Menu
CQUniversity Profiles
CQUniversity Profiles
Search Find an Expert Sign In

Dr. Ramadas Narayanan

PhD Mechanical Engineering (UniSA), Grad Cert Tertiary Teaching (Curtin), Grad Cert Research Commercialisation (UniSA)
Senior Lecturer - Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering and Technology
Institute for Future Farming Systems, Clean Energy Academy
(07) 4150 7107
07 41507107 Alternative Phone
Bundaberg - Building 13 G-10
About Me

Dr Narayanan is a Mechanical Engineer with a diverse range of experiences which include industrial experience as a Mechanical Engineer, innovative research experience and several academic experiences in a variety of roles over different universities and programs.

He has expertise in sustainable energy systems, renewable energy heating and cooling, energy efficiency,  transient heat and mass transfer modelling, and mechanisation of processes..  He has completed several research projects in this area with internal and external partners including international collaborators.

He completed PhD Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Australia on a CSIRO solar flagship project in 2012. His thesis was on the development of solid desiccant systems for dehumidification and cooling in a solar air-conditioning system. During this period, he also worked at UniSA as a Lecturer/ Research Assistant and also completed a Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation from UniSA.

In 2013, he worked with the South Australian Government- DIMTRE (Department of Manufacturing, Industry, Trade, Resources and Energy) as Energy Project Officer, providing energy efficiency advice on appliances for the Energy Advisory Group and related projects.

He was featured in a leading industry journal, EQUILIBRIUM, Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning, and Heating (AIRAH); his research work has been honoured with a few research excellence awards by several bodies such as AIRAH, SA Govt, and UniSA, etc.


General
Background

His main area of expertise is low-carbon air-conditioning, particularly solar thermal cooling incorporating the desiccant evaporative cooling system. He has also expertise in the mechanisation of processes, particularly in the Ag Tech Industry. 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. He has over 20 years of experience in the energy field and successfully carried out several joint projects with internal and external partners, including international collaborators. He received several awards which include an award from the Australian Institute of refrigeration, air conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) for outstanding scholarship in the industry.

He has received external research grants of more than 2.5 million Australian dollars in the past five years which belong to different categories including Cat 1 funding. The details of these projects are given on the research page. He has supervised many research students for PhD and Research master courses.

Currently, he is working on novel cooling technologies such as desiccant cooling incorporating the non-adiabatic desiccant wheel and the dew-point evaporative cooler which is superior to the current finalists' project in the global cooling prize (https://globalcoolingprize.org). He also working on a project on integrated green hydrogen production facility with desalination unit powered by low-cost solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems also.

At present, he is a committee member of the special technical group (STG) for the Renewable Energy Heating and Cooling of AIRAH. He is also the Chair of Engineers Australia’s Bundaberg Regional Committee for the year 2019. He is a member of the editorial board member and reviewer of a few international journals such as Energies, Applied Thermal Engineering, Solar Energy Engineering etc.

Universities Studied At

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

Universities Worked At

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 -

Awards

  • 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.

Media Citations

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/

Professional Memberships

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

Editor

· 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).


Research Supervision
Accreditation

I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:

  • 4010 Engineering practice and education
  • 4012 Fluid mechanics and thermal engineering
  • 4017 Mechanical Engineering
  • 4903 Numerical and Computational Mathematics
  • 4099 Other Engineering

At the level of Principal Supervisor


Current Capacity
I am currently available to supervise more research candidates
Current Supervision
Master of Research
Evaluation of hydronic heating and cooling system with heat pump and smart management in the Australian residential sector as a solution to improve energy stability of the electrical grid and energy efficiency.
Principal Supervisor
Master of Research
Enhancement of Electrical and Thermal Performance of a Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) System
Principal Supervisor
Doctor of Philosophy
Experimental and Computational Investigation of Performance of Solar-Assisted Biogas Production in Australian Subtropical Climate
Associate Supervisor
Research Interests
Engineering

Mechanical Engineering - Energy generation, conversion and storage (excl. chemical and electrical)
Solar Thermal Engineering PVT system, Dehumidification Greenhouse Heating and Cooling Mechanisation of processes Green Hydrogen Solar cooling Heat and Mass transfer

Engineering

Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering not elsewhere classified
Mechanisation of Agricultural processes, Harvest and post-harvest operations, Drying

Publications
Loading Publications
Teaching
Loading Teaching