First woman engineer of Odisha dies

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Oct 31:

The first woman engineer of Odisha, Sudhira Das passed away on Friday morning. She was 83 at the time of her death, family sources said.

Sudhira was born in an aristocratic family of Cuttack on March 8, 1932. She had an extreme passion for mathematics from her childhood. After graduating from Ravenshaw College in 1951, she completed her MSc (Tech) in Radio Physics and Electronics from University of Science & Technology, Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1956—a time when education was a taboo for women.

After completing her MSc (Tech) she joined the Berhampur Engineering School, later renamed as Uma Charan Patnaik Engineering School, Berhampur as a lecturer in Science and Mathematics in 1957. Later she became the principal of Women’s Polytechnic , Rourkela.

Sudhira, served the Odisha government from 1957 to 1990 in different capacities. Establishment of Women’s Polytechnic at Bhubaneswar is considered as a major contribution of hers.

As news of her death spread friends, relatives and eminent personalities flocked to pay their last respects to the departed soul.