#IP 863, 30 Mar - 5 Apr 2009

Dr S V Narasimhan retires

Dr. S.V. Narasimhan retired as the Deputy Head of the Aerospace Electronics and Systems Division after rendering about seventeen years of dedicated and committed service to the Laboratory. He has been a role model, a mentor and a teacher to many and I am sure his talent and scholarship are undeniable and will be difficult to replace. For all those who know him well, he had built a personal relationship with his place of work and transformed it unobtrusively from a professional activity to an impossibly addictive hobby.

Some notable contributions have come from the leadership of Dr. S.V. Narasimhan  at NAL in a diversity of applications that include Active Noise Control for LCA, speech processing, CVR analysis, radar signal processing, wireless communications and so on. The group has done pioneering work in the analysis of non -stationary signals in the group delay domain. This method exploits the additive property of the Fourier transform (FT) phase to extract spectral information of the signal in the presence of noise. The phase is generally featureless due to random polarity and wrapping; but the group delay function can be processed to derive significant information such as peaks in the spectral envelope. This concept has been thoroughly exploited by Dr. SVN in many of his publications for the analysis of non-stationary signals using cyclostationary methods, time frequency analysis, the bispectrum etc For all his contributions in this area, Dr SVN  is fondly nicknamed as MGD Narasimhan by Dr. B.S. Adiga.

Many say that scientists lose their enthusiasm with age. This is certainly not always true for all the scientists one come across, and most certainly not true for Dr. S.V. Narasimhan. Personally for me, Dr. Narasimhan at sixty is still the best postdoc NAL can still find. He is still capable of making various contributions and  can play a role in providing a deeper perspective on scientific strategy — many young scientists have not grasped the importance of seeking out unsolved and unregarded problems.

NAL recognizes the need to maintain and enhance the pool of productive scientists by promoting recruitment and innovative schemes to tap the potential of retired scientists.   Here’s welcoming DR NARASIMHAN as Scientist Emeritus to CSIR once again.

S M Vaitheeswaran

Director, NAL to hold temporary charge as Head of Propulsion and Wind Energy Divisions

Director, NAL will be holding temporary charge as Head of Propulsion and Wind Energy Divisions, consequent to the superannuation of Dr J J Isaac Head, Propulsion & Wind Energy Divisions on 31-03-2009. Dr V Arun Kumar is designated as Joint Head, Propulsion Division and Dr S Ramamurthy as Dy Head, Wind Energy Division.

Dr T K Chakraborty, Director, CDRI, Lucknow will hold temporarily additional charge of the post of Director, IITR, Lucknow. This arrangemnet will continue till Dr K C Gupta  joins as Director, IITR Lucknow.

Dr Rajesh Gokhale, has assumed charge as Director, Institute of Genomics Biology(IGIB), New Delhi from 25.3.09

#IP 862, 23-29 Mar 2009

Aerofest 2009 at Coimbatore

The first programme of Aerofest in 2009 was arranged at PARK College of Engineering and Technology (PCET) during 7-10 March 2009. Aerofest is a reach out programme designed to enthuse youngsters. PCET could not have been more appropriate for this. During preparatory visits to PCET we learnt that it has one of the largest Aeronautical Engineering Departments numbering a total of 400 plus students at various stages of undergraduate studies. The programme is spearheaded by 80 year young AVM Sheshachari, otherwise known as AVM Chari, who is the director of aeronautics. His enthusiasm was unparalleled and we found a good home to take our technologies.

As in the previous edition, one day knowledge sharing seminar was scheduled on 7 March followed by aerial events on 8 March. NAL's technological exhibition was scheduled for 9 and 10 March. We reached Coimbatore on 6 March and reached PCET by lunch time with all the exhibits packed to brim in Wind Energy vehicle. Around 4 pm when we were up to our neck in preparation for the event, Mr. Giri Raj received his first call of major concern. He told me that there was some news about some aircraft having crashed near Bidadi and the caller said it was Saras. We did not want to believe it. But fate had already done its deed and calls poured in revealing ugly details bit by bit. An atmosphere of gloom fell on us. We learnt that Director had flown directly to Bangalore from Hyderabad instead of coming to Coimbatore as per the schedule. As time passed by, NAL made up its mind that technical programme must go on and all other celebrations would be off. The aerial event was called off since Hansa could not fly in.

