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Dr. Ramesh B. Malla

Born and grown-up in Chhoprak, Gorkha, Nepal,  Prof. Ramesh B. Malla, Ph.D.,  passed the nation-wide School Leaving Certificate (S.L.C.) examination in First Division from the local Shree Mandali High School in 1971. (Approximately, seventy students were placed in the First Division out of about 20,000 students who took the S.L.C. examination that year in Nepal). He was among the very first batch of approximately 10 students that was sent to take the S.L.C. examination from the Chhoprak school that was recently established and completely run and supported by the people of Chhoprak who cared deeply about the future of  their children and development of their village, and were willing to sacrifice their time, energy, and very limited and little resources they had in support of the school. Prof. Malla did his Intermediate in Science from Amrit Science College in Kathmandu. He received his Bachelor of Technology degree (First Class with Distinction) in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India in 1979; M.S. in Civil Engineering with concentration in structural and geo-mechanics from the University of Delaware, Newark, DE, U.S.A. in 1981; and Ph.D. in Structural Mechanics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, U.S.A. in 1986. Prof.  Malla’s Ph.D. dissertation was entitled “Dynamic and Thermal Effects in Very Large Space Structures.”

After his Master’s degree, Dr. Malla worked for the United Engineers & Constructors in Philadelphia  during 1981-1983. His responsibility included seismic/dynamic analysis of nuclear power plant structures. He joined the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering of the University of Connecticut as a visiting faculty in September 1985 and now is an Associate Professor. Since 1998, he is also serving as the Associate Head and Graduate Program Director of the Department.  During Fall of 1998, Prof. Malla spent his sabbatical leave at Hamilton Standard Space Systems International, Inc., Windsor Locks, CT. He worked with the Structural Mechanics Branch of the NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center, Cleveland, OH as a visiting faculty in the summers of 1992 and 1993. Prof. Malla played a key role in establishing the NASA/Connecticut Space Grant College Consortium in 1991 with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and served on the Advisory Board and as the University of Connecticut’s Campus Director  of the Consortium for the first 10 years.

       Prof. Malla has received several awards, honors, and distinctions including the following: ·2005 Outstanding Professional Service Award from the Aerospace Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA, U.S.A. ·General Chair, 10th ASCE Aerospace Division International Conference on Engineering, Construction and Operations in Challenging Environments (Earth & Space 2006), League City/Houston, TX; March 05-08, 2006  ·Chair, Student Papers Competition, 46th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials (SDM) Conference, Austin, TX, April 18-21, 2005. ·Official Citation from General Assembly, State of Connecticut in Recognition of significant volunteer support to the Connecticut Invention Convention (CIC), May 01, 2004. ·General Chair, 9th ASCE Aerospace Division International Conference on Engineering, Construction and Operations in Challenging Environments (Earth & Space 2004), League City/Houston, TX; March 07-10, 2004 ·Chair, Executive Committee,  ASCE Aerospace Division (2001-2002). ·Associate Editor, AIAA/Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets (1996-2001).  ·Guest Editor, ASCE/Journal of Aerospace Engineering, April 1998. ·President's Award for Promoting Multiculturalism and Affirmative Action, Univ. of Connecticut, May 1996. ·Chancellor's Award, ASCE Student Chapter (Faculty Advisor: R. Malla), Univ. of Connecticut, May 1996. ·External Examiner, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Queens Land, Brisbane, Australia, 1996, 2003. ·NASA/OAI Certificate of Recognition for Research, NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH (1993). ·Co-Founder, Connecticut Space Grant College Consortium (1991).  ·Mahendra Bidya Bhushan (Gold medal and certificate) for academic accomplishment from the King of Nepal (1987). ·Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society (1983).

Prof. Malla's  main teaching and research interests are in the areas of  applied and theoretical structural mechanics, structural engineering, and dynamics and vibrations of structures. His research work encompasses dynamic and thermal response of space structures, structures on the Moon/lunar structures, passive damping of structures,  progressive failure in truss-type structures, bridge expansion joints, pavement mechanics, and  fiber optics sensor for infrastructures. His research work have received funding from several federal and state agencies and industries, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administrator (NASA), National Academy of Sciences (NAS), U.S. Army, New England Transportation Consortium (NETC), State of Connecticut, NASA/Connecticut Space Grant Consortium, and Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International. As of today, Prof. Malla served/is serving as major advisor of approximately 20 Master’s and Doctoral level students. They have come from many countries worldwide, including U.S., Nepal, India, Taiwan, Thailand,  China,  Ghana, Iran, Peru, and Germany.

