Mayadhar Swain is an Odia writer from Odisha, India.

Early life and education

Mayadhar Swain was born on 8 February 1956 in the village Baselihata of Cuttack district in the state of Odisha, India. He passed matriculation from a rural school, Banshidhar Bidyapith at Kanpur in 1972 with National first class and secured 6th rank in entire Odisha. He passed I.Sc. from Revenshaw College, Cuttack in 1st Division in 1974. He got B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering UCE Burla in 1979 with distinction of 1st class 1st in Sambalpur University. Then he successfully completed M.E. in Water Resources Development from prestigious I.I.T., Roorkee with 1st class Hons with Distinction in 1989.^[1] He is married to Mrs. Abanti Swain who has been a catalyst in his several academic and research pursuits .

Profession

Mayadhar started his career in National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC),New Delhi from 1979 to 1982 and later in Talcher Thermal Power Station (TTPS) from 1982 to 1988 as Assistant Engineer. Then he joined the upper Kolab hydro power plant under the Odisha Hydro Power Corporation and as Assistant Manager and was promoted to Deputy Manager from 1989 to 2000. Later, he quit and joined MECON Limited, Ranchi where he held the post of Deputy General Manager. He has vast expertise in power plant technology. He has published more than 50 papers in various journals & presented in seminars mainly on Power System. He is one of the widely and nationally acclaimed Electrical engineers of India. After his superannuation from MECON,a GOI undertaking, he works as Professor and Director, heading the School of Electrical Engineering in KITT University, Bhubaneswar.^[2]

Literary activities

Mayadhar Swain is a freelance science writer of Odisha. He has written articles extensively on science, engineering and mathematics in newspapers, journals and magazines of the State for over three decades. He has written about seven hundred articles on popular science. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the periodical, Science Horizon, published by Odisha Bigyan Academy.^[3] Several of his talks on science and engineering have been organised on both Doordarshan and All India Radio. He has authored 50 books on popular science for the general public from different walks of life, students and children. He writes in vernacular Oriya language for Oriya-speaking people. He was conferred Life Time Achievement Award for popularization of science by All India People's Science Network (AIPSN), Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samti (BGVS) and National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) collectively on the occasion of 16th All India People'S Science Congress, held at NISER Bhubaneswar during Feb 2018,published in leading Odia daily,Dharitri, dated 13th Feb,2018.^[4]

Awards

• Pranakrushna Parija Award of Odisha Bigyan Academy for popularization of science (2008).
• Honoured by Bigyan Prachar Samiti, Cuttack for popularization of science (1999, 2008, 2013)
• Rajadhani Book Fair Award ( 2012)
• Bhubaneswar Book Fair Award (2013)
• Life Time Achievement Award for popularization of science collectively by AIPSN, BGVS and NISER in 16th All India People'S Science Congress,Feb 2018
• Pranakrushna Parija Bigyan Samman by Utkal Sahitya Samaj,Cuttack,Odisha on 6th June2018

Membership

• Fellow of Institution of Engineers.
• Member, Utkal Sahitya Samaj
• Member, Bigyan Prachar Samiti, Cuttack
• Chief editor of Bigyan Jagat (monthly Odia science magazine), Salipur, Cuttack
• Member of Editorial Board of Science Horizon, published by Odisha Bigyan Academy
• Member,Orissa Environmental Society

References

• http://orissabigyanacademy.nic.in
• https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/Orissa-Bigyan-Academy-announces-awards/article16505081.ece
• http://see.kiit.ac.in/faculties.html
• https://www.odishaestore.com/odia-writer-mayadhar-swain