On February 19-22, 2012, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration (SME), held its annual convention in which Phoenix’s very own Dr. Madan Singh was honored with the 2011 SME Rock Mechanics Award for his contributions to the mining industry which include contributions to several fields related to geotechnical engineering, mining, tunneling, ventilation, and sustainability.

From a very young age, Dr. Singh knew that he wanted to be an engineer but did not know what type of an engineer, even though his father wanted him to be in medicine.  As luck would have it, one day his father was travelling from Lucknow to Calcutta and passing through Dhanbad on the way and he ran into students from the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad, India heading back from vacation.  They told him about this school, which only accepted 40 students in each class, but prospects for graduates in that industry were very high.  There was a competition all over India to select the 40 students for the upcoming year so he suggested Dr. Singh take the exam, which he did that same summer and got in.  While being in school, his interest in mining gradually developed because it was a specialized type of engineering.

During his senior year, there was a travelling professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was teaching us on the Columbo plant.  He approached Dr. Singh to do graduate work in the SUA, since there were no facilities in India for mining-related graduate work.   Using him as a reference, Dr. Singh applied to 2-3 schools and in 1956 came to the University of Illinois.  He completed the program there and then went to Pennsylvania State for his PhD.  While teaching at Penn State, he went back to India and married his lovely wife Sonia with whom he has a son, Aman, who currently lives and works in Oregon for the State of Oregon’s Department of Human Services.

Dr. Singh established a consulting engineering company in Chicago that specialized in Civil Engineering and Rock Mechanics, which also opened a branch in Tucson in 1992, where the mining business was thriving.  He eventually moved the offices from Tucson to Phoenix in 1996 and, wanting to get away from the cold, Chicago winters, he himself moved with his family to Arizona in 1998.  During his consulting days, he gained a variety of experience, each brining new challenges and learning opportunities.

In addition to his contributions to the field of Mining, Dr. Singh was also very active in the community.  As a student, he was active in foreign student bodies and was the President of the Cosmopolitan Club, dedicated to foreign students.  He was involved in the inter-faith community and spent countless hours helping them understand Indians, as well as Sikhism because it was a problem for many which was made worse during the time that Indira Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguard.

On behalf of the entire team of Asia Today, we would like to wish a hearty congratulations to Dr. Madan Singh and his entire family for one of his many accomplishments, the SME Rock Mechanics Award 2011, and thank him for his contributions to the field of Mining Engineering.  We are proud to showcase further details on the career, contributions, and accomplishments of such a remarkable individual.

A Brief Bio…

Dr. Madan M. Singh was Director of the Department of Mines and Mineral Resources for the State of Arizona from August 2005 through January 2011.  He served under Governor Janet Napolitano (now Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) and Governor Jan Brewer.  He moved to Arizona in 1998; prior to which he was in Illinois for 32 years and in Pennsylvania for 9 years.  So Singh is intimately familiar with the mineral resources of the country and their interface with economic, environmental, health and safety, and other issues.  He has testified before Congressional Committees and the Arizona Legislature.  He served on Legislative committees to update Arizona’s mining regulations, abandoned mine shaft closure, and the creation of the Centennial Museum(now called The Arizona Experience) under the Arizona Historical Society.  Madan was also a representative of a cooperating agency on two Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) – one for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the other for the U.S. Forest Service (FS).  He has prepared briefs for the Governor’s policy advisor on natural resources.  He was on the Governor’s cabinet on Renewable Energy Development in Arizona.

Prior to joining the Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, Singh had over 30 years of experience in operating a consulting engineering firm, which he founded and developed from a one-man operation to a company with a staff of over 50 and three offices.  He managed all aspects of the company – technical, financial, marketing, and human resources; he wrote proposals and reports and made presentations.  Thus he could also serve in Business Development.

He has served as a manager in a not-for-profit research organization for eight years (IIT Research Institute), and was on the mining faculty at Penn State.  Thus he has demonstrated that he can manage budgets and personnel.  Madan has performed several projects for the U.S. Bureau of Mines and Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other government agencies.

Professional Service & Recognition

Dr. Singh has been active in the mining, minerals, and natural resources professional community.

