First engineer from AP village force behind Chenab bridge

COMING from Yedugundlapadu, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, where she was the first engineer ever, Professor Madhavi Latha is now among the technical minds behind the Chenab Rail bridge — the world's tallest railway bridge — inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on Friday.

- RISHITA KHANNA @ Bengaluru

Madhavi, who hails from a family of farmers, completed her entire schooling in government school. The youngest of four siblings, she had initially dreamt of becoming a doctor. But with limited resources, her parents suggested engineering, which was more affordable through government colleges. Madhavi pursued her BTech from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Andhra Pradesh, followed by MTech at NIT Warangal, a PhD from IIT Madras, and a post-doctorate in rock engineering from IISc, where she has been teaching since 2003 and also chairs the Centre f