Information Pasteboard
Weekly reports of meetings at NAL, snippets of R&D activity, conference announcements and other features of popular interest
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Information Pasteboard |
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News and Events #IP 879, 27 July - 2 Aug 2009 Prof. Narasimha Flies High on RTA Wings For many of the old timers in NAL, July 20 is eagerly awaited. It is not that we get our increment or so. It happens to be Prof. Roddam Narasimha's (RN) birthday. Thanks to Dr. U. N. Sinha, this day is when Prof. RN is compelled to feed NAL staff with a technical cake. Year after year, Prof. RN has fed us well. Cakes have always been very different each time. This time it seemed like a bigger cake well suited to the taste of NAL since Prof. RN chose to speak on "New wings for New Turboprops". Introducing the problem he said that the turboprops have some great advantages which we could afford to ignore so far owing to low fuel costs. But no longer we can do so since the fuel prices have started to rise. Since 1990's, there has been a drop in the use of Turboprop aircraft due to cheap oil, high cabin noise and more flying into turbulent weather. There is also a general perception that jet aircraft are "safer" which, in reality, is not so. Jet aircraft also enjoy some sort of status symbol. But they are pricy and consume lot more fuel. For instance, an ATR-72 on a 370 km (200 Nm) sector consumes less than 40% fuel and emits 50 % less CO2 than an equivalent jet. Prof. RN has been involved in the NAL's RTA project in many ways. On many occasions he has spoken about it with a lot of passion. He has thought very deeply about it and now has taken up a project on developing new optimized wings for the proposed new turboprop aircraft that NAL intends to build, viz., RTA-70. During this talk, he presented the details of this work. His idea is to exploit the propeller slipstream energy for better wing design. The approach is to use a simple theory to understand the basic physics. He said that there is generally no need to jump to complicated tools or theories. The present work makes use of a simple lifting line theory to model the wing. This wing is assumed to be immersed in the wake of the propeller which is estimated using CFD. He presented the details of the classical lifting line theory modified to take into account the slip stream effect. The problem is then solved numerically using standard collocation method. The wing itself is parameterized using Bezier curves. Slightly digressing, Prof. RN gave a brief introduction to the Bezier curves and said that they were first employed to design fonts. He then presented some sample results. In some cases, the reduction in induced drag could be as high as 37%!! Some shapes looked very unusual. Some even looked almost like Batman's cape! But they all made physical sense. Prof. RN said that the shapes need to be examined further using tunnel experiments or high fidelity CFD simulations. More practical constraints need to be brought in, such as structural constraints, engine integration, fuel tank volume etc. However, the present methodology is fully established. There were many questions from the audience. Some were unable to believe that such wings could exist. Some appreciated the idea. Prof. RN went about his usual way of answering the questions with great clarity. We learnt more during this session as well. Thank you Dr. Sinha for making this happen, year after year. Vidyadhar Y. Mudkavi Congratulations to our colleagues! The following Scientist have been promoted from Scientist E2 to F
Mr K Hanumantha and Mrs Chandra N Prasad have assumed charge as Administrative Officers at NAL, Bangalore. Ms Rajalakshmi Sivaramakrishnan has been nominated as Head of Flosolver Division. IP 878, 20 - 26 July 2009
He started his career as a Scientific Assistant at CFTRI, Mysore during 1977. Then he moved to L&T, Bombay for a short period of one year as Supervisor-Documentation. He served Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, one of the CSIR organization for nearly 12 years as Scientist-Information. He was on deputation as Deputy Librarian at IIT, Chennai for a period of one year. Since 1992 he has been serving as Head of Information Centre (ICAST) of NAL, Bangalore. Dr. Goudar has been bestowed with many honours and awards, notably among them are British Council Scholar during 1993 wherein he visited more than 60 institutions / libraries in England and Scotland and the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship during 1995-96 at universities of Columbia, NY (2 months) and Michigan at Ann Arbor (6 months). Dr. Goudar conceived, planned, initiated many initiatives not only at NAL but also in a big way at both CSIR and Aerospace L&IS levels. A man with a positive vision, Dr. Goudar made very significant and notable contributions to the ICAST library more in terms of modernization and infrastructure. Under his dynamic leadership, ICAST has many ‘Firsts’ to its credit. During late 90’s he initiated the Library Automation for nearly one lakh records in a ‘mission mode’ within 10 months. It was during his tenure that web based services and quick document delivery services were initiated. He took full advantage of the advances in Information technology and Internet to develop and create