M.N. Dastur ScD'49
MN Dastur Courtesy of Rustam Dastur
Minu Nariman Dastur completed a ScD in Metallurgy in 1949. His elder brother, Maneck Nariam Dastur SM'41 studied Materials Science at MIT and encouraged Minu to enroll at the Institute. Dastur was a patriot, deeply committed to India's independence struggle. He served as the President of the Hindustan Club of MIT and led a protest against an exhibition put together by the British Information Services about India in Lobby 7 that he considered to be colonial propaganda.
In 1954, Dr. Dastur was sent to India by the U.S. Government as a consulting steel plant expert to the Mysore Iron & Steel Works Ltd. at Bhadravati, to aid in efforts of modernization and expansion. In an encounter with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Nehru encouraged Dr. Dastur to reside permanently in India to provide his steel plant expertise to assist in the massive steel development program that India was soon to embark on. A patriot at heart, Dr. Dastur readily agreed and returned, starting the Consulting Engineering firm Dastur on May 31, 1955 in Kolkata. Dastur now hosts a number of internationally renowned experts with knowledge of various facets of engineering and technology, and Dr. Dastur is known for being a visionary and the pioneer of consulting engineering services in India.
Excerpt from The Tech about a Metallurgical Society event featuring MN Dastur as speaker.