Shivakumar Raman
David Ross Boyd Professor
S.R. Noble Foundation Presidential Professor
John A. Meyers Professor in Engineering
Industrial Engineering

Dr. Shivakumar Raman likes to tell the story of the Pygmalion, an artist that treated his creation, a statue of a woman, with such affection that the goddess Aphrodite brought it to life. Raman reinforces this concept in the classroom, pushing his industrial engineering students to really take a hands-on approach to learning and finding a love for what they create themselves.

"It has no meaning if it's just on paper," Raman says. "Students are the work force. We work side-by-side."

Raman's students blend class lectures with projects at the Moore-Norman Technology Center , building parts and doing research.

"It is like direct feedback," Raman says. "It is something of a closure to all the material they learn."

Originally from India , Raman came to America to work toward his doctorate degree and become a college professor. OU was the first school he interviewed with for a teaching position and Raman says he quickly declined all other offers. He says he was attracted to the concept of building the program from scratch and having creative license with his classes. His hard work paid off as Raman has received numerous accolades such as the IIE Outstanding Young Industrial Engineer Award, SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award and in 1999 was an invited participant to the Oklahoma Outstanding Professors Academy . After being tenured in 1994, Raman became a full professor in 1999 and now has the honor of being a David Ross Boyd Professor for the School of Industrial Engineering .

Creating industrial parts is not Raman's only forte. He and his wife, a programmer analyst for Farmer's Union , both sing Indian classical music. They sometimes put on performances and even produced a jazz CD. Whether it is sculpting curriculum or creating new melodies, Raman really does take pride in his work.