Rashmi Urdhwareshe


Rashmi Urdhwardeshe born Rashmi Ranade is an Indian automotive engineer. She is the director of the Automotive Research Association of India. In March 2020 she received the highest award for women in India - the Nari Shakti Puraskar

Life

Urdhwardeshe was born in Nagpur in about 1960. In 1977 she opted to study at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur and to study Automotive Engineering which was then an usual and challenging choice of career for a woman in India. There were few women at the engineering college and automotive was usually an all-male preserve.
presenting the Nari Shakti Puruskar to Rashmi Urdhwarde watched by the Minister for Women Smriti Irani
She was trained in electronic engineering and she help develop controls for the hydraulics of testing machines and then on emission control. She helped develop methods of measurement of emissions at what was the first Indian laboratory studying emissions. She was an expert on total quality management and co-authored a book on the subject.
She was keen on sport as a girl, learned to play the sitar and in time she was a champion at Bridge for her state.
She was chosen to be the next director of the Automotive Research Association of India in 2014.
In March 2020, her work in 2019, was recognised with the highest award for women in India. The Nari Shakti Puraskar was given by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind recognising her work over 35 years work in automotive research and development. At the time she was based in Pune so she travelled to get the award in Delhi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Center. The award is made to women who have worked exceptionally for women empowerment. After the ceremony Urdhwardeshe complimented the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his work in this area noting the largely untapped potential of under educated women in India.

Private life

Her husband is also an engineer. He cared for their 14 teen month old child whilst his wife was in Germany for six months.