The students of PCET gave everything they could. On the evening of 6 March students, particularly a  large number of girl students, worked long and hard distributing invitations, drawing intricate patterns in the lobby, rehearsing for compering of the inaugural programme for the following day and so on. The inaugural was expected to start at 10 in the morning on the following day. But prior to that, AVM Chari had ensured that Aakash Ganga team kick-started the event with a magnificent paradrop. Incidentally, the Aerofest 2009 was clubbed with annual Fliegen event of PARK. Fliegen is a German word meaning "Flight".

The inaugural started late and ended very late. Dr. Mohan Kumar, Principal, welcomed the gathering. Dr. Isaac filled in for Dr. Upadhya and gave an overview of NAL's role, its mission, programmes and technologies. Dr. Ravi, Chairman, PCET, addressed the gathering and the first thing he talked about was the report of the Saras mishap reported in the news papers. He requested the entire gathering to stand in silence for one minute to pay respect to those who lost their lives in the mishap. It was a very kind gesture coming from PCET. Later, he wanted to know how much NAL’s Hansa cost. He made a commitment to buy one having felt that it was actually cheaper than an expensive Mercedes. It would indeed be nice to see that Hansa decorates their college and provides an excellent platform for students to learn to fly. Mrs. Anusha, CEO and Mr. Kartik, Secretary and technical correspondent of PCET also spoke on this occasion. Dr. Isaac released Aerofest 2009 and Fliegen 2009 souvenir. Group captain B. K. Dash, station commander, Air Force Station, Sulur also spoke on this occasion. He made all the necessary arrangements at the Air Force station.

After late high tea, the technical sessions started off with guest lecture on helicopter aerodynamics by Dr. Syed R. Ahmed, formerly of German Aerospace Center (DLR), Braunschweig. Dr. Isaac spoke again, this time on "Doing experimental science." A lecture on MAV's was delivered by Dr. G. Ramesh of EAD and I spoke on "Flight Aerodynamics". Dr. Ranjan later spoke on the Acoustic Testing programme at NAL. Dr. Ramesh Sundaram of ACD spoke on role of composites. He was like a school master trying to influence all the students to take up research in composites. The workshop ended with another lecture by me on "Modelling, Simulation and Equations of Fluid Mechanics." I later understood that this lecture was more than the students could chew and most of them were very glad that it was over!! We hoped, however, that at least some bright ones took home some useful lessons from these lectures.

MAV flight demonstrations were conducted by our energetic and young MAV team. The team is getting better by the day. Soon after, the exhibition team got into high gear and toiled on 9th and 10th explaining the intricate models and concepts to one and all. The exhibition was inaugurated by Mrs. Prema Ravi, patron, PCET. The exhibition was also attended by students from neighbouring colleges. They included Tamilnadu college of Engineering, Nehru college of Engineering, students from local schools and general public. PCET also gave away prizes for the winners of AeroQuiz. Our plan to give air experience flights to the quiz winners did not materialize as noted above.

The support and hospitality extended by PCET to NAL was highly commendable. They made all of us feel at home. Wing Commander (Rtd). Dr. Haran, took extra care in making all the arrangements. Incidentally, Dr. Haran took his Ph. D. under the guidance of Dr. Isaac. So it seemed that the relation between PCET and NAL is much older than it seemed at first sight.

As usual, KTMD team headed by Mr. Giri Raj saw to it that all things were worked out to last details and executed with precision. He was assisted by Mr. Gopinath, Roshan and his team, Arul, Senthil Kumar and Gomathy and her team. It is never an easy task putting up your show in somebody else's home. But they did it. The team is now gearing up for a show at Srinidhi Institute of Science and Technology (SNIST) – Vaughn Institute of Aeronautics and Technology at Hyderabad during 18-20 April 2009.

