K. Ramamurthi obtained Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1976 from McGill University, Montreal after a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, in 1970. He worked on the development of solid, liquid, and cryogenic propellant rockets in the Indian Space Research Organization, and at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, where he has been teaching courses on thermodynamics, combustion, propulsion, gas dynamics and explosion and safety, and guiding research work. He has been on several committees and panels on propulsion, combustion, and shock waves and chairman of the Combustion, Detonics, and Shock Wave Panel of the Defense Research and Development Organization. He is an Honorary Fellow of the High Energy Materials Society.