Dr S Srinathkumar

Dr P Nilakantan
Dr S R Valluri
Professor R Narasimha
Dr K N Raju
Professor Satish Dhawan
Dr R A Mashelkar
Dr PRamamoorthy
Prof U R Rao
Dr B R Somashekar
Prof U R Rao
Mr K Venkatachalam
Dr K S Yajnik
Dr M V V Murthy
Dr A C Raghuram
Dr Indira Rajagopal
Dr S Srinathkumar
Dr M Shivakumara Swamy
Dr S Nagabhushana
Dr J P Pichamuthu

Indeed the technical support and guidance that I received from the X'=AX+BU man while developing the engineer-in-the-loop (ELS) simulator, and shaping it into an engineering design product, confirmed that SSK's sobriquet was well-merited.

Dr S Srinathkumar
A tribute which appeared in the Information Pasteboard

It is a privilege to pay this tribute to my guide and mentor Dr S Srinathkumar (SSK). We have been a part of NAL's Flight Mechanics and Control Group since 1978. The Group was first headed by Dr S Balakrishna -- who called SSK the "X'=AX+BU man", presumably because of SSK's strong theoretical leanings and his perfectionist's zeal.

It wasn't always easy to collaborate with this perfectionist. SSK's penchant to go down to the lowest detail before granting his "approval" could be occasionally irksome; but once we passed his scrutiny successfully, we could be sure that our work conformed to international standards. SSK was never openly critical -- even his first reaction to a presentation was "fantastic"; but we soon found out that the gap between his first and last "fantastic" was a long and tortuous time interval.

When SSK assumed the leadership of the LCA Control Law (CLAW) team (the LCA top brass called this a "fire fighting" task), the going became even hotter. Decibel levels in the FMCD corridor rose appreciably. But we didn't mind. Indeed the technical support and guidance that I received from the X'=AX+BU man while developing the engineer-in-the-loop (ELS) simulator, and shaping it into an engineering design product, confirmed that SSK's sobriquet was well-merited.

Life can be hard for the control engineer because his inputs are critical but often "invisible". That's why we feel especially happy and proud that LCA has been successfully test-flown. Even as he prepared to bow out, our "fantastic" CLAW Project Director once again demonstrated his undeniable engineering acumen. SSK, who was once thought to be only good at writing research papers, has signed off by crafting an aerospace product which now soars in the Indian skies.

Padma Madhuranath