INDIA SHINING | NAL to unveil desi lab scale autoclave for IIT-K | Product to mitigate imports | MIT, VSSC ready with orders

By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Bangalore: Scripting a new chapter in the much-debated Pubic Private Partnership (PPP) in aerospace and defence, the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a wing of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Bangalore, is ready to unveil a product that will propel educational R&D in India. The first indigenous lab scale autoclave for aerospace applications is ready to be shipped out of NAL to the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K). While the design of the autoclave is by NAL, the mechanical systems have come from UCE, Mumbai and the control systems from Datasol, Bangalore.
During a visit to NAL's Center for Societal Missions and Special Technologies (CSMST), Dr G N Dayananda, chief scientist, told Express that the Lab Scale Autoclave is being built at nearly half the cost of imported ones. Manipal Institute of Technology and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, will also get these autoclaves soon.
“The first lab scale autoclave will be unveiled during the autoclave user’s meet at NAL on September 3. A large autoclave order (4-m diameter and 13.5-m length) has been bagged against stiff competition from established European and American firms, after due technical qualification,” Dr Dayananda said.
According to Dr K Sham Sunder, Honorary Managing Director, NALTech, the efforts of Indian scientists in developing a desi lab scale autoclave should mitigate the imports, if not totally stop, saving precious foreign exchange. “We will deliver the next one in nine months and our expertise have forced the foreign vendors to substantially reduce their prices. The successful operation of this PPP model must pave the way for more such initiatives, exploiting the inherent technological strengths of our public sector and efficient marketing and production capabilities of the private sector,” Dr Sham, a seasoned campaigner with India's Tejas programme, said.
Due to the embargoes on import in the early 80S, NAL had developed a large aerospace autoclave for Tejas within the lab. “We also took up the challenge later to develop much bigger autoclaves for Tejas and today they have become the work horse at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. One of the autoclaves with NAL is presently the largest state-of-art autoclave in the Indian aerospace sector,” says G M Kamalakannan, a principal scientist with CSMST.
“The technology developed is not the type that can be transferred for example like a chemical compound, as the autoclave requirements in terms of size and performance are customer specific, requiring suitable multidisciplinary design adaptations. The PPP model was the best-suited for us and the selection of the partners was mainly based on their competence, cost effectiveness and willingness to function harmoniously as a team. The lab scale autoclave being supplied to IIT-K will set the tone for India's foray into a complex technology in aerospace,” says J Ramaswamy Setty, a senior scientist with CSMST.

What are autoclaves

Advanced Carbon Fibre Composites (CFC) are extensively used in modern fighter aircraft, to minimise the weight and for improved performance. Of late, even civil aircraft, such as Boeing-787 (Dreamliner), have used composites extensively in their airframes. Composite parts for aircraft applications have to be cured in a controlled environment which need to follow certain pressure, temperature and vacuum cycles, to achieve the requisite properties. Autoclaves designed and developed to aerospace standards serve such a purpose.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Bangalore man who saw the Moon, NASA and Star Wars closer | Prof Ramnath of MIT says India should have a national goal

R V Ramnath, Prof of Aeronautics & Astronautics, MIT. Photo: Jithendra

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: Motorcycle rides to Jakkur air strip from V V Puram, soon after finishing his Intermediate from National College in 1955, gave him fundamental lessons in speed and accuracy. Flying Tiger Moth over good-old Bangalore saw his dreams taking wing along with exposure to altitude and the not-so-friendly G-forces. The rest, as they is history.

Express caught up with 74-year-old Rudrapatna V Ramnath, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to know from a man, who was part of America's Apollo Mission, which brought Moon closer to mankind. “My father sold my motorcycle after he came to know that I was learning flying without his clearance,” says Prof Ramnath.

Son of late R. Venkataramaiya, the first Chief Justice of Karnataka, Prof Ramnath, studied in Kannada medium schools and took his BE in Electrical Engineering from Mysore University College of Engineeering, Bangalore, in 1959. He went to Cranfield Institute of Technology, UK in 1963 and did his MSc and a PhD in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University, USA. “In UK, I graduated my flying on Tiger Moth and Auster Eaglet. It was all for fun, you see,” he said, adding: “My first boss was Dr Neelakantan, the first director of National Aerospace Laboratories and I was his technical assistant.”

Topping his inspiration-list is J Robert Oppenheimer, the brain behind the Manhattan Project responsible for detonating the first atomic bomb. “He loved Indian philosophy and he quoted from the Bhagavad Gita at the time of the first controlled nuclear explosion. He described it as Light of a Thousand Suns (Divi Surya Sahasraya). Even the great Einstein was under him. I had met Oppenheimer and he shared his love for India and Sanskrit,” Prof Ramnath, who was in India to receive an award, said.

On his role in Apollo Mission, the professor said that MIT was given the contract then for developing the guidance system. “I am glad that I was part of a team that made man walk on the Moon for the first time. I am also delighted

that India has made huge inroads in Space applications. Technology-wise the US is far ahead, but India is catching up. There's no lack of brain and intelligence here. But man-management and red-tape is a bane for this nation. India should have a national goal. I feel here everything is fragmented,” Prof Ramnath, who is settled in Lexington said.

When asked about his take on the new-age Bangalore, his thoughts hit the road in a splash. “Traffic can make your nervy. My heart still beats for Bangalore. My memories, my childhood, my yoga classes... I love Carnatic and Hindustani classical music and every time I listen to them, I travel in time and space to Bangalore,” the professor, married to Vijaya from Mysore, said.

A buddy of India's space legend Prof Satish Dhawan, the septuagenarian recalled their days together playing tennis. “We had fun while playing. He tried hard to get me into India's space programmes, but I was chasing more challenges,” says the man who was roped in for Ronald Regan's Star War project. In addition to teaching at MIT, he is also consultant to NASA and advisor to US Department of Defence.

If all these are rocket science stories, then here's a sportive bit. Prof Ramnath is the man who developed a systematic procedure to evaluate the performance of advanced sports equipment, including tennis/badminton racquets and golf clubs. He is also credited with aiding the technology that helps line-calls in tennis.

(This article appeared on Jan 22 Edition of Express. Copyright@The New Indian Express)