Carbon Takes Flight
Carbon Takes Flight is a model of a unique propeller and wing design created by a group of scientists and engineers at research institutions in Bengaluru. The design is intended to reduce the drag produced by an aircraft, thereby decreasing its fuel consumption and subsequently the carbon footprint of air travel. First designed using mathematical analysis, and subsequently tested at a wind tunnel in the Indian Institute of Science, this propeller and wing design was patented in 2010.
Does this model prompt you to think of how design innovation can balance the equilibrium between the exhilaration of flight and the urgency of responsible fuel usage?
Medium: Airplane Model
Year: 2010
Process
Team
Roddam Narasimha
Roddam Narasimha is an Indian aerospace 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 Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). 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.
Suresh Madhusudan Deshpande
Chandrashekarappa Praveen
Belur Raghavan Rakshith
Belur Raghavan Rakshith graduated from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Bangalore in 2007 with a B.Eng, specialising in Mechanical Engineering, before pursuing a PhD in Aerodynamic Optimisation and Novel Wing Design at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore from 2007 to 2013. He joined Airbus in 2012 as a wing designer, later on moved to Aircraft Performance and subsequently led the team as a manager before becoming the head of flight physics in 2022. In November 2016, He set his sight on tackling Climate Change with the help of science and technology by co-founding Breathe, dedicated to converting Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere into usable Methanol fuel.
Furthermore, he recognised the potential of having Breathe participate in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition, dedicated to funding companies with carbon conversion solutions to benefit humanity. Breathe reached the finals after winning $0.5 million in the semi finals - the only Indian team.
