Prof. Selvadurai Mahalingam
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It was with deep sorrow that I looked at the serene man now lying peacefully in a coffin. He was a colossus among the academics and he walked along the corridors of the sprawling Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya with a characteristic and purposeful stride that inspired confidence in everybody who came across him.
Emeritus Professor S. Mahalingam passed away in Alakollai, Alaveddy in Jaffna on November 3, 2015, at the age of 89, far away from his beloved Peradeniya and Kandy. He would have been 90 on January 16, 2016.
A wave of spontaneous sorrow swept across hundreds of engineers here and abroad for whom he was their mentor, teacher and guide.
Born on January 16, 1926 in Jaffna, he was the eldest in a family of eight. He later moved to Malaya along with his family and had his primary and secondary education at Maxwell School and Victoria College in Kuala Lumpur.
Selvadurai Mahalingam left Malaya in 1946 to follow a degree course in engineering at the then Ceylon Technical College in Colombo.
Ironically, according to him, Ceylonese parents in Malaya at that time wanted their children to be educated in Ceylon as there were better educational facilities and colleges teaching professional courses.
Contrary to popular belief, he qualified as a civil engineer in 1950, having obtained a B.Sc. Eng. First class honours degree from the University of London as an external candidate.
He was placed first among the candidates from Ceylon. He joined the newly established Faculty of Engineering, University of Ceylon, in 1952, as an Assistant Lecturer.
It was the late Professor E. O. E. Pereira who was then the Dean who persuaded him to switch over to Mechanical Engineering. Consequently, he proceeded to University of Sheffield for his PhD and completed it in 1956, specializing in torsional vibration.
He returned to the University of Ceylon in the same year and was promoted to a lecturer’s position. He published extensively, in reputed refereed journals, on topics related to his field of expertise.
In recognition of his contribution, he was awarded the Doctor of Science in Engineering (DSc Eng) by the University of London – the first Sri Lankan Engineer to get this prestigious award. Dr. Mahalingam became the Professor of Mechanical Engineering in 1970 and retired in 1991.
Grateful students organised a felicitation ceremony, the first of its kind in the history of the Engineering Faculty, to a packed house at the E.O.E. Pereira theatre.
One incident that still lingers in the minds of the engineers, who were present that day, was how the late Dr. B.M.A. Balasuriya, after making his speech, said that he wanted to show his respect to his teacher and went on his knees before Professor Mahalingam, touched his feet and worshipped him.
It was an unforgettable moment and practically everybody present was in tears. Needless to say, that the others also followed suit.
Professor Mahalingam married Devaki who predeceased him in 2014. She was a tower of strength to him and we could see how he was devastated after her death.
An embodiment of simplicity and purpose, he was a man with a mission. Students’ welfare and teaching were more important to him than personal benefits and comforts. Material benefits were not a priority to him.
During the disastrous 1983 riots, his wife and he were compelled to move next door, to the Hilda Obeysekera Hall, for security. This was an unforgettable but a very sad situation for them.
When I rushed there with my wife, to look into their welfare at that time, he narrated the sorry state of affairs at the Hilda Obeysekera Hall and how he had to join a queue with others to use the wash room and toilets which brought tears to our eyes.
But still, the greener pastures were not for him. Many are unaware how grateful we should be to have had him amidst us through all these upheavals.
When the country was experiencing the pangs of a closed economy, in the sixties and early seventies, where everything was in short supply, Professor Mahalingam embarked on a unique journey.
That was to develop the Applied Mechanics Laboratory from scratch, which is a standing monument to his commitment. Now, named after him, it stands as a showpiece that attracts large crowds on every public occasion.
The unpretentious person he was, when the senior engineers requested the Dean to name the laboratory after him, on the day of the felicitation ceremony, he flatly refused and said such things should not be done when the person was still serving in an institution. Such were his principles and discipline that he practised by word and deed.
Although he looked very stern and hard, those who were close to him knew how compassionate and witty he was. I think the exterior was due to the self-discipline he maintained.
Many a time he confessed that he could not understand why students did not come to him and ask for advice regarding the subject matter. As he was a strict disciplinarian, and especially on course work, deadlines were kept without extensions, and students feared and respected his instructions.
In spite of this, Professor Mahalingam was a jovial person full of humour amongst friends. He had many anecdotes and jokes, and the ability to relate even the simplest, much heard of, stories with a unique style of delivery and well timed punchline to raise laughter.
He could narrate even the jokes bordering on adult content with a deadpan face.
I particularly remember an incident, in my final year, at the drawing office. I felt somebody standing behind me. When I looked up it was Professor Mahalingam and I was so nervous I just stopped whatever I was doing.
He, with his characteristic delivery, said “it’s good to read outside the subject. Professor Tuplin is a friend of mine. His views are well known but not shared by many”. He then walked away abruptly and I was stunned.
He, of course, was referring to a coursework I had submitted on Holzer analysis of torsional vibration. Professor Tuplin, also, was an expert on vibration but did not favour Holzer’s analysis, and I also criticized and mentioned this in my discussion in the coursework.
It so happened that I had read about this in a book in the library. Naturally, I expected the worst and a request for a resubmission but, he had written ‘good’ to my utter surprise.
Of course, at that time I did not know that Professor Mahalingam was closely associated with Holzer analysis and in fact had modified the prevailing theory. Professor S. Mahalingam’s name is quoted in the well-known text book, ‘Mechanics of Vibration’ by Professors R. E. D. Bishop and R. C. Johnson, in recognition of his modification to the Holzer analysis.
