‘Indians will play a major role in creation of start-ups’ with new ideas'
A student from a humble Kannada medium school, who became a junior tennis player for the state team, eventually held a professor’s post in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as a consultant to Nasa and not to mention, became a part of some of the early Apollo Space Missions. 
It is a story few would have believed in the 1960s, but looking back, Prof R V Ramnath (74) would be proud to say that he almost literally reached for the stars. Ramnath was meant to follow in the footsteps of his father, R Venkataramaiya the first Chief Justice of Karnataka and pursue law, but with aviation and tennis being closest to his heart, life took different turns for him. A member of Jakkur flying club, Ramnath graduated in electrical engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering and later pursued higher studies in aerospace engineering and attained a PhD in 1967 in the same subject from Princeton.
He has served as an advisor to US Department of Defence and been part of the US National Science Foundation. He was also technical advisor to ATP Tennis Tour and is the inventor of the line-call technology used in the sport today.
Back in his hometown Bangalore on a brief visit, Ramnath spared time to share his knowledge with Shivakant Menon of Deccan Herald on topics ranging from sport to space and about India’s position in the global aviation sector. Excerpts:
When, where and how did tennis connect with space research and avionics?
The connection existed throughout within my mind and I have been active in tennis during my years of studying aerospace engineering in the US and UK. I was asked to become the technical editor of World Tennis Magazine after which they asked me to evaluate racquet performance. We developed a sytematic testing methodology at MIT. Then the Sports Dynamics Laboratory was started in MIT where in students of aerospace are taught the same principles of physics through sports.
How far has this method of teaching benefited students of space and aeronautics?
There is a great similarity between sport and space. Talk of moment of inertia and complex classical mechanics, students become bored and bother less. But if the same principles are discussed through sport, especially tennis and using racquets, they all understand and relate to it. Sports today needs innovative and new technology to enhance the experience. Students at undergraduate level have hands-on experience with space research when developing racquets.
India produces only 350 aerospace engineering graduates per year, all of whom come out of either IISc ot IITs. What is lacking academically?
Well, IISc is the première institution and it has a great facility available. There needs to be somebody, that ‘one person’ with the will power who takes an initiative to start something innovative and new. MIT never had a sports engineering lab until 1970s and much of the work started due to my interest. Like how there is a Steve Jobs for Apple, there is hardly anybody India can show in terms of new innovations and creations.
Flight avionics sector is at present concentrated in the hands of Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Thales etc. Does this restrict entry of Indian vendors into the global avionics market?
Currently, jobs in this sector are being outsourced to Indians. It is only a matter of time before Indians start to climb the ladder and hold senior positions. More importantly there is a need for newer ideas and creativity in this sector, as when organisations become bigger there is inertia. Indians will play a major role in creation of start-ups with new ideas.
The HAL set up its first avionics centre in Hyderabad way back in 1965. But how far has HAL entered the international sector in communication and navigation equipment?
All I can say is that the avionics centre is still a work in progress. Applications for avionics are not coming from HAL. The problem is that everything in India takes a lot of time. Politics also plays a role and government policies are complicated. Brazil, Indonesia and France have been selling civilian aircraft to many developed countries. It is high time for India to leap frog instead of waiting for things to happen. The country is now killing many of its talented brains. There needs to be many changes made in government policies.
Bangalore with its history of flying clubs and presence of HAL plays a big role as the research and development hub for aerospace and aviation industry in India...
More than any other factor, Bangalore is such an important location for R&D in this sector because avionics today is entirely driven by Information Technology (IT). Unlike olden days when expense was only on airframe and engines, the last decade has seen software, high tech applications and sophisticated communication and navigation systems comprise larger share of expenditure in avionics. Bangalore needs to exploit this factor as prices of aircrafts are sky-rocketing.
There is much talk on privatising aerospace and aeronautics industry in India. What are the positives and negatives of doing so and is lobbying at government level an in evitable threat?
There is heavy lobbying in the USA and this is a known fact. Wars are great modes of income for private players in the field. But one cannot help this situation and there needs to be a model created in India to balance the effects. Airline industry was privatised in India and it created competition and lead to dirt cheap ticket fares. There is great advantage in privatising this field and it must be done in India.
