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Project for NTPC Limited at Kahalgaon, Bihar
• Study Area: The core study area was 20km in diameter, and the general study area was 100km in diameter
• Study Period: The study period spanned four seasons in two consecutive calendar years
• Study Disciplines: The study covered eight disciplines: Land Use, Water Use, Demography, Soil Profile, Hydrology and Water Quality, Meteorology and Air Quality, Ecology and Noise
• Outcome: The outcome of the study was a comprehensive EIA Report. Based on this report, the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, Government of India approved the Super Thermal Power Project.

My breakthrough project was the Salt Lake Stadium. It is humongous. It has a 3-tier gallery measuring 1 km along the perimetre at the outer columns, a 22-metre cantilever roof covering 35,000 sq. metres, a chain of floodlighting luminaires at the tip of the roof at 14-storey height, two electronic scoreboards—the size of a tennis court each, and so on. It was a multidisciplinary complex project, and its design brought many challenges.

For example, we needed a computerised analysis of the structure. The only computer in the region was developed jointly by the Indian Statistical Institute and Jadavpur University, called ISIJU. My firm put in much hard work and succeeded in analysing the stadium structure on ISIJU. My training using IBM 7090 and 360 at Imperial helped me make this breakthrough.

It was a transformational move in computerised structural analysis and profoundly impacted my field in India.

Another example: We suspected that the wind suction on the cantilever roof would be significantly higher than predicted by the Indian Code. So, I consulted with Dr Tom Wyatt, an expert on wind loading at Imperial College. Tom concurred with our suspicion. Accordingly, my firm had a model of the stadium tested in the wind tunnels of the Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru. And indeed, the tests quantified significantly higher wind suction.

We designed the roof accordingly. It is still standing after three and half decades without any distress. Thus, our questioning approach challenged the boundaries set by the statutory Code and saved the day. Sadly, another stadium roof, constructed around the same time in Kolkata, blew away when a moderate storm struck.

Similarly, I have pushed the boundaries and developed innovative solutions throughout my career. I did so either in-house or through collaboration with academia. To give a few examples, my firm collaborated with the following:

1. IIT Kharagpur on the master plan of four integrated townships that we designed in four states of India.
2. Banaras Hindu University on Ecological Sciences for the Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Project
3. Jadavpur University on complex foundation designs.

Industry and academia collaboration is the bedrock on which civil engineering pushes the boundaries of knowledge. My firm continually engages in such collaboration and produces innovative solutions.

Thus, as it happened, gradually, over the decades, I got recognition as an innovator, a transformational leader, and an inspirational role model in my field.

Hyderabad Race Club - Grand Stand, Malakpet, Hyderabad

Integrated Township for Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Project, for NTPC Limited, Vindhyanagar, Madhya Pradesh (courtesy JourneyOfMrCoal, YouTube channel)

Integrated Township for Dadri Super Thermal Power Project, for NTPC Limited,  Dadri, Uttar Pradesh (courtesy  Khana Peena @Rusker, YouTube channel)

Vidyasagar Setu - H K Sen And Associates provided the cable stressing technology, jointly with 3F Engineering, Bangkok (courtesy sanhitasinha under a Creative Commons licence)

These are all large projects; some are humongous. They have made and continue to make a positive, tangible impact on society. They have stood the test of time and benefitted the lives of hundreds of millions of people over the past few decades, directly or indirectly. For example:

1. The Salt Lake Stadium has enthralled tens of millions of spectators over the past three and half decades.
2. The four townships provide housing and workplaces for tens of thousands of people directly and many more in the downstream industries indirectly.
3. The domestic terminal building has served approximately 500 million persons.
4. The bridges and viaducts will have seen countless vehicles and passengers pass.
5. The Powerhouse building at Vindhyachal houses six turbines that generate power for an entire region.
6. The Department of Environment Forest and Climante Chage, Government of India approved the Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Project based on our EIA report. The stipulations in the EIA report have improved the ambient air/water quality and ecology and reduced noise pollution, thereby improving the well-being of a multitude of humans, flora and fauna, birds, and fishes. Those beneficial effects continue for decades; the beneficiaries are tens of millions.

