Unnikrishnan Sasidharan Nair
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, FAMU-FSU COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
THIS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering (the joint college of engineering of Florida A&M University and Florida State University) always had an aptitude for math and physics. But it wasn't until taking part in a senior year project at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) that Unnikrishnan Sasidharan Nair truly found his calling: A fateful undergrad project in aerospace sciences shaped Nair’s entire master's and doctoral research, a path that most recently led to his receiving the 2024 Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award for his work in aerodynamics.
Nair’s team established the Computational Aero-Sciences Laboratory (CASL) at FSU to explore fundamental problems in fluid mechanics. Their research spans low-speed to hypersonic flow regimes, addressing outstanding questions in boundary layer transition, aero-acoustics, aerodynamics, and hypersonic aerothermodynamics, among other topics.
The next steps for Nair and his team include tackling the challenges of making air vehicles more efficient, faster, safer, and quieter, to contribute to a sustainable future in aviation technology. Feasible supersonic civilian transport and hypersonic technologies for national security and space applications are basic and necessary research initiatives, Nair stated.
“Regardless of your technical area, being a member in your relevant professional society is critical for early-career engineers.”
Unnikrishnan Sasidharan Nair
As an experienced faculty member and researcher, Nair knows the highs and lows of academia and the pursuit of science. “In this ecosystem, we often face negative outcomes or rejections in our endeavors, like journal papers and sponsored research proposals,” he said. “While success stories are highlighted, we often overlook the hard work spent on unsuccessful, but earnest efforts.” Being motivated to relentlessly pursue those goals are some of the most challenging aspects of academia, according to Nair.
Nair is expecting his first graduate student in Summer 2024 and shared that his greatest pride is the growth of his students. “The most fulfilling part of this job is to see our students mature into experts in the field,” he said. His advice to future engineers is to identify an area of specialization by senior year and start tailoring elective subjects accordingly, as this can help accelerate you toward your career goals.
“Regardless of your technical area, being a member in your relevant professional society is critical for early-career engineers,” Nair said, stating that it provides a venue to disseminate your research, build a professional network, secure reference letters, obtain job referrals, or find collaborators for multi-disciplinary research proposals.
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