R Narsimha is an Indian areospace scientist and fluid dynamicist. He was formerly a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Director of National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) and the Chairman of Engineering Mechanics Unit at JNCASR, Bangalore. He is presently an Honorary Professor at JNCASR and concurrently holds the Pratt & Whitney Chair in Science and Engineering at the University of Hyderabad. He has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, in 2013.
Narasimha’s research has been chiefly concerned with Aerospace Fluid Dynamics and certain related problems in the atmosphere. He has made extensive studies of transitions between laminar and turbulent flow (going in either direction), the structure of shock waves, various characteristics of fully developed turbulent flow (e.g. their memory, the bursting phenomenon in boundary layers), the fluid dynamics of clouds, near-surface temperature distributions and eddy fluxes in atmospheric boundary layers. He has been closely associated with Aerospace technology development in India at both technical and policy-making levels. During 1977-79, he was the Chief Project Coordinator at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Research Interests:
Transition, flow control, relaminarization, hydrodynamic stability;
Fluid dynamics of clouds, atmospheric convection, temperature distribution near ground;
Aerospace technology, S&T policy studies