MAY 2011
Khaas Baat : A Publication for Indian Americans in Florida

News

UCF ENGINEER HONORED FOR CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE

Story submitted by Shobana Daniell

Professor Challapalli Suryanarayana of the University of Central Florida’s College of Engineering was recently ranked among the top 100 researchers of the past decade. Prof. Surya, his campus moniker, comes in at No. 40, from a list compiled by Thomson Reuters (the Institute for Scientific Information) of more than 500,000 materials scientists. This ranking is for the world’s top 100 materials scientists who achieved the highest citation impact scores for their papers, articles and reviews published since January 2000. Florida has only three scientists on that list, the others are: Simon R. Phillpot of University of Florida ranked 56th and John R. Reynolds of University of Florida ranked 69th.

Materials science involves elements of physics and chemistry, dealing with the fundamental properties, characteristics, and structures of materials. Prof. Suryanarayana’s work in materials science has been used in various fields such as aerospace industries and environmental biomaterial research. He is quoted, "Everyone deals with materials, it doesn't matter if you're a scientist or homemaker, if we can produce materials that are better than they are today then I feel very useful.”

Dr. Suryanarayana received his Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering from Banaras Hindu University and in 1975 he won the Indian National Science Academy's Young Scientists Medal from the then-Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi.


ORLANDO TEMPLE YOUTH SANDWICH CLUB FEEDS THE HOMELESS

Story submitted by Shobana Daniel

Toward the end of summer of 2010, a group of youth at the Hindu Society of Central Florida temple in Casselberry (Orlando area) were discussing ‘action items’ for real sewa, when a young girl Shreya told the youth, who then passed it on to their parents, about her volunteer work at a local children’s shelter in Orlando. A few ideas were tossed around to see about how the teens could help the needy. Some of the youth volunteered on an individual basis, helping in hospitals, Red Cross, etc.

In October 2010, they all gathered to see what could be done on a regular basis, and that is when Ganesh Ramachandran happened to be around and he suggested what the youth were doing in Houston … so yes, Houston answered their call of “we have a problem.” The Texas youth at the Hindu temple made vegetarian sandwiches for the homeless. Hence, the Central Florida youth formed the ‘sandwich club’; they meet once a month – about 15 or 20 at 9:30 a.m. Sunday to set up the assembly line, wash the vegetables, put on their gloves and get to work making almost 150 sandwiches. They are neatly packed, in paper sacks with either a fruit or chips and a parent volunteer drives to a local shelter to hand over the Sunday lunch.

The youth manage the operations, making a shopping list, doing inventory, organizing donations, assigning adults to drive them to grocery store to buy ingredients such as whole grain bread, mustard, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, bell peppers, onions, etc; and also make sure the cheese is in accordance with dietary restrictions, send out reminders, and each month a new team leader takes over to make sure the process goes smoothly.

So far, the youth have managed to find sponsors to cover the cost of the sandwiches, but would like to have pledges of support for the rest of the year. What began as an ad hoc effort has turned out to be a yearlong commitment. In April, they committed to continuing the sandwich deliveries even during the summer break. Shreya, the young girl who propelled the club forward, has inspired other teens to take up another cause – Ekal Vidyalaya – education for the rural and tribal poor in India. In 15 months, she has raised funds to support 15 schools.


BHARATHA NATYAM PERFORMANCE MAY 7 IN ORLANDO

Floridians will get an opportunity Saturday, May 7, to enjoy classical Bharatha Natyam performance by Lavanya Ananth, a gold medalist dancer from India. Her show is called Nrithya Samarchita, a compilation of her original choreographic works and will have songs in different regional languages. She will be accompanied by a team of musicians from Chennai.

The show is hosted by the Muthamizh Sangam of Central Florida and will be at 6 p.m. May 7 at the Hindu Society of Central Florida community hall, 1994 Lake Drive, Casselberry. Tickets are $15 and include dinner; part of the proceeds will go to establish scholarships. Babysitting services will be provided.

For advance tickets, visit mscf.shuttlepod.org and click on event Nrithya Samarchita. For more information, call Kannan Srinivasan at (407) 310-7792.

 

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