Incidentally, both of them were his friends and he co-authored several papers on vibrations with Professor R. E. D. Bishop.
Professor Mahalingam shunned publicity, did not accept positions, accolades or titles for which he maintained he was not qualified. When the University of Peradeniya offered to confer D.Sc. (Honoris Causa), he politely refused and said he had one earned doctorate and that was enough.
Many myths are generally woven around great men, these may be an indication of their greatness. Isaac Newton and Einstein had theories attributed to them which had very little to do with them.
Professor Mahalingam was not an exception. There were many stories about how he had solved vibration problems in Rolls Royce gas turbines.
One such story being circulated even now, after his death, is how he had detected a defect in an Avro jet engine, and in lieu of compensation that he refused, Rolls Royce gifted a sectioned jet engine.
I asked him about this, several years ago, and he laughed it off in his typical unassuming manner. He said, he just wrote to Rolls Royce explaining what he was doing at the Applied Mechanics laboratory and asked whether they had any discarded engines or equipment which could be used for teaching purposes.
They responded by saying there was a sectioned jet engine, used for a training programme, which has no use for them now and they would be pleased to donate it to the faculty provided the freight was arranged.
The University agreed to bear the cost of freight, and this engine now proudly adorns the lobby of the Faculty of Engineering, Peradeniya. A fitting display for an Engineering Faculty.
Professor Mahalingam firmly believed in a knowledge-based education with emphasis on practical application. This was the reason why he created this unique space, now known as Professor Mahalingam Laboratory, at the Faculty of Engineering, Peradeniya.
This laboratory, then known as the Applied Mechanics Laboratory, is the main attraction to visitors to the faculty, be they local or foreign. Perhaps, this home-made laboratory is the only one of its kind in the world. Created with minimal cost, it is a veritable resource centre for all mechanical engineering students.
It guides you through displays of sectioned engines to industrial applications of mechanical engineering with meticulously designed and fabricated products with superior finishes that conceal the scrap material used in them.
It also demonstrates what can be achieved, with available resources, rather than waiting for foreign funds and advice.
He was not without critics.
There were many who found fault with him for not initiating post graduate studies in his field of specialization. His answer to that was, he did not believe in half-baked products. He bemoaned the fact that the university did not have sufficient funds to get down textbooks and journals of repute.
“How can I produce post graduates under such circumstances?” he asked, quite rightly, too.
He was the last of the pioneering academics who launched the first Faculty of Engineering in Sri Lanka. Professor Mahalingam was a teacher and gentleman par excellence worthy of emulation.
-Newton Wickramasuriya
The last rites of the famed engineer and Professor Emeritus of Peradeniya University, S.Mahalingam was held at his home in his native Alaveddy in Jaffna this week and his remains were cremated Mallakam at the Hindu crematorium.
Prof. S. Mahalingam
A large number of people including family members, relatives and local residents as well his former colleagues, students, members of the engineering fraternity and academia from Peradeniya, Colombo, Batticaloa and Jaffna, paid their last respects participating in the funeral of the Professor who breathed his last at the Northern Central Hospital in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Professor Mahalingam was born in Alaveddy, Jaffna on 16 January 1926, and moved to Malaysia due to his family circumstances. He obtained his primary and secondary education at Kuala Lumpur Maxwell School and Malaysia Victoria College. When twenty years of age, he returned to Sri Lanka for his university education and joined Sri Lanka Technical College in Colombo in 1946, where he obtained his first engineering degree. He obtained his doctorate degree in engineering from England’s Sheffield University in 1956.
When the Colombo engineering faculty which evolved in the later years into the Engineering Faculty of Peradeniya University was first established in 1950, he joined it to commence his lecturer career. Later in the 1970s, he continued this, as a founder lecturer of the engineering stream of the University of Peradeniya. When he was awarded his doctorate (DSc) by the famous University of London, nobody else at the University of Peradeniya was in possession of such high level doctorate.
The research undertaken by Professor Mahalingam in the field of mechanical engineering doctrine of vibration (“Vibration of branched system: a displacement excitation approach”) drew the attention of many towards him. Especially, his research on Holzer Method for balancing in vibration control, were highly acclaimed. This research paper was published in the journal of applied mechanics in 1958. Even after that, Prof. Mahalingam continued his research in this field for several decades.
When he was to be rewarded for his excellence in London, he requested that one of the three jet engines he had seen in one of the factories, be gifted to University of Peradeniya, in lieu of the award.
When he was to be rewarded for his excellence in London, he requested that one of the three jet engines he had seen in one of the factories, be gifted to University of Peradeniya, in lieu of the award. Although he was unable to send this engine to Peradeniya while he was in London, he was able to bring it down to Peradeniya, after returning to Peradeniya. This engine could be seen at the engineering faculty of the University of Peradeniya, even today.
Prof. Mahalingam maintained discipline at high level at his lectures. He was so strict and concerned about the education of the students to a level, which prompted the students to say that it is better not to attend his lectures if you cannot go at the stipulated time.
He expected the students to be dedicated to their academic activities. Unassuming and self-controlled , and affectionate towards students, he was a professor who had won great admiration among the students of all races of the University of Peradeniya.
The Late Devaki, the relict of Prof. Mahalingam, was also a professor at the University of Peradeniya.