Library Website and an Aerospace portal ‘AeroInfo’ with more than 50, 000 links to national and international aerospace websites The union catalog of journal holdings of all the CSIR labs. with an automated email request and the database of AIAA papers (>45,000) with browse and search features were made accessible through the library website under his leadership. The ‘Newsclip’ service covering day to day news items of interest to aerospace community and its by product ‘AeroNews; a weekly bulletin of summary of articles appeared during the week was his brainchild. It was he who extended the corporate membership scheme to companies like GEITech, GM, Honeywell, Infosys to make use of ICAST facilities, thus enhancing NAL’s ECF by 6-8 lakhs per annum. The credit of setting up of the Digital Repositories like NAL’s Institutional Repository with >3000 scholarly publications of NAL scientists and the recently initiated conferences@NAL covering the contents of conferences/seminars held at NAL goes to Dr. Goudar and his team. He is a strong advocate of the ‘Open Access Movement’ and organized a good number of events on this topic. Dr. Goudar’s contributions at CSIR level is noteworthy. Under his dynamic leadership along with a few other CSIR Heads of L&ICs played a major role in bringing out a ‘Manual of Procedures and Practices for CSIR LICs’ (GB approved) with him as the convener. His initiative and leading the consortia movement along with NISCAR, a sister lab. in providing more than 6,000 e-journals held by leading publishers access to all the scientists of NAL is an added feathers in his cap. He has guided and helped other CSIR labs in setting up of their Institutional Repositories. The CSIR metadata harvesting facility holding the research output of 5 CSIR labs NAL, NCL, NIO, CDRI and IMMT) have been set up at NAL with a unified search facility under his initiative. An active member of the Aerospace Information panel of AR&DB, Dr. Goudar has come out with many innovative ideas towards the networking of all Aerospace Libraries in the country. He has served as members on the advisory board s of many national projects and academic curricula. He has delivered innumerable keynote and invited lectures at national and international level. He has been the the President of Karnataka Library Association (KALA) and an active member of Special Library Association (SLA), ILA, IASLIC etc. Dr. Goudar was the FIRST person to have persuaded ‘Annavaru Dr. Rajkumar’ to be the chief guest at the Silver jubilee of Kannada Sangha . Thanks to you Sir!!! Apart from the professional achievements, Dr. Goudar is a very friendly and helpful person in his personal life. Cheerful and with a smiling personality, Dr. Goudar is, no doubt, a person always sought after. His persuasive ways in encouraging youngsters to improve their educational qualification and update their knowledge has helped many youngsters in building up their career profile. Director and we, his colleagues both at ICAST and NAL wish him a happy and an active retired life. Poornima Narayana
#IP 877, 13 - 19 July 2009 Mr Prithviraj Chavan, the Hon’ble Minister for S&T and Earth Sciences visits CSIR-NAL. Shri Prithviraj Chavan, Hon’ble Minister for Science and Technology & Earth sciences, and Vice president (CSIR) accompanied by Prof.S.K.Bramhachari, DG, CSIR visited National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore on 18th June 2009. Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL welcomed the distinguished guest and the Director General to the Laboratories. He said that NAL was very proud that the Hon’ble Minister had chosen the Laboratories for his first visit amongst the CSIR Laboratories after assuming charge as the Minister for Science and Technology. He informed the Hon’ble Minister that the Laboratories was celebrating its Golden Jubilee and he was happy to have the Minister’s visit during this landmark year. Dr Upadhya presented an overview of the current activities of the Laboratory and the future programmes, stressing on the three-fold mission of the Institution- Establishing national strengths in aerospace S&T through R&D and infrastructure development, Advanced technology support to National Programmes, particularly in defence and space sectors and Small civil aircraft design and development. The Laboratory had established itself as a leader in critical technology areas in the last five decades. It has provided valuable strategic technologies and testing services to the prestigious Light Combat Aircraft programme and missile programmes of DRDO, launch vehicle and satellite programmes of ISRO, Life extension / upgradation programmes of IAF and Indian Navy etc. Some societal contributions include solar selective coatings, wind turbines, solar energy harvesting, and the under-development micro gas turbines, multi terrain vehicle etc. The civil aircraft programme included the pioneering all composite trainer Hansa, the under certification multi role light transport aircraft SARAS, the first public-private partnership in aircraft design-the five seat NM-5 with Mahindra Aerospace Pvt Ltd, and the ambitious network project – the 70 seat regional transport aircraft which is expected to launch India as a major civil aircraft designer and manufacturer. Mr. Chavan in his address to the assembled scientists said that NAL had covered many