Rajendar Bahl is a Professor at the Centre for Applied Research in Electronics (CARE), IIT Delhi where he has been working since 1974. He has a B.Tech (Honours) in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering from IIT Kharagpur (1974) and Ph.D (EE) from IIT Delhi (1982). He has been a past Head of CARE during 1996-99, and a founder-member of the Naval Research Board. He has participated in various national bodies of the Department of Electronics, Ministry of Information Technology, and the Defence Research & Development Organization. He won a Senior Fellowship award of the US National Research Council during 1989-90 at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. He has also been a Visiting Professor in the field of bio-acoustics at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Japan during 2002-2004.
As President of India Chapter of IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society, he has been instrumental in organizing the International Symposium on Underwater Technology, UT-15 at Chennai, India. His major expertise is in Sonar design and he has implemented a number of projects in this area. He has developed several systems and proven them in the field. He was jointly awarded the 1982 Invention Award of the National Research & Development Corporation for the indigenous development of a Digital Control System for INS Vikrant. He is the recipient of Commendation Medal of the Chief of the Naval Staff.
He is the recipient of Commendation Medal of the Chief of the Naval Staff