 He has more than 75 technical publications, including contribution to books, journal papers, conference papers, and technical reports. He was the Guest Editor for the April 1998 Special Issue of  ASCE Journal of Aerospace Engineering. He has edited an ASCE special volume on "Dynamics and Progressive Failure of Special Structures" in 1993 and  an ASCE conference proceedings volume “Earth & Space 2004 – Engineering ,Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments” in March 2004.  He has served on editorial boards of more than 7 conference proceedings. He currently serves on the Editorial Boards of the ASCE Journal of Aerospace Engineering (JAE) and the International Journal of Space Structures. He served as an Associate Editor of the AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets during 1996-2001. He has reviewed 7 text books, several manuscripts for more than 8 different national and international journals,  research proposals including for the Australian Research Council, and served as an external reviewer of  two Ph.D. theses from the University of Queens Land, Australia.

Prof. Malla holds membership in several professional societies, including American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME),  and American Academy of Mechanics (AAM). He is a founding member of the International Design for Extreme Environment Association. He has  served on several technical committees of the professional societies.  He served for 4 years as the Chair of the ASCE SDM Conference Liaison Committee, which began under his leadership in 2001. He served on the Executive Committee of the ASCE Aerospace Division  (ASD) for 5 years and held its  Chair’s position  during  2001-2002. He also served as the Chair of the ASCE ASD  Committee on Dynamics and Controls (1993-94, then 1996-99), which was also formed under his leadership. Several other technical committees on which he has served/is serving include the ASCE Aerospace Division Task Committee on Lunar Base, Space Engineering and Construction Committee, and Advanced Materials and Structures; ASCE Structural Division's Task Committee on Double Layer Grids, Task Committee on Lattice Towers and Committee on Special Structures; and Engineering Mechanics Division's Dynamics Committee. Currently, he is also a member of the AIAA Structural Dynamic Technical Committee.

He has played role on the planning and organizing of more than 20 national and international conferences. He held significant positions on some of these conferences. Notably, he served as the Conference General Chair of the  9thth ASCE Aerospace Division International Conference on Engineering, Construction and Operations in Challenging Environments (Earth & Space 2004) in  March 2004 and currently is serving as the Conference General Chair for the 10th ASCE Aerospace Division International Conference- Earth & Space 2006 to be held in March 2006. He was the Chair of the Student Papers Competition at the 46th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials (SDM) Conference in April 2005.  He served as a Technical Co-Chair for SPACE 96 and RCE II Conferences in June 1996 and as a co-Chair of the Executive Committee for the Joint International Conference on Structural Dynamics, Vibration, Noise and Controls held in Hong Kong in December 1995. He has organized and/or chaired/co-chaired approximately 35 sessions at scientific/technical conferences.

Besides his professional achievements, Prof. Malla has a long history of active involvement, some at the leadership role, in the community services. While he was pursuing his undergraduate degree in India, he played a role in the establishment of the All India Nepalese Student Association and served as the Joint Secretary. He took the leadership role to establish the Nepalese Student Association at IIT Kanpur. When he was pursuing his Ph.D. degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, U.S.A., he served on the Graduate Students Senate of the University. Under his leadership, the Society of Graduate Students in Civil Engineering was formed in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Massachusetts. At the University of Connecticut, he was one of the 3 faculty members who took leadership to establish the Asian Faculty and Staff Association in 1989 and served as its first Vice President during 1989-1991 and its President during 1999-2000.  He also played instrumental role in the establishment of the Asian American Studies Institute and the Asian American Cultural Center and has served on the role of faculty advisor of several student organizations at the University of Connecticut. Currently, he is also serving on the Board of Directors of Connecticut Invention Convention (since 1998), a non-profit  organization  which provides curriculum to schools at the elementary to high schools levels in Connecticut to teach inventing to their students and compete at its annual convention

Prof. Malla takes especial pride to extend assistance to his village high school in Chhoprak, Gorkha any way he can, whether it is with support for building renovation or scholarship. He also has contributed funds to sponsor students for their education and establish a homeless children school in Nepal.  He finds especial satisfaction to assist students from Nepal who are looking forward to pursue graduate studies in the U.S. universities and who seek advice.  He strongly believes that Nepalese living outside Nepal can contribute significantly in the development and modernization of the country in many aspects. He sincerely hopes that the current political situation in Nepal gets stabilized soon. He believes that this will pave way to attract significant financial, technological, and intellectual contribution and support from Nepali people living outside Nepal.

We should be all proud of this Nepalese son. We take this opportunity to include him as a member of 'Nepalese Hall of Brain'.