Thus, it is reasonable to say that my work was significant in scale, had and is continuing to have a tangible positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of humans, birds, and flora and fauna over decades and brought lasting desirable change.

In retrospect, two factors bring much satisfaction to me as the founder and leader of my consulting firm. First, many of the above projects are nationally acclaimed. Some were opened by two Prime Ministers of India and several state Chief Ministers. Over the years, these projects have significantly benefited hundreds of millions directly or indirectly and continue to do so. Secondly, my firm has upskilled several dozen engineers, architects, and supporting staff. They are empowered and well-settled in life.

Professional Affiliations: I became a member and later upgraded to fellow of three distinguished professional institutions. I have continually fulfilled the professional development requirements of those institutions and served them to the best of my ability. I list my affiliations below.

1. Fellow, Institution of Structural Engineers London
2. Fellow, Institution of Civil Engineers London
3. Fellow, Institution of Engineers India

I have completed 50+ years of continuous membership in these eminent institutions–-an achievement that these institutions have commended.

Horizon-Broadening Activities, Volunteer Works, and similar:  I have invested substantial time in horizon-broadening activities, professional institution work, philanthropy, sports, socialisation, and entertainment. 

I engage in volunteer work continually, advising committees and boards, among others, with the following organisations:

1.      Bharat Chamber of Commerce

• Member, Main Committee 1992-to date
• Chair, Housing Sub-Committee 1992-to date

2.      Welham Girls' School, Dehradun:

• Life Member, Trustee Board 1992-continuing.
• Member, Board of Governors 1992-98
• Chair, Board of Governors' Committee for Campus Development 1992-98

3.      Institution of Structural Engineers:

• Council Member 2009-2014
• Chair, International Interest Group 2011-2012
• Country Representative Kolkata 2007 - to date

4.      Institution of Civil Engineers

• Chair, Kolkata Members' Chapter 2014

5.      Indo-British Scholars' Association 

• Life/Patron 2009–to date
• Vice President 2020-21

6.      Rotary Club of Calcutta

• Member 2017-to date
• Paul Harris Fellow 2020-to date

7.      Member, Alumni Associations of:

• Imperial College London
• IIT Kharagpur
• Jadavpur University

8.      Member of Social and Sports Clubs in Kolkata - each club is more than 100 years old; the first two in the list below are more than 200 years old:

• The Calcutta Racket Club 1974–2010 
• The Tollygunge Club 1981–to date 
• The Bengal Club 1992–to date 
• Calcutta Club 1987–to date 

Dr Hirak Sen (third from left) at a committee meeting of Bharat Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata, 2022

From left: Dr Hirak Sen, Brigitta Hall, Alumni Relations Executive, Rima Sen, Chair, Kolkata Alumni Chapter, Judy Beard, Director, Alumni Development, and Rajive Kaul, President, Alumni India, at the inauguration of the Kolkata Alumni Chapter, 2010

From left: Dr Hirak Sen, Sir Keith Onion, President and Rector, and Syamal Gupta, President, Imperial India Foundation, at an alum dinner, Kolkata, 2014

Dr Hirak Sen (in blue shirt below the wall clock) chairing an International Interest Group meeting at the Institution of Structural Engineers, London, 2011

Awards: I have received the following awards:

1. IITKharagpur awarded me their coveted 'Distinguished Alumnus Award' in 2021 for 'outstanding achievements and contributions.
2. City & Guilds of London Institute bestowed on me their highest honour of Fellowship in 2014 'in recognition of outstanding professional and personal achievements.'
3. Institutionof Structural Engineers London awarded me their prestigious 'Keith Eaton International Award 2012' for 'his much-valued support of the Institution, particularly for his leading role in developing the Institution in India, and as Chairman of the International Interest Group.' 
4. The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission of the UK awarded me the ‘Commonwealth Scholarship’ in 1965
5. Jadavpur University awarded me the ‘University Gold Medal’ for topping the class in civil engineering in 1962
6. Jadavpur University awarded me the ‘Best Final Year Student Award for 1961’ for outstanding academic and extra-academic achievements amongst all disciplines, such as engineering, sciences, mathematics, and liberal arts.
   
