Dr Narayanan's area of expertise is low-carbon air conditioning, particularly solar thermal cooling, which incorporates the desiccant evaporative cooling system. He also has expertise in the mechanisation of processes, particularly in the Ag Tech Industry. Additionally, he has carried out several theoretical and experimental investigations on the dehumidification process, developed innovative desiccant drying systems and invented the non-adiabatic desiccant wheel, which has high effectiveness in moisture removal. Furthermore, he has successfully carried out several joint projects with internal and external partners, including international collaborators. Dr Narayanan obtained several recognitions, including an award from the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) for his outstanding scholarship in the industry.

He has received external research grants of more than 4.5 million Australian dollars in the past five years, which belong to different categories, including Cat 1 funding. Details regarding these projects are provided below on the research page. He has supervised many research students for PhD and Research master courses.

Currently, he is working on many projects, such as the heating and cooling of a greenhouse, sustainable mechanisation of planting, harvesting and post-harvest operations of sesame cropping and integrated green hydrogen production facility with a desalination unit powered by low-cost solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems.

He is a committee member of Engineers Australia's Bundaberg Regional Committee. In the past, he was the Chair of this committee for 2018-2020. He is a member of the editorial board and reviewer of a few international journals such as Energies, Applied Thermal Engineering, Solar Energy Engineering etc.

He also serves as a committee member of the Scholarship advisory committee for the School of Engineering and Technology.

University of Kerala -Bachelor of Technology (Mechanical Engineering)

University of Kerala -Master of Technology (Mechanical Engineering)

Curtin University, Australia- Graduate Cert in Tertiary teaching

University of South Australia - PhD( Mechanical Engineering)

University of South Australia - Grad Certificate in Research Commercilaisation

Tafe College Seremban, Malaysia and affiliated program of Charles Darwin University, Northumbria University , UK. and Robert Gordon University, UK.

Curtin University, Australia

University of South Australia -

• December 2022, Senior Fellow for Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), UK
• February 2021: Australian Award for University Teaching-AAUT- Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning.
• November 2017, Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning, CQ University.
• November 2017, Student Voice Award for On-campus Educator of the year, 2017, CQ University.
• June 2016, Vice Chancellor’s Award for Good Practice in Teaching and Learning, CQ University.
• January 2015, Honorary Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the University of South Australia.
• May 2013, Nominated for the South Australian State Government’s Science Excellence Award for the category of PhD Research Excellence.
• March 2013, Received an invitation to join as a Full Member of Barbara Hardy Institute, UniSA
• November 2012, Winner of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air-conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) Award for the outstanding scholarship at any level Refrigeration & Air-conditioning Industry- the research work carried out in the PhD study.
• August 2011, Winner of 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Presentation Competition of the Division of Information Technology, Engineering and Environment, University of South Australia.
• October 2010, "Advanced Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (AME) Research Presentation Award", Winner in the research presentation competition in "2010 AME Research Presentation Seminar", University of South Australia, Australia.
• October 2010, "AME Research Poster Presentation Award", Merit Certificate in the research poster competition in "2010 AME Research Presentation Seminar", University of South Australia, Australia.
• August 2010, Commercialisation Training Scheme, Scholarship, UniSA
• January 2008, “CSIRO Postgraduate Research Flagship Scholarship", a prestigious award for conducting research in the Desiccant Evaporative Cooling System, CSIRO Energy Centre at Newcastle, Australia.
• July 2008, “The University of South Australia President’s Scholarship” to undertake PhD research, University of South Australia, Australia.
• January 1998, “Certificate of Achievement from a Federal Minister of Malaysia”, for contributing towards obtaining ISO 9002 for TAFE College Seremban in Malaysia
• August 1991, “GATE Postgraduate Scholarship”, a prestigious scholarship to undertake Master’s study in Engineering, Government of India.

Featured in the liAIRAH magazine ‘ECOLOBRIUM’ December 2012 edition, for the achievement in the PhD research

https://www.bundabergnow.com/2021/02/27/dr-narayanan-awarded-national-teaching-citation/

https://www.cqu.edu.au/cquninews/stories/general-category/2021-general/engineering-expert-recognised-for-outstanding-contribution-to-learning-and-teaching

https://www.cqu.edu.au/cquninews/stories/general-category/2021-general/cquniversity-educators-recognised-for-national-teaching-excellence?

https://cqunilife.com/2016/09/14/cquni-spotlight-featuring-dr-ramadas-narayanan/

Member - Australia Institute of Refrigeration,Air conditioning and Heating (AIRAH)

Committee Member , Special Technical Group- Renewable Heating and Cooling -AIRAH

Member, Engineers Australia

Chair, Engineers Australia Bundaberg Regional Committee

· Member, the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education (IJQAETE).

· Reviewer, International Journal for Heat and Mass Transfer, Elsevier.· Member, the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education (IJQAETE).