areas of aerospace research including civil aeronautics, but we were lagging behind in the civil aircraft sector when compared to Brazil etc., He stressed that in spite of the unfortunate accident to SARAS aircraft, he was positive about the success of the programme and would support it to reach full airworthiness certification. He was sure that aircrafts like SARAS and RTA-70 would not only promote indigenous technology and industrial development but also would be good for regions like north eastern states, and high altitude routes such as from Leh to Kargil, Srinagar etc. Sharing Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Manmohan Singh’s message and expectations, he stated that this time the expectations were very high and that a visible change should be effected in every sector by making a technological or societal impact. It was his strong belief that science and technology alone could make the difference. Mr. Chavan complimented the scientists on their excellent work and urged them to do more original, innovative contributions. He compared the situation in the early 70’s when import licenses were mandatory, to the situation today when we can source anything from anywhere. He was of the opinion that research should be done at low cost and reasonable time frames. He stressed on the need for our research to be product oriented (and not just end up as spiral bound reports!) and on the need for the products to reach the market for the public good. The proof of our success was when people were ready to pay for our products. He assured the scientific community that they had his unstinted support. It was necessary for the country to ensure quality education with stress on science as there was no doubt that only science could make the nation prosperous. In his direct interaction with the scientists, the Hon’ble Minister stressed on the need to adopt new management principles and e-governance for speedier, more efficient networking, communication and information dissemination. For example, sitting in Delhi one should be able to know the status of a project in Bangalore at the click of a button. Prof. Bramhachari added that the present project management system was very archiac and that we should have a horizontal and vertical matrix type of project management. Mr. Chavan also sought information/clarifications on the status of the SARAS accident enquiry, revenue generated from the wind tunnels, proposed RTA objectives, program schedules, participating agencies, and manufacturing partners for HANSA. Responding to a query from the Minister, Dr Upadhya stated that unfortunately the country was not yet successful in indigenously developing large sized aircraft power plants, and thus large engines had to be imported as of now. NAL had developed small aircraft engines such as the Wankel engine which had been recently flight- tested on DRDO (ADE)’s NISHANT UAV successfully. Dr. Upadhya also spoke about NAL’s recent large project from DRDO on R&D of MAV’s, measuring less than 300mm in size, weighing 300g, and with a flight time of 30 minutes. Mr. Chavan remarked that in India the projects were generally overstaffed, yet take more time than originally planned. Efficient project management was essential to cut costs and deliver reliable products on time. DG, CSIR felt that the private sector did not find our science/ products attractive as they felt that the products were not well conceived and hence not commercially viable. The meeting ended with the Director thanking the Hon’ble Minister for his visit, his valuable advice and words of support and encouragement. He also thanked the Director General for the visit. A visit to the Advanced Composites and Flosolver Divisions followed. Dr Upadhya and concerned scientists briefed the Hon’ble minister on the technologies and products developed/under advanced stage of development in the Laboratories. In his message in the Visitor’s Book, Mr Chavan stated that he was very happy to revisit NAL after a period of almost 15 years, and his first official visit to a CSIR Lab after taking over as a Minister for S&T. He complimented the dedicated team of scientists and engineers of NAL on doing path-breaking work in several fields. He also stated that he expected NAL to deliver the first commercial aircraft. The programme was co-ordinated by KTMD. #IP 876, 6 - 12 July 2009 Report of National Conference on Scientific Achievements of SC/ST Scientists and Technologists On 14 April, 2009 at the National Aerospace Laboratories’ Kodihalli campus, nearly 400 delegates and invitees had gathered in the specially decorated Dr SR Valluri Auditorium to celebrate the 118th Birth Anniversary of Bharath Ratna Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and for the inauguration of the first ever National Conference on Scientific Achievements of SC/ST Scientists and Technologists (NCSCST-09), as a part of CSIR-NAL’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations (1959 – 2009). The theme of the conference was “Aerospace Science and Societal Contributions in Scientific Fields”. Mr M A Venkataswamy, Scientist, NAL and Convener, NCSCST-09 welcomed the gathering and gave a brief overview of the conference. Dr M R Nayak, Advisor (M&A), NAL and Chairman-NCSCST 09 delivered the welcome address and introduced the distinguished Chief Guest Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar, Member, Planning Commission , Guests of Honour, Dr A B Mandal, Director, CSIR-CLRI and Mr M Poongavanam, Director, BEML, KGF to the audience. Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL, in his presidential address, observed that the day was important and special for NAL because it was an occasion for three-fold celebrations; the first and foremost, it was the 118th birthday of one of the greatest sons of modern India, Bharat Ratna Dr B R Ambedkar, the second was that the day was a part of CSIR-NAL’s Golden Jubilee events and the third was that it was the inauguration of a historic conference. Dr Upadhya said that it was most appropriate that a person of eminence like Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar, Member Planning Commission, who had professional contributions of the highest order to his credit in his specialized field of Economics and had been actively promoting welfare and uplifting of the under privileged and weaker sections of the society, was the Chief Guest of the function. The Chief Guest, Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar , Guests of Honour, Dr Mandal and Mr Poongavanam, Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL and others on the dais paid their respects to the memory of Dr B R Ambedkar by offering flowers to his portrait. Dr Mungekar inaugurated the Conference by lighting the lamp and releasing the Conference Souvenir & Proceedings. Delivering NAL’s 16th Dr B R Ambedkar’s Birthday Lecture, he recounted the achievements and the multifaceted contributions of Dr B R Ambedkar to the country but lamented that he had been largely misunderstood by the country’s people. Dr Ambedkar was the chief architect of modern India; an India that assured creation of an egalitarian social order - free of exploitation, free from indignities, with liberty, equality and fraternity for all. It also assured affirmative action through reservation policies for SC/ST communities. Dr Ambedkar contributed to make India a just, equal, humanitarian society where human rights and human dignity were respected. Guest of Honor, Dr AB Mandal, Director, CSIR-CLRI, Chennai delivered the keynote address on “How much we know about Self-assembled Systems? Paradigm shift from Chemical to Bio-processing of Leather, Helical mystery and Unwinding of triple helix and some Bio-material Systems”. Guest of Honor Mr M Poongavanam, Director, BEML, KGF released the Directory of CSIR SC/ST Scientists and Technologists which was specially brought out on this occasion. Every year, during the celebration of birthday of Dr B R Ambedkar, NAL recognized meritorious students who had secured the highest marks amongst those from the SC/ST community in the state in science subjects in the previous year’s Karnataka SSLC examination and also children of NAL’s SC/ST Employees who had secured the highest marks in SSLC or equivalent examinations. This year’s awards were presented to the students at the hands of Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar in the inaugural function. The Inaugural programme concluded with a formal vote of thanks by Dr R Rajendran, President, NAL SC/ST Employees Welfare Association followed by Technical sessions. The programme was compeered by Dr M N Sathyanarayana, Coordinator, NCSCST-09. During the 3-day conference, there were 4 plenary lectures and 15 invited lectures (8 in Engineering Sciences and 7 Societal Sciences) from eminent personalities in varied disciplines of science and engineering. The conference had received more than 100 contributory papers, of which 70 were accepted for presentation during the 3 day conference. The papers were broadly classified under Engineering Sciences (37 papers) and Societal Sciences (32 papers). The papers covered such diverse subjects as Aeronautics, Space, Food & Bio Technology, Life Sciences, Medicine, Environment, Computer Science, Information, Chemical Science, Metallurgy & Materials, Material Processing and Characterization, Design, Analysis, Manufacturing, Testing & Qualification, Electrical Engineering & Electronics, Networking and Humanities. The Conference concluded on 16th April 2009 with a Valedictory Function chaired by Dr AR Upadhya, Director, NAL. Dr Upadhya, in his valedictory address, referred to the affirmative action mentioned by the Chief Guest, Dr Mungekar in his inaugural address, and said that this conference was also a step in that direction. The participants overwhelmingly appreciated NAL, for providing them an opportunity to present their contributions in a national forum. The Conference had also been a morale booster for the community, giving the members, particularly the young scientists, an opportunity to observe the work and excellent contributions of many of their peers and learn from them, boosting their confidence. Most of the participants were of the opinion that such a conference should henceforth be organized periodically by other institutions as it would vastly benefit the community as well as the cause of S&T in the country. List of NAL Ambedkar Day Lectures
Mr K V Konda Reddy has been nominated as Head, Estates and Buildings Section and Ms S Lakshmi Bai as Deputy Head, EBS. Mr J Meganathan will function as Incharge of Transport Section. Recent issues of NAL Information Pasteboard Prev To
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