   

Dr Hirak Sen receiving the 'Keith Eaton International Award 2012' of the Institution of Structural Engineers from its President, John Nolan, at an away meeting, Edinburgh, 2012

Dr Hirak Sen receiving the Fellowship award of the City & Guilds of London Institute from its President, Sir John Armitt, London, 2014

Dr Hirak Sen receiving the 'Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020' of IIT Kharagpur from Dr Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, Dean, Alumni Affairs, at a special event, Kolkata, 2022

Charitable work: I have donated money commensurate with my income to various relief funds yearly since 1973. At the Rotary Club of Calcutta, where I am a member, my wife and I are both Paul Harris Fellows of Rotary International in formal recognition of our donations. I donated money to the Imperial College Students Assistance Fund and IIT Kharagpur General Endowment Fund this year and pledge to donate yearly.

As a member of the Rotary Club of Calcutta, Dr Hirak Sen presented a gift hamper to a child cancer patient—the mother looking on—at the Institute of Child Health, Kolkata, 2023.

Blood donation: I jointly organised a blood donation camp at Jadavpur University in 1961. I also donated blood routinely at Imperial College.

Hirak Sen organised, with fellow students, a blood donation camp at Jadavpur University in 1961. Dr Triguna Sen, Rector (front row, second from left), looking on - Hirak Sen in the rear row, centre

Women's empowerment/equality: I have served as the Chairman of the Board of Governors' Committee for Campus Development at Welham Girls' School, Dehradun, 1992-98. In that capacity, I steered the modernisation of the campus over those six years. As a Rotary Club of Calcutta member, I participate regularly in charity activities for empowering women, including women of the minority community.

 

Dr Hirak Sen (not in the picture) participated, as a member of the Rotary Club of Calcutta, in the inauguration of ten computers donated by the club to Chhapna  High Madrasah & Higher Secondary School - Kolkata, 2022

Knowledge sharing: I share knowledge at various forums routinely. For example, at a Webinar on 'Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem', organised jointly by Imperial College, I shared screen space with Professor Alice Gast and Dr Simon Hepworth, both of Imperial, 2022. You can watch my intervention in the YouTube video from 00:54:35 to 1:00:20, 21-04-2022.

   

Dr Hirak Sen contributed to a webinar on 'Building an Entrepreneurial Eco System' - the panellists included Alice Gast, former President, Imperial College; Dr Simon Hepworth, Director Enterprise, Imperial College, Rajive Kaul, President, IBSA; and Sunil Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprise, 2022

I participated in a webinar on 'Mysterious Black Holes and where to find them' – organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Indo-British Scholars' Association. The main speaker was Dr Somak Raychaudhury, Director, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics – You can watch my intervention from 1:27:10 to 1:33:50, and Dr Raychaudhury's response over the next six minutes, in the YouTube video – 2021.

Dr Hirak Sen contributed to a webinar on 'Mysterious Black Holes and where to find them', in which the main speaker was Dr Somak Roychaudhury, Director, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, 2021

I speak intermittently at the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur (IIESTS) and Jadavpur University to students and faculty to inform and inspire. There are many other examples.