Vidyadhar Mudkavi

Video 1 | Video 2

Congratulations to our colleagues on their promotion to Scientist G

Dr  (Mrs) Bharathi Bai J Basu
Mr  Jagadeeswarachar S P
Mr  Krishnamurthy S J
Mr  Basavaraju N R
Mr  Patil S R
Mr   Sudheendra H N
Mr   Sathyanarayana M N

#IP 861, 16 - 22 Mar 2009

Report on the National Conference on Wind Tunnel Testing (NCWT-02) 

During 12-14 March 2009, the National Aerospace Laboratories and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore jointly organized the above to commemorate the Golden Jubilee Year and Centenary Year of the respective institutions. The Chief Guest Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Trivandrum released the Souvenir and delivered the inaugural address. Recalling the contributions of Dr. Satish Dhawan and Dr. P Neelakantan to wind tunnel testing in India, he acknowledged the support given by NAL to the space vehicle development of ISRO, from the SLV to GSLV. He remarked that the data from the NAL 1.2m wind tunnel was world class, as experienced by VSSC through testing of their models in wind tunnels at TsAGI (Russia), AEDC (USA), Boeing (USA) and ONERA (France). Complimenting NAL on the excellent results obtained on the PSLV Chandrayaan mission, he mentioned that the flight data and the wind tunnel data compared well. Briefing the audience on the future aerospace programmes of ISRO, viz., the GSLV with indigenous cryogenic engine in 2009, he stated that the Reusable Launch Vehicle and airbreathing propulsion programmes would usher in a new era in space transportation. Dwelling at length on the technological challenges posed in the Human in Space programme, interplanetary explorations and landing on Mars in 2030, he highlighted that safety and reliability in the case of human missions would haven to be 0.99, demanding very high accuracies and reduced dispersion levels of measurements in wind tunnels. Referring to the new hypersonic wind tunnel being developed at VSSC, Trivandrum, he mentioned that it would soon be commissioned and invited the wind tunnel community to hold the next NCWT at Trivandrum. Prof. Balaram, Director, IISc released a Directory of Wind Tunnel Test Facilities in India and recalled that the Open Circuit Wind Tunnel (OCWT) at IISc, which also completed 50 years this year, is synonymous with HAL and Indian Aerospace. Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL, presiding over the function, recalled that some of the technologies developed around the 1.2m wind tunnel in NTAF were unique to blowdown type wind tunnels and pointed out that the challenges posed by the future aerospace programmes of the country have necessitated further development of advanced test techniques.

The 3-day Conference featured 11 Invited speakers and 19 contributed papers. The invited speakers stressed the importance of wind tunnel testing and relevance to flight. Comparing data from the 1.2m wind tunnel to the flight data on the LCA, Dr. K P Singh, Outstanding Scientist, ADA, Bangalore, stated that the tunnel data compared well with data from other wind tunnels as well as flight data.

About 120 delegates from various R & D establishments, Academia and undergraduate students participated. The topics covered aeroelasticity, industrial aerodynamics, unsteady and steady flows from subsonic to hypersonic Mach numbers, balance and support system design, controls development, concepts for aerodynamic database management, etc. Panel discussions were held at IISc on 14th March on three topics, viz., formation of a Wind Tunnel Association of India (WTAI) to provide a national forum for wind tunnel owners, users, academia, the AR&DB and the Aeronautical Society of India, A standard model for tests in all wind tunnels in India and the need for a large size low speed wind tunnel to study the performance of full scale aircraft prototypes. Lively discussions were held on these topics, with inputs from all the major facility owners, users and academia. The community overwhelmingly supported all the three ideas proposed.

G K Suryanarayana

Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) Facility Attached with EDAX and EBSD for the Characterization of Nanostructured Coatings and Nano-Materials

Surface Engineering Division of NAL is extensively engaged in the R&D activities related to nanostructured coatings, nanomaterials and surface properties of various new materials.  Characterization of nanomaterials using electron microscope is vital for their microstructural properties.  Conventionally, transmission electron microscope (TEM) is used to characterize the nanomaterials, however, sample preparation for TEM is quite tedious and time consuming.  Recent developments in the field of electron microscopy of the nanomaterials have led to the introduction of field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM).  FESEM can be used to image all materials (conducting and non-conducting) with very high-resolution (approximately 1.0 nm).  A state-of-the-art Carl Zeiss, Germany FESEM has been commissioned in NAL for imaging nanomaterials and nano-devices.  Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL formally inaugurated the facility on March 12, 2009.

The FESEM system is also equipped with an Oxford Instruments, UK make energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) system for the compositional analysis of the material to be examined.  Elements with atomic number greater than 5 can be detected by the high-resolution EDAX detector.  Additional feature of the FESEM is that it is equipped with an electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) set-up (also from Oxford Instruments, UK), which provides crystallographic information of the sample examined under FESEM. 

