Akshai Runchal
{{Short description|Indian Professor}}
{{Orphan|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| image = AKR Photo.jpg
| caption = Runchal in 2019
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|10|16}}
| alma_mater = Punjab Engineering College
Imperial College London
| organization = Analytic & Computational Research, Inc.
CFD Virtual Reality Institute
| known_for = Computational Fluid Dynamics
| honours = ASTFE Fellowship
}}
Akshai Runchal (born 16 October 1943) is an Indian-origin professor, entrepreneur, and pioneer in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the Finite Volume Method (FVM). He completed his Ph.D. in 1969 at Imperial College London under the mentorship of Prof. D. B. Spalding. He was a key member of the 3-person team led by Prof. D. B. Spalding that invented the Finite Volume Method (FVM) of Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in mid 1960s.{{Cite web |title=American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE) |url=https://www.astfe.org/courses/mcfd2025/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.astfe.org}}{{Cite web |title=CHT-21 {{!}} ICHMT |url=https://www.ichmt.org/cht-21 |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.ichmt.org}} He has been recognized for his contributions with an ASTFE Fellowship at Oregon State University in 2024.{{Cite web |title=American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE) |url=https://www.astfe.org/fellowship/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.astfe.org}}
Early life and education
He obtained a bachelor's degree in engineering with honors from Punjab Engineering College (PEC, Chandigarh) in 1964 and obtained his Ph.D. in 1969 from Imperial College (London).
Career
He started his professional career as a faculty at IIT Kanpur in 1969 and has also taught as regular or adjunct faculty at Imperial College (London), University of California (Los Angeles), Cal Tech (Pasadena), and California State University (Northridge).{{Cite web |title=US honour for retd IIT professor residing in Mcleodganj |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/us-honour-for-retd-iit-professor-609953/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=The Tribune |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=CHT-21 {{!}} ICHMT |url=https://www.ichmt.org/cht-21 |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.ichmt.org}} He is a Fellow of the ASME{{Cite web |title=American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE) |url=https://www.astfe.org/fellowship/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.astfe.org}} and has served as Chairman of the IIT Kanpur Foundation Board.{{Cite web |title=The Foundation Board Directors |url=https://iitk.ac.in/new/hindi/index.php/the-foundation-board-directors |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=iitk.ac.in}} He has been a regular member of the IIT Gandhinagar Advisory Board since 2012.{{Cite web |title=IIT Gandhinagar {{!}} Administration Leadership Conclave |url=https://iitgn.ac.in/alc/fifth |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=iitgn.ac.in |language=en}} He has been engaged in assisting a number of educational institutes in their R&D and Industrial Relations Programs. He is the author or co-author of 12 books and over 200 technical publications.{{Cite web |title=DS, Directory of Specialists - Akshai K. Runchal |url=https://wdst.begellhouse.com/search/details/5872457821428430.html |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=wdst.begellhouse.com}}
In 1979, Runchal established the ACRi group of companies{{Cite web |title=ACRi -- Analytic & Computational Research, Inc. -- Developers of CFDStudio, ANSWER, PORFLOW ... |url=https://www.acricfd.com/default.htm |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.acricfd.com}} that has offices in Los Angeles, Nice and McLeod ganj.{{Cite web |title=ACRi Corporate Info {{!}} Contact -- ACRiCFD.COM |url=https://www.acricfd.com/contact/default.htm |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.acricfd.com}} Since the 1970s, he has provided technology and CFD Simulation services to a over 200 clients that include major corporations, R&D organizations, cities and governments in over 20 countries.{{Cite web |title=American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE) |url=https://www.astfe.org/courses/covid-19/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.astfe.org}} He is the principal author of the ANSWER, PORFLOW, TIDAL, and RADM CFD software tools which deal with a broad spectrum of problems in fluid dynamics, heat and mass transport, and environmental pollution and are widely employed by commercial / academic and research organizations across the world. In 2011, Dr. Runchal founded a non-profit CFD Virtual Reality Institute to further the cause of CFD education, training and R&D.{{Cite web |title=CFD Virtual Reality Institute |url=https://www.cfdvrinstitute.org/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.cfdvrinstitute.org}}
He is board of Governors Kangra Arts Promotion Society, an NGO working for the promotion of arts of the greater Kangra region which comprises the current district of Kangra and surrounding areas that were once ruled by the Kangra Dynasty.{{Cite web |date=2010-08-27 |title=Board of governors |url=https://kangraarts.org/about-us/our-team/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=Kangra Arts Promotion Society |language=en-US}}
References
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Category:Computational fluid dynamicists
Category:Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Category:People from Kangra district
Category:Punjab Engineering College alumni
Category:Alumni of Imperial College London
Category:Academics of Imperial College London
Category:Academic staff of IIT Kanpur
Category:University of California, Los Angeles faculty