Sockalingam Sam Kannappan hails from Nattarasankottai located in the heartland of Chettinad, famed for its sprawling, stately houses, delectable cuisine and its philanthropic and industrious people. Having moved to the US way back in 1968 he has over the years become a guide and pillar of support to the local Indian community. Shri Sam Kannappan is a highly accomplished Engineer with a B.E (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering from the Annamalai University and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas to his credit. He is a Senior Design Engineer and Member of the Society of Piping Engineers and Designers. Shri Sam Kannappan is a great example of a man who gave his best to both worlds, his motherland and the nation he adopted as his foster home. His knowledge, learning, experience and expertise has been sought by the US government in some of their most prestigious, strategic and critical projects as the following list of accomplishments and recognitions would elucidate.
1. As a Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Gas Pipeline Safety Research Committee, he played a critical role in keeping bio-terrorism in check in Houston and in safe guarding the vital oil and gas pipelines from sabotage
2. As a member of the Texas’s Waste Water Management Council he contributed significantly towards realizing its objectives
3. The General Electric company’s Astro Division honoured Shri Kannappan with the ‘ “Lighting Award’ for accurately estimating the remaining life of a critical component in a Satellite already in orbit
4. The Tennessee Valley Authority recognized him with a merit award for expediting the non- conformance reports in the design of the Belafonte nuclear power plant.
5. The Crystal Dynamics Group working at NASA’s Goddard Space flight center recognized him with an award for improving laser measurement accuracy
6. As an Engineer with a strong commitment to saving global energy, he is known for his implementation of significant electric power peak energy reduction programs.
If the professional accomplishments of Shri Kannappan are truly mind boggling his human side and concern for social causes both in India and the US are most heartwarming as the following would illustrate
1. Among the earliest members of the SN OM Trust and it Vice- President he has put his heart and soul, in creating awareness on Sankara Nethralaya and mobilizing funds for its cause by organizing charity shows and by his own philanthropy
2. As the Chairman of the Indo-American Disaster Relief Fund he raised a substantial sum of $ 20,000 through the Indo-American Charity Foundation for the recovery fund of hurricane Ike.
3. As the Advisory member of the prestigious Asia Society he helped in rallying the Indian community to lend support for many deserving causes back home and as Chairman of the Disaster Relief Committee he was responsible for getting approval for a colossal $10 Million for the relief of the Gujarat Quake victims from the Law Makers and helped in mobilizing $230,000 for the victims of 9/11 by co-coordinating with various Indo-US organizations
A highly devout individual with considerable literary skills and a strong affinity with his roots Shri Sam Kannappan is founder of the Bharathi Kalai Mandram, Houston, Founder Secretary Sri Meenakshi Temple, Pearland, Texas, he has authored a book titled “Stress analysis and EZFLEX piping analysis software programme” and has pioneered a Tamil language font with voice synthesizer for disabled people.
The Sankara Nethralaya family expresses its sincere thanks to Shri Sam Kannappan for his unstinting support and relentless service rendered to its cause and expresses its hearty congrats to him and his family for his appointment to the prestigious professional body ‘The Texas Board of Professional Engineers’ and wishes him many more landmark accomplishments and rewards in his professional and personal life.