Friday, October 30, 2009

In the Spotlight - Ashok Singhal, Founder & President, CFDRC

Ashok Singhal, Ph.D. is the founder and the dynamic President of CFD Research Corporation (CFDRC), an advanced research and development company located in Huntsville, Alabama.

Since its inception in 1987, CFDRC has employed over 300 world-class scientists, engineers, and highly qualified support personnel. CFDRC has pioneered the development and applications of advanced (first-principle based, multi-physics, multi-disciplinary) computer simulations. As a result, the company has grown steadily and attained national and international recognition as the technology leader in engineering simulations and innovative designs.

CFDRC provides innovative solutions for Aerospace and Defense, Biomedical and Life Sciences and Energy and Materials (Nano) Technologies.  Using company’s own software and experimental facilities, the company develops new hardware concepts, innovative designs, and prototypes.  Presently, CFDRC has over 45 patents awarded or pending, in the areas of biotechnology, combustion, propulsion, nanomaterials and sensors.  Several of these technologies have been licensed to global businesses.

CFDRC is nationally recognized for successful commercialization of innovative technologies.  It is a two-time (1996 and 2006) winner of the prestigious Tibbetts Award for innovation. CFDRC is rated by DOD in the top 10% of small businesses for technology commercialization, nationwide. A significant commercialization success was the spin-off of the CFDRC Software Products division along with 45 employees in 2004. CFDRC’s commercial software products are used by over 1000 organizations worldwide. The company has been cited in the success stories of NASA, Navy, Army, Air Force, DARPA, NIH, and NSF;

and is commended by industry partners for the impact made on their businesses. Presently CFDRC has 100 employees in Huntsville and has many collaborators.

Beyond the innovation, CFDRC’s involvement in the local community is helping inspire true change with an enduring quality.  CFDRC is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Huntsville Association of Small Businesses in Advanced Technology (HASBAT). Dr Ashok Singhal serves on the Board of Directors of BizTech (a business incubator for Northern Alabama). He is also an active member of the Huntsville Angel Investor Network (HAN), UAH President’s Council, Advisory Committees of UAH, UAB and Alabama A&M.

Recently he has been elected to be on the Board of Chamber of Commerce for  Huntsville/Madison, for a term of 3 years (2010-12).

Dr Singhal was among the founding Directors of the Alabama India Business Partnerships (AIBP), a non-profit membership organization and is the President of AIBP for the year 2009. In addition, Dr. and Mrs. Sangeeta Singhal, company’s CEO, sponsor Scholarships for UA/Huntsville Students and contribute to various charity organizations. Dr. Ashok Singhal has been the dynamic force behind CFDRC’s success.

Chief Editor Kusum Singh talks with Dr. Singhal about his journey as an entrepreneur, his personal beliefs, and his company.

What is your personal business philosophy?

People First.  While good technologies, products, services, and efficient business operations are all essential for business success, I believe that the first and foremost factor to understand and practice is to put people first.  Good people can produce good products and services, while the converse is not necessarily true.  Strictly speaking, every business is “people business”.

CFDRC was founded on the belief in phenomenal power of:
• Bright minds in the right work environment that is conducive for innovation and entrepreneurship
• First-Principle based engineering simulations

The