One of India’s foremost aerospace scientists and a world-renowned fluid dynamicist, Roddam Narasimha, will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2nd Science and Technology Congress jointly organised by the Gulbarga University and the Science and Technology Academy on the university campus.
Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will inaugurate the two-day event, which begins on Wednesday, at the Mahatma Gandhi Hall.
Prof. Narasimha will be presented the award in the presence of renowned scientists such as the former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) U.R. Rao and director of the Indian Institute of Science P. Balaram.
At present Prof. Narasimha is working in the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR).
Prof. Narasimha is a Fellow of the Royal Society and has received several national and international awards, including the Padma Bhushan.
Prof. Narasimha’s areas of specialisation include aerospace technology, fluid dynamics of clouds, atmospheric convection, temperature distribution near ground, hydrodynamic stability, flow control, transition, relaminarisation and science and technology policy studies.
During his 37-year-long stint in the Indian Institute of Science, Prof. Narasimha held several positions, including Chairman of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Chairman of the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. He was also director of the National Aerospace Laboratories from 1984 to 1993 and during this period he initiated and oversaw several major technology programmes.
As a member of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Scientific Advisory Council, Prof. Narasimha was instrumental in establishing a major parallel computing initiative in the country. He was also president of the prestigious Indian Academy of Sciences from 1992 to 1994 and spearheaded a new programme on university education in science, leading to the establishment of the journal, Resonance, and other academy programmes involving teachers and students.
Prof. Narasimha also has the honour of being the first occupant of the Pratt and Whitney Chair in science and engineering at the University of Hyderabad. Prof. Narasimha has 17 books to his credit and has published more than 230 research publications.