An MSU associate professor of mechanical engineering was killed July 1 at his home in DeWitt.

Dinesh Balagangadhar died from a stab wound to the upper chest area, which penetrated his heart and lungs, DeWitt police Chief Douglas Rogers said. His wife is being charged with murder and is being held without bond in the Clinton County Jail.

“She has said the stabbing took place at home, but she said it was an accident,” Rogers said.

Circumstances surrounding the stabbing are still unclear to authorities. Rogers said the wife told authorities she was preparing a meal and somehow turned into Balagangadhar or he turned into her.

Calls to the Clinton County prosecutor’s office weren’t returned.

Balagangadhar, 29, joined the MSU staff as an assistant professor in 1999. He received a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1998 and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in India in 1993.

His research interests dealt with manufacturing process modeling, computational mechanics and design optimization.

Balagangadhar’s death has saddened many who worked with him or had been one of his students. Mechanical engineering juniors, seniors and graduate students received an e-mail the week following his death to inform them.

Jason Mazur, a 2001 MSU graduate, said he knew Balagangadhar well, having him as a professor.

“We used to go out after class,” Mazur said. “He was so young, so he could relate to students.”

Mazur said as a student, one could not help but learn in his class.

“He would go above and beyond to help out students,” he said.

Mechanical engineering graduate student Manish Sharma said he was at Balagangadhar’s house for a party the night before his death.

“It was totally shocking to all of us,” he said. “We couldn’t even believe it.”

Sharma said he will remember him for his kindness.

“He was very good at maintaining relationships,” he said. “The way he used to approach me with all of the work he wanted me to do made me interested in doing it.”

Sharma, who attended the same school in India as Balagangadhar, said he was an excellent athlete and a great table tennis player.

“People use to talk about him still when I attended school,” he said.

Alejandro Diaz, a mechanical engineering professor, said he believes everyone in the Department of Mechanical Engineering was upset by Balagangadhar’s death.

“He was a very kind, very positive individual and a very good researcher,” he said.

Services held for Balagangadhar on Friday, at the Estes-Leadley Greater Lansing Chapel, 325 W. Washtenaw St. in Lansing, were a testament to the type of character he had, Diaz said.

“The service last Friday was very touching,” he said. “Many of his friends from Illinois and even India came.”

Ronald Rosenberg, chairperson of the MSU Department of Mechanical Engineering, released a statement July 2.

“The department was shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely death of Professor Dinesh Balagangadhar,” he said. “Dinesh was a fine teacher and a strong young researcher in the area on manufacturing. He had an upbeat personality and was widely liked and respected. He will be sorely missed.”

Shaun Byron can be reached at byronsha@msu.edu.