The FESEM facility is open for all R&D activities of the laboratory and other R&D institutions/universities in India

Harish Barshilia and K S Rajam

H Y  Subramanya , Ph.D

Mr H Y  Subramanya  of Structures Division, NAL has been awarded Ph.D  from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore for the thesis titled Numerical Studies on Ductile Fracture of  Pressure Sensitive Plastic Solids under the guidance of  Prof. R Narasimhan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IISc , and  Dr. S Viswanath (Former Head, Structures Division, NAL).

#IP 860, 9 - 15 Mar 2009

Report on National Conference on Recent Advances in Surface Engineering (RASE-09)

The National Conference on Recent Advances in Surface Engineering (RASE-09) was held in NAL, Bangalore from February 26-27, 2009. The conference was organized as a part of Golden Jubilee celebration of the National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore. The main aim of the conference was to bring together scientists, faculty members, researchers and students from leading R&D organizations and academic institutions of the country to present their latest achievements and to discuss the innovations and challenges in the field.

The inaugural function of RASE-09 on 26 February 2009 started with a melodious invocation by Ms. Jyothi and team. Dr. K.S. Rajam, Head, SED welcomed the Chief Guest, Keynote Speaker, invited speakers and participants of the conference. She also briefed the audience about the scope of surface engineering and the conference. Then she introduced the chief guest Dr. P.R. Vasudeva Rao, Group Director, Chemistry, Metallurgy and Materials, IGCAR, Kalpakkam to the audience. Dr. Vasudeva Rao inaugurated the conference and released the Souvenir. In his inaugural address, Dr. Rao said that surface engineering is a critical technology for every industrial and manufacturing sector. He emphasized the importance of surface engineering to overcome many problems encountered by several components in the severe environments of high radiation and heat in the atomic energy reactors and plants. Dr. A.R. Upadhya, Director NAL, presided over the function and delivered the presidential address. Dr. Upadhya talked about surface engineering technologies and said that these technologies are vital to the success of almost every industrial and commercial product from aero-engines to aeroplanes, from electronic gadgets to surgical implants and from razor blades to automobiles. Dr. Bharathi Bai J. Basu introduced the Keynote Speaker, Dr. H. S. Maiti, Director, CGCRI, Kolkata to the audience. Dr. Maiti delivered the keynote lecture entitled “Advances in nano-structured films and coatings”.  He talked about the recent advances in the frontiers of nanotechnology and its industrial applications. He said that nanostructured coatings could be prepared by several techniques including sol-gel technique. He showed some of the important contributions made by the scientists of CGCRI, Kolkata in the area of nanostructured coatings with optical properties and hydrophobic properties. After the Keynote Lecture, Dr. Harish Barshilia proposed the vote of thanks. An exhibition was organized to display industrial products in the areas of interest to the conference. The exhibition was inaugurated by Dr. S.R. Rajagopalan, Adviser, SED.

The conference had about 150 participants from various R&D organizations and academia including IITs, IISc, ISRO, BARC, IGCAR, ARCI, DMRL, NITs, RRI, CSIR Labs, etc. The conference had 11 invited talks and 47 contributory lectures and 17 poster presentations. The technical talks were divided into 10 sessions covering the most important issues in the field of surface engineering.

The National Science Day Lecture was also organized on February 27, 2009 as part of RASE-09 Conference. Prof. H.P. Khincha, Vice Chancellor, VTU, Belgaum delivered the National Science Day Lecture on “Creativity and entrepreneurship in education”.

The conference ended with a concluding session chaired by Dr. S.R. Rajagopalan. Panel of experts drawn from different R&D institutions and academia expressed their views about the conference. Other participants also shared their experiences about the conference and suggestions during the concluding session. All the participants felt that the conference was well organized and was unique in several aspects especially the technical presentations.  Best poster paper awards were also presented to the students.

Bharathi Bai J Basu and Harish C Barshilia

Congratulations

R Rajendran of Propulsion Division has been awarded Ph.D from National Institute of Technology, Surathkal for the thesis titled Flow studies in centrifugal compressor diffusers under the guidance of Dr S Ramamurthy, Sc G, NAL and Dr P Mohanan, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK.