For The National Academies (National Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering/U.S. National Academy of Sciences), Singh has served on committees that produced the reports entitled “Managing Materials for a 21st Century Military” (2008), “Managing Coal Combustion  Residues in Mines” (2006), and “Coal Waste Impoundments” (2002).  He was elected to the U.S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics and has served on the U.S. National Committee on Tunneling Technology.  He was Chairman of the Subcommittee on Rock Strength for a decade for the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).  He has recently served as an invited expert for minerals in a climate change workshop for an agency of the United States Government.

The Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc. (SME) inducted Madan as a Distinguished Member in 2004, and installed him in the Legion of Honor in 2005.  He has been selected for the 2011 SME Rock Mechanics Award.  He was awarded the Howard N. Eavenson Award in 2000. The Coal Division of SME presented him with the Distinguished Service Award in 1997.  Since 2010 he is serving on the Structure and Governance Strategic Committee of SME, and is Vice-Chair of the Research Committee.  In May 2011 he was chosen as the Local Section Hero by the SME Maricopa Section.

Dr. Singh was awarded the Robert Stefanko Distinguished Achievement Award by the Department of Energy and Geoenvironmental Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University.  He was selected Centennial Fellow by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State.  Singh was conferred the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Indian School of Mines and Applied Geology.

Dr. Singh was elected Fellow of the American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC) and Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).  He is a Life Member of the Society of the Sigma Xi, Life Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was a Charter Member of the Institute of Shaft Drilling. In 1990, he won the Minority Vendor of the Year Award (Illinois Minority and Female Business Enterprise Council).  The Federal Highway Administration selected his company, Engineers International, Inc., for the 1999 Environmental Excellence Award.

He was selected to serve on a Coal Mining Delegation from the United States to the Peoples Republic of China.He was elected to serve on the prestigious Washington Award Committee.  In the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc. (AIME), he served as Chair, Environmental Conservation Distinguished Service Award committee.  In 2007 he chaired the Robert Earll McConnell Award Committee.

He won the SME Student Paper Prize, Graduate Division, of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc. (SME).  He was a Director of SME, and was Chair, Coal Division of SME.  He chaired the SME Underground Ventilation Committee.  Madan was elected chair of the Chicago Section of AIME/ISS-SME.  He was chair of the SME Maricopa Section from 2006 through 2010 and served on the Arizona Conference Board (2005 – 2011).

Dr. Singh was elected National Director of the American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC) (1997-98).  He was elected President of the Consulting Engineers Council of Illinois (CECI) (1996-1997).

He was appointed to the Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association.  He was active in HWAC (an association of engineering and science firms practicing in hazardous waste management), served on its insurance committee.  He was editor of its “Legislative Update”.  Singh was elected a Director of Demeter Insurance Co.

Dr. Singh has chaired six (6) national conferences (including the Silver Anniversary Rock Mechanics Symposium and two Engineering Foundation Conferences).  He is listed in Who’s Who Among American Executives, Who’s Who in the Midwest, American Men and Women of Science, and several other biographical compendia.  He has lectured extensively in the USA and abroad.  He has authored 131 technical publications, many of them peer-reviewed.  Most of the reports to government agencies were reviewed extensively by agency staff prior to acceptance.

Hidden Gems…Dr. Madan Singh
By Deepa Walia

Most of you know him as a doctor/pediatrician in the valley, but very few in the community are familiar with his artistic and theatrical side.  I had the pleasure of spending an evening chatting with Dr. Kamaljeet Sachdeva regarding his experience with street plays, more commonly known all over india as ‘Nukad Naataks’.  Nukad Naataks, the most popular means of communication to the public and masses, became popular in India in the late 80s when women issues started getting a lot of attention in the media.

We began the conversation with a history of when these became popular and their purpose.  Most of these naataks are directed towards a single social issue.  In the late 70s and 80s, two incidents rocked India.  The first was the Mathura Rape Case in 1978, in which two constables walked free from the court after raping a teenaged orphan named Mathura in the police station.  The second was the story of Tarvinder Kaur (24), who was burnt alive by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law in Model Town, Delhi.  Despite her dying statement to this effect, the police registered a case of suicide.  At this time, two organizations — Manushi and Sangarsh – started these street plays, replaying the lives of these tragedies to raise awareness.

