Pradeep Rohatgi received his undergraduate degree from IIT-BHU and his Doctorate in science from MIT in 1964. He was a professor at the Indian Institute of Science and Indian Institute of Technology, and also served as the Founder and Chief Executive of two National Laboratories in India. Rohatgi currently serves as a Wisconsin and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Distinguished Professor, and director of the Center for Composite Materials and the Center for Advanced Materials Manufacturing at UWM. Rohatgi has coauthored twelve books, four hundred scientific papers and has eighteen U.S. Patents. His initial research on cast metal composites has been listed as a major landmark in the 11,000-year history of metal casting, and the Rohatgi Honorary Symposium was held to honor his work in 2006.
Recently he has extended his work to make matrix nano composites, syntactic foams, self lubricating and self-healing metal matrix composite castings. Rohatgi has received numerous awards for excellence in research from all over the world. He is a fellow of the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society; ASM International; Institute of Metals and Materials (London); American Association for the Advancement of Sciences; Third World Academy of Science (Italy); American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Society of Automotive Engineers, and Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He was given the Engineer of the Year Award from Engineers and Scientists of Milwaukee in 2011 for his contributions to Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin.
The metal matrix composites developed by him have been manufactured and used in many industrial applications including brake rotors, brake calipers, engine pulleys, cylinder liners and bearings. As a result of his research, the U.S., especially Wisconsin, has become a world leader in research, development, and manufacture of metal matrix composite prototypes and components. He has trained a large number of students and doctoral fellows, many of whom are in leadership positions in Wisconsin industries, and are helping revive the metal processing industry in Wisconsin.