Dr Gangan Prathap

Dr Gangan Prathap has taken over as Director, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), New Delhi from  23.2.2009

Prof Asit Baran Mandal has assumed charge as Director, Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai from 24.2.09

#IP 859, 2 - 8 Mar 2009

National Science Day

National Science Day is celebrated every year to commemorate the discovery of the “RAMAN EFFECT” by Sir C V Raman. This year at NAL, National Science Day was organized as a part of the National Conference on Recent Advances in Surface Engineering (conference was a  part of NAL’s golden jubilee celebrations) at the S R Valluri Auditorium, NAL on 27 Feb 2009. Dr M R Nayak welcomed the gathering and introduced the chief guest Prof H P Khincha, Vice Chancellor, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belgaum.  

Prof Khincha, the Chief Guest delivered the National Science Day Lecture on Creativity and Entrepreneurship in Education. He spoke like a true academician enumerated the dilemma and contradiction of the university system of education. His lecture focused on creativity, inspiration for innovations and entrepreneurship culture. He said Higher education is the market place of ideas, we need to hunt for new science, new technology, new innovation processes,  new technology transfer and connect science and technology.

Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL in his presidential remarks said Prof Khincha is at the helm of affairs of the largest technological university so he is the right person to talk about Creativity and Entrepreneurship in Education . He further said  University is a store house of knowledge where the Creativity and Innovation spirit builds up.

The programme concluded with vote of thanks by Dr M N Sathynarayana, Jt. Head, KTMD

C V GiriRaj and N Shailaja Menon

List of NAL Science Day Lectures

HANSA-3  Aircraft Deliveries to DGCA and Flight Familiarization Program to Customer Pilots at NAL  

DGCA, our customer have  taken the delivery of totally four Hansa-3 aircraft during year 2008 (viz., VT-HNZ, VT-HOC, VT-HOE and VT- HOF) and have allotted two aircraft to  Madras, one each to Assam and Amritsar flying clubs. Two aircraft to Madras flying club have been ferried during 2008. Ferry operations of Hasna-3 to Amritsar and Assam Flying clubs are planned during the month of March 2009. Training course on Hasna-3 Airframe and Rotax engine was provided to ground engineers of these flying clubs during November 2008.

The customer pilot familiarization program was conducted during 27th – 30th January 2009.  This program was conducted to impart flight familiarization and inspection procedures to the customer pilots on Hansa-3 aircraft. The following Chief Flight Instructors from three flying clubs attended and successfully completed the course.

Capt. A.K. Singh               - Chief Flying Instructor – Assam Flying Club

Capt. N.K.Singh                - Chief Flying Instructor – Madras Flying Club

Capt. Rachhapal Singh      - Chief Flying Instructor – Amritsar Aviation Club

The program had morning sessions covering ground instructions and the afternoon sessions on flight familiarization. AVM (Retd.) Ajit Singh Lamba  VrC , Test pilot, Hansa-3  gave the familiarization flights to these pilots. Wg.Cdr.(Retd.) P.Ashoka delivered the ground instructions on systems, operational requirements and emergency procedures. Shri.Satish R R. and Shri. Shijo K. Francis delivered lectures on Airframe & Power plant respectively.

Documents and the keys of  two Hansa-3 aircraft were handed over to Shri D. N. Lahon, Director AED DGCA, Bangalore by Director, NAL. Shri D. N. Lahon handed over the documents and the keys to Capt. Rachhpal Singh, CFI-Amritsar Aviation Club and Capt. A.K. Singh, CFI-Assam Flying Club. Director NAL issued the Flight Training Certificates and mementos to the participants during the dinner hosted by him.

MoU between CSIR/CMMACS and G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora, Uttarakhand

An MoU was signed between CSIR/CMMACS and G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED), Almora, Uttarakhand on Feb.24, 2009 to create an institutional framework for an effective synergy in a resource-sharing environment.

GBPIHED, engaged inresearch in environment, climate and development of the Himalayan region, has emerged as a focal agency to advance scientific knowledge, evolve integrated management strategies, demonstrate their efficacy for conservation of natural resources and to ensure environmentally sound development in the entire Indian Himalayan Region. CSIR/C-MMACS and GBPIHED have had sustained interaction in the areas of monsoon forecasting, rainfall observation, etc. The MoU has been signed with the purpose of providing broad-based collaboration between CSIR/CMMACS and GBPIHED, which will be mutually supportive and beneficial for the science and technology programme of the country.