At IIESTS -  Front row, from left: Dr Graham Owens, President, Institution of Structural Engineers, Dr Hirak Sen, and Dr Ajoy Roy, Director - They addressed the faculty and students - Howrah, 2009

At Jadavpur University - Front row, from left: Dr Hirak Sen and Dr Tim Ibell, President, Institution of Structural Engineers - they addressed the faculty and students - Kolkata, 2015

Mentoring: Mentoring is a passion for me. I give some context:

1. I enthusiastically helped my fellow students at Jadavpur University resolve their difficulties (1958-62).
2. I mentored three MSc students at Imperial College (1969-72).
3. My firm has skilled and upskilled several hundred persons (1973-to date).
4. As the Country Representative of the Institution of Structural Engineers, I mentor aspiring engineers toward achieving their goals (2007 – to date).

Pares Datta, my classmate at Jadavpur, Peter Malewski, my mentee at Imperial, and Satinath Mukherjee, a young engineer at my firm, have made appreciative recommendations on my mentoring in my LinkedIn profile.

Life-long learning: Nothing stands still in this world. Mainly, knowledge keeps pushing its boundaries continually. Therefore, one must keep learning throughout one’s life. I attempt to do so, mostly in my own time, but at times in a structured manner. My LinkedIn profile records seven courses I took online on Coursera between 2013 and 2022. These were paid studies on Creative Writing conducted by Duke University, Case Western University, and Wesleyan University.

Here, too, I gave my best shot. Upon successful completion, those universities issued completion certificates. I was pleased that I scored 100% marks in five courses, 93% in the first course, and the sixth course was not marked! Coursera routinely updated these certificates on my LinkedIn profile under 'Licenses & certifications'.

Media coverage: I have received favourable press/media coverage many times. I cite one example: It is a two-thirds-page story on my contributions toward the design of the Salt Lake Stadium - the Times of India, Kolkata edition, 7-10-2017

 

The Times of India story on Dr Hirak Sen's contributions toward the design and construction of the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata Edition, 7th October 2017

In summary, I have had the privilege of being involved in various roles throughout my journey. These include that of a researcher, an innovator, an entrepreneur, an employer, a leader, a mentor, a motivator, a humanitarian worker, an advocate for equality, and perhaps even seen as a role model. I feel deeply grateful for the opportunities I have had to contribute positively to my field over an extended period.

I get feedback from my friends and mentees that I am probably highly esteemed in this part of the world, particularly within the engineering community. I am privileged that they perceive me as an iconic figure and an exemplary role model. And the wide society in which I move regards me as a trustworthy, knowledgeable person with much goodwill.

At IIESTS -  Front row, from left: Dr Graham Owens, President, Institution of Structural Engineers, Dr Hirak Sen, and Dr Ajoy Roy, Director - They addressed the faculty and students - Howrah, 2009

At Jadavpur University - Front row, from left: Dr Hirak Sen and Dr Tim Ibell, President, Institution of Structural Engineers - they addressed the faculty and students - Kolkata, 2015

How has what you learnt at Imperial helped you in your career so far?

The engineering skills I gained at Imperial helped me solve many complex engineering problems in my career. Imperial ingrained into me many excellent qualities—self-confidence, innovative approach to problem-solving, disciplined hard work, and computerised solution skills. These qualities helped me in every sphere of my career. I have elaborated on these qualities earlier in this story. Furthermore, the Imperial brand name opened many doors for me in my career.

What have been your career highlights and lowlights?

My career highlight is the Salt Lake Stadium, Asia's second-largest football stadium. It has engaged and entertained tens of millions of people for three and half decades and continues to do so. Recently, in 2017, it hosted many FIFA U17 World Cup matches, including the final and semi-finals. FIFA praised the stadium generously. It completed my dream of 1966—when I was watching the FIFA World Cup at the Wembley Stadium—of designing a major stadium in India.

The lowlight of my career was my inability to identify and train the leadership succession of my consulting firm. I was too engrossed in complex structural engineering design and coordinating the other disciplines' work. Consequently, I did not pay enough attention to building the leadership succession. If there is one word in my defence, that would be this. In the Indian engineering consulting domain, unlike in Great Britain, there is no established tradition of ownership transfer of a consulting firm. Not just mine, many consulting firms in India cease to exist with the retirement of the founder/CEO.  

