Abstract
“R&D” is today’s buzzword in the technological world, where these two activities are construed as inseparable. What I intend articulating herein are my thoughts on this fondly debated topic today, engulfed by my experiences in the emerging areas of Composite Materials Science and Technologies that I pursued, in a highly demanding Aerospace Engineering Environment. It is a recall of what exactly these two terms meant to me, when I had to handle them in parallel (riding two horses at the same time), when I faced a dilemma (not a confusion) when to do the research and when to do the development.
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Further Readings
“Engineering of Science-The Composites Way “, Annals of Ind. Acad. of Egg, Vole IV, April 2007, Raja Manuri Venkata Gopala Krishna Rao.
“Research Pursuits at the Fiber Reinforced Plastics Division, National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL-CSIR) Covering Journal Publications, 1976–2005 (To be updated, still), Special Publication Report SP 0502(2005), RMVGK Rao & Team.
“R&D-Riding Two Horses”, Invited Lecture delivered for the Participants of Working Professionals Learning Project (AICTE Sponsored/TEQIP funded), Organized by NMIT, at Hotel ITC Gardenia, Bangalore on 18–20th Nov, 2013, RMVGK Rao.
NAL Archives (Presentations, Publications, Project Documents, Theses, weekly news pasteboards, etc…., etc……).
Many formal and informal Interactions I had with and inspirations I got from all my Directors.
“Higgs Finds Nobel Fame ‘a bit of a nuisance”, TNN, Times of India, June 2015.
Acknowledgements
Foremost the author thanks INAE, in particular Dr. Baldev Raj, the Hon President, and Dr. Purnendu Ghosh Editor in chief, for inviting me to pen my experiences on a topic of my choice, and (NMIT) Bangalore. I am indebted to my Academic Mentors (Prof. Manas Chanda, Dr. N. Balasubramanian, Prof. George S Springer of the Stanford University, Dr. A.K. Singh, and the late Prof. C.R.L. Murthy) and all my aforementioned Directors and former Director Dr. K.N. Raju for his very positive support. I thank many colleagues from other divisions/disciplines who were partners in my progresses, in particular, Dr. S. Viswanath, Sri. D.V. Venkatasubramanyam, Sri. Ningaiah, Dr. U. Ravindranath Nair, Dr. R.C. Majumdar, Dr. Chakrabborty, Sri. Satish Rohedekar, and Sri. C. Chandrasekhar; and Project Monitoring Heads Sri. S.C. Narayanamurthy, Sri. M.S. Ramachandra, Dr. Ranjan Moodithaya, and Teams. I place on record the invaluable support extended by my own TEAM-FRP, viz. Ms. N. Ankanna, C. Pragalathan, L.R. Chandramohan, Dr. Shylaja Srihari, Sri. T.H. Samiulla, Dr. A. Vanaja Sri. K. Mohan Kumar, Dr. B.S. Sugun, Dr. Sandhya Rao, Dr. L. Srikanth, Dr. Jyotsna Kiran Mathod, Dr. T. Padmavathi Sri. Rajendra Prakash M, Ms. Kavitha, S. Navaneetha, A. Revathi, and Sri. P.S. Sathyanarayana. My grateful acknowledgments to my colleague Sri. M. Subba Rao and his Team, for very valuable interactions I had. I specially acknowledge Dr. S. Bhogle, former Head Information Management Systems, for masterly articulating our achievements, through his Paste-Board. I recollect here the services of Sri. M.R. Narasimha Swamy, our former Head of Technical Secretariat, and his deputy late Sri. Md. Aslam, for their unique contributions in my student training and TOT programs. Last but not the least, I put on record tremendous support I received from my external sponsors/peers, in particular Sri G. Viswanathan, Director ISTRAC/ISRO, and his colleague Sri P. Sambasiva Rao, Prof. P.R Mahapatra, Dr. Acharya, and Prof. K.P. Rao all from IISc, Sri. S.K. Veluswamy from AGM-HAL, Dr. S. Christopher from LRDE/CABS and presently Chief of DRDO, and many from certification agencies. I have no words to quantify the enrichment I got from my timeless interactions with countless students/research scholars/trainees/contract staff. (Missing acknowledging any is purely unintentional).
I remain ever indebted to my Family (my wife Rathna, son Dr. Raja M.V. Pavan, and daughter R.M. Vauhini), for their decades of infinite patience and cooperation, in letting me achieve whatever I presented herein, never complaining of my unavailability to them when they were young and needed me the most. I am very proud of them. Above all, it is the Blessings of my Parents and the Elders of my large family in providing me the pedigree that made me what I am today.
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Rao, R.M.V.G.K. (2016). R&D—Another Oxymoron?. In: Ghosh, P., Raj, B. (eds) The Mind of an Engineer. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0119-2_44
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0119-2_44
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