“Om Swaha” – a play replaying the life of Tarvinder Kaur, was performed all over universities, residential areas, and in the streets.  It revolved around a girl who is educated, gets married, and goes to a typical Indian family thinking it is a dream come true.  There is a demand of dowry which the parents fulfill but more demands follow and the parents are unable to keep up.  Later on, the girl’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law, with assistance from the son, burn her and portray it as a kitchen accident.  Based on Tarvinder’s life, the play ends with the message that this girl can be anybody.  The actors go around into the audience saying this can be your daughter or anyone sitting in the audience.  They make eye contact with individual people and ask questions such as What do you think? What if it was your daughter? What would you do?  The performers do not give the answers or solutions but leave questions for the audience to make them go home thinking.  They are not aimed at a solution but rather to raise awareness so the audience can think for themselves.

All educational institutions have social and cultural organizations and Dr. Sachdeva recognized his strength in acting and loved it.  It gave him a euphoria and the fact that these were dedicated to raising awareness on much-needed topics was another attraction.   While attending Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College in Meerut, participated in these naataks both as a participant in inter-collegiate competitions, as well as on the streets from which these plays take their name.  For their performance in Om Swaha, they won first prize in Kanpur Medical College and Rurkee Engineering College.

 In addition to competing, he has also participated in more traditional performances.  A traditional nuked naatak consists of finding a place in the corner of the street, where an audience can be attracted.  The performing group is prepared to perform, but it is a complete surprise to the audience.  Since these are aimed at people going to work or for other business without a lot of time, they are short in duration and approximately 15-20 minutes long.  The performances for competitive reasons can go up to 45 minutes.  His most memorable performance took place at Kanpur GSVM Medical College.  The performance resulted in the judges crying after seeing the play; there was pin drop silence during the performance and after as the audience was stunned and the environment was so charged, it brought the performing actors to tears too.

The biggest difference between regular plays and street plays, according to Dr. Sachdeva, is that a formal play is a well written story with a script and props. However, in a street play, there are no props and the most important tool is the human body.  There are no rules and the story can be edited and progressed based on where it is being performed. For example, script can be change to accommodate regional language or slang but the core issue remains the same, making them more flexible than formal.  In a street play, the important factors in order of most important to least are voice, eye contact, body language, and then expression.  Everyone wears the same attire such as jeans and a kurta to keep consistency and not give away characters from rich to poor based on attire – it is truly the acting that sets them apart and identifies who is who.

 After graduation, Dr. Kamaljeet Sachdeva go toto involved in the medical feidl and never got a chance to get back.  He did it for 4-5 years in the late part of his medical school and during post-graduation and still misses it.  In his own words, “Those were the times you are having fun and you know whatever you are doing has some purpose.”  As he described the naataks, what they are, why they happen, the logistics and rules, and his own performances, it was evident that they still held a special place in his memories.

These naataks are still very popular all over India and some influential names such as Baadal Sircar with his ‘Balatkaar Kanoon’ and Gursharan Singh’s ‘Jhangiram ki Haveil’ have taken them to new heights.  In addition to raising awareness, they have also become a social and political weapon.  Safdar Hasmi, a political, leftist leader, had performed approximately 4,000 street plays using them as a weapon against politicians and the elite class to favor union workers.  He was attacked and died the following day while doing a play called Halla Bol, which was eventually turned in a movie by Raj Kumar Santoshi.  He was the founder of Jana Natya Academy, a very powerful organization whose basic purpose is to spread awareness acmongst the working class in India.  April 12 is still celebrated as National Street Play day in India because it is his birthday and many competitions take place all over India on this day.  In today’s environment, a lot of street plays were also inspired by the Anna Hazare movement and took place all over India highlighting the corruption in our political system.

I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Kamaljeet Sachdeva for spending an evening giving me an insight into his less-known passion and educating me on the history behind these plays.  This column started as a way to show talented individuals within our community who have been part of something bigger or different than what they are branded with as their profession.  And, once again, this interview met that purpose.  Not only did I [and hopefully our readers] get an insight into a hidden talent of Dr. Sachdeva’s, but also learned a lot about a part of our culture and history that is not so well known here in the States.

Hidden Gems…Kamaljeet Sachdeva
By Deepa Walia
December 21, 2011