In addition to Professor Daya Reddy’s research in the fields of continuum mechanics and finite element analysis, he has been a driver of science policy in South Africa as well as globally. Reddy completed a degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town before moving to Cambridge University in the UK for his doctoral studies. He subsequently spent a post-doctoral year at University College London. He joined UCT as a lecturer in 1979, was appointed professor in 1989 and in 2006 to the DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Computational Mathematics, a position which, along with being director of the Centre for Research in Computational and Applied Mechanics, he still holds. He also served as executive dean of the faculty of science at UCT between 1999 and 2005.
The realms of mathematical modelling and analysis as well as the analysis and development of approximations and associated algorithms have broadly constituted the focus of his research. He has made significant contributions to the theory of plasticity and to the development of stable and convergent mixed finite element methods. He maintains an active engagement in biomechanics, with research into cardiovascular implant design, the biomechanics of sleep apnoea, and the mechanics and physiology of soft-tissue interfaces.
Reddy is actively involved in strengthening the scientific enterprise, and in the domain of providing science advice to policymakers. He is currently president-elect of the International Council for Science, president of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), co-chair of the InterAcademy Council, and represents South Africa on the executive committee of IAP, The Global Network of Science Academies.
Contributing to the development of South Africa’s human capacity in the area of applied mathematics is important to Reddy, and to this end he has supervised 25 PhD and 29 master’s students to completion. His publications, more than 160 in number, include two research monographs and two graduate-level texts, and articles in journals that include Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, SIAM Journal for Numerical Analysis, and Numerische Mathematik. He serves on the editorial boards of nine journals.
Reddy’s research work has achieved considerable recognition. He received the Award for Distinguished Service from the South African Association for Computational and Applied Mechanics in 2009, and the Order of Mapungubwe from the president of South Africa in 2004. He has further held numerous visiting positions, including those of visiting faculty fellow at the Institute for Computational Sciences and Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Timoshenko Lecturer at Stanford University. In 2012 he received the prestigious Georg Forster Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany.