BENGALURU: Aerospace experts including retired members of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), design and development manufacturers and aeronautical engineers will come together on one forum to design India’s first indigenous aero engine. In the ‘Need - Challenges - Preparedness’ workshop of the Indian Aero Gas Turbine Engines organised by Society of Advancement of Aerospace Propulsion (SAAP), 60 experts and delegates across the nation will meet on June 22 at the Aeronautical Society of India.
Dr Kota Harinarayana, better known as the ‘Father of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)’, former programme director, Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA); T Venkata Krishniah, Additional Director, Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE); Dr CG Krishnadas Nair, President, Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI) and former HAL Chairman; and Prof Dipankar Banerjee, former Chief Controller R&D (Aero), DRDO, will be among the speakers.
The workshop is to rekindle the interest in the youth towards designing an indigenous aero engine by seniors in the field, said T Mohana Rao, former Director of GTRE, DRDO. He called out to young engineers to break the existing monopolisation of the aero engine industry that is dominated by five countries. He said India was incurring a huge cost Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of these engines which can only be done by the country that produces them.