What would be your advice for current students?

Any student of Imperial can acquire world-class expertise in her discipline. They are brilliant and well-informed and do not require my advice. However, since you have asked, my advice for them would be they take the below six steps to develop world-class talent:

1. Dedicated training for at least 10,000 hours
2. Train under the tutelage of eminent mentors.
3. Train and later work in conducive environments.
4. Dream big and pursue your dream.
5. Collaborate, innovate, learn life-long, and publish your findings.
6. Undertake volunteer work, socialise, and touch lives.

In 2021, I published a piece on this theme in the Community Blog of the Institution of Civil Engineers London. It is entitled 'How civil engineers can develop world-class expertise in 6 steps.'

Before you go…

What makes you proud to be an Imperial alumnus?

Imperial is defined by tireless academic work, multidisciplinary collaborations, and global partnerships. It continually implements innovative solutions for some of the world's most pressing challenges. Its community of staff and students are highly motivated. The alums are placed in significant leadership positions in many countries across the globe. They are the best ambassadors and have built a globally respected brand for the College. I am a proud Imperial alumnus.

What one word or phrase would you use to describe Imperial alumni?

Quietly self-confident.

Do you have a favourite quote or saying?

'Know yourself' is my favourite quote. It is an ancient Greek aphorism. Socrates observed, 'Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.' He said this sometime around 450 BC.

Surprisingly, that quote is almost identical to a Sanskrit oracle of the Katha Upanishad: 'आत्मानं विद्धि' – 'Ãtmãnam viddhi'—translated into English, it means 'Know Thy Self'. Western scholars date Katha Upanishad roughly in the 5th century BCE. Socrates said the same thing in almost identical words around the same time. Surely, Socrates did not have access to the Katha Upanishad! As they say, great minds think alike.

According to Socrates, true wisdom knows what you do not know. So, an essential part of knowing yourself must be recognising the limits of your knowledge and understanding—knowing what you genuinely know and what you have yet to learn. This quote is profoundly significant.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

One question has concerned me over the years by observing many engineering practitioners. The question is: Is there a link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and engineering? I am not the only one to feel concerned about this problem.

The results of an online test designed by the Universityof Cambridge with a sample size of 150,000 show engineering is the most autistic profession. It found Engineers are more likely to suffer from the symptoms of autism-related disorders than any other profession, 

One paper stated, 'Both fathers and grandfathers of children with autism were found more than twice as often in the engineering field, compared with fathers and grandfathers of other children.' 

So, I ask myself whether one should aim at a more holistic work-life balance by combining an intensive engineering study with a generous dose of horizon-broadening pursuits. Could such holistic training minimise the risk of ASD occurring among engineering practitioners?

Imperial is a preeminent, multidisciplinary research institution. I submit that Imperial consider this issue and, if deemed appropriate, pursue it as a research project.

Epilogue:

Fifty years ago, I completed my postdoctoral research at Imperial College and returned home to India. My seven years at Imperial College broadened my boundaries, exceeding my expectations. My research work brought tangible benefits in my domain and continues to do so.

In the next fifty years since returning to India, fortunately, I have completed many large projects, some even humongous. I have always given my best to every project. Over the years, the completed projects have benefitted and continue to benefit hundreds of millions of humans, countless flora, fauna, fish, birds, and, lastly, the environment around a fossil fuel power plant. Such benefits bring me a sublime sense of fulfilment.

That is the intangible reward I consider I am entitled to.

 I profoundly believe in Sri Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, verse 47:

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥ २-४७

In Roman script:

Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana,
Ma Karmaphalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani

It means

You have the right to work only but never to its fruits.
Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.

 

So, I continue to do my work to the best of my abilities and try to do so without any sense of entitlement.