Dr. R. K. Ramanathan
Project Director (Technology Development)
& Program Director (National Prog. on Smart Materials)
ADA

Dr R. K. Ramanathan graduated with a B.Tech from IIT Madras in 1968 and obtained his M.E degree from IISc Bangalore specializing in Structures. He obtained his Ph.D from the University of California in Los Angeles in 1976 in Structural Optimization.

Subsequently, he joined the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, as Research Associate/Assistant Research Professor. Later he worked in Northrop Aircraft Company at Los Angeles. He was involved in the development of software in the area of Finite Element Analysis and Structural Optimization.

In 1985 he joined the Structures Division at ISRO Satellite Centre at Bangalore. In Feb. 1988 he joined the Aeronautical Development Agency as Deputy Project Director. He was in charge of the Computer Aided Design Group and then the Computer Systems group and now he is the Project Director of the Technology Development Directorate and since December 2004, Programme Director, National Programme for Smart Materials.

As Project Director, he heads a group which has the Information and Systems Management, Quality Systems, Product Life Cycle Management, Advanced Projects, Aerodynamic Research and Development and Signature Studies. The group is involved in the existing projects of the Light Combat Aircraft and also in conceptual designs for new aircraft configurations. Technology Development is one of the key activities of the Directorate.

He has been involved in the development of software in the field of Finite Element Analysis, Structural Optimization Graphical, Pre and Post Processors for Finite Element Analysis, Computer Aided Geometric Design and Virtual Reality. (VR) leading to three major software products namely GITA for CAD, FINESSE for FEA and PRANA for VR.

As Programme Director for National Programme on Smart Materials, a Programme under DRDO, ISRO, CSIR, IT and DST, he oversees the management of projects at various R&D and Research Institutions across the country. Infrastructure for MEMS design, materials development and development of MEMS devices have been funded through this programme.

He is a Fellow of the Aeronautical Society of India, and member of the Institute of Smart Structures and Systems, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and American Society of Civil Engineers Indian Section, Kolkata, and the Computer Society of India.