Director (R & D), and Professor, ECE Dept.,SKP Engineering Colllege, Thiruvannamalai,TamilNadu

Dr. K. Natarajan (born: 21-7-1947) did his Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication Engg. from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, and Master of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1968 and 1970 respectively. He did his Ph.D. from the University of Kerala. He won a gold medal for proficiency in Mathematics in 1963.

He joined the Indian Space Research Organisation in 1970 as Scientist and worked there for 20 years. He was In-Charge of Advanced Research (Electronics) at ISRO. He was actively involved in technology transfer and space-spinoff activities and won outstanding citation for transfer of telemetry technology to industries. Dr. Natarajan served the International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation, INTELSAT, Washington, DC, during 1976-77 as INTELSAT Assignee for the Asia Pacific Region. For this position, he was selected through a process of global interview in Geneva in 1975. He worked in the Communication Satellite Organisation, COMSAT, Clarksburg, Maryland, USA, where, he was a Member of the Technical Staff and participated in tasks relating to QPSK-TDMA satellite systems and 20-30 GHz propagation reliability studies for satellite communication. At ISRO, Dr.Natarajan has participated in projects relating to subsystems of SLV-3 under the overall leadership of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Project Leader, SLV-3.

Dr.Natarajan has served as a member of the faculty on a visiting basis at the University of Kerala, where he has taught the post-graduate students of Electronics and Communication Engineering during 1973-76. During 1990-95, he served the Turkish Council of Scientific Research as Advisor, Space Technologies. He was also the Dy. Director for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and Project Coordinator for Avicenne Initiative (European Commission). He has briefly worked in Saudi Arabia as Project Coordinator for the National Group of Communication in 1996. He was also on a short teaching assignment at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during 1997-98.

Dr. Natarajan has worked in a number of projects and research assignments relating to satellite communication, propagation, data communication, remote sensing of environment using satellite techniques, radio telescope, tracking radar, microwave systems etc. in the various assignments he has held in India and abroad. Currently, he is serving as Director, R & D and Professor, ECE Department, Arunai Engineering College, Thiruvannamalai. Previously, he has served in various positions such as: Professor and Head, Dept. of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Crescent Engineering College; Dean, Rajalakshmi Engineering College; Principal, Jaya Engineering College; and Principal, SSM Engineering College. He has established various laboratories such as Electronics Lab, Microwaves Lab., Communication Lab., Computer Lab., IC Lab., Electrical Machines Lab etc. He has also established a Centre of Excellence: “Centre for Advanced Communication” within ECE Dept. at Cresecent Engg. College. He conducted a Workshop on Computer Aided Design of Electronics Circuits in 1998. He has sent several research and project proposals to All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). He has won two AICTE Projects for Modernisation and Removal of Obsolescence (MODROBS) (1999). He has also won yet another Project under R & D Scheme of AICTE (2000). Further, he has sent proposals to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under RESPOND Programme. He was the President of the Society of Electronics and Communication Engineers, Crescent Engineering College, and has organised several national level Seminars and Quiz contests. He served as a Panelist as well as Rapporteur for the International Seminar on Regional Cooperation for SAARC Countries at Visakhapatnam during May 9-10, 1999. He was one of the organisers of the International Conference on Electronics, Communications and Controls (ECCAP-2000), Chennai, which was held in Jan. 4-7, 2000. He has been instrumental in successful accreditation by NBA in the Colleges he has served.

Dr. Natarajan has published over 70 papers, reports and proposals at the national and international forums. He is a Referee for Annales Geophysicae, USA. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers; and Member of Laser Institute of America, Indian Rocket Society, and Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers etc. He is a Working Group Member of the Asian Remote Sensing Society, Kyoto, Japan. The Orun-Natarajan Model for Remote Sensing has formed the basis for several doctoral and post-doctoral works in US, Japan, UK and Korea. He has one Indian Patent filed on Lunar Resource Monitoring Using Wireless Sensor Networks for Chandrayan Type Missions.

Dr. Natarajan’s teaching interests are in: Satellite Communication; Microwaves; Antenna Theory and Propagation, etc. His research interests are in:  Wireless Communication, Remote Sensing of Environment Using Satellite Techniques as well as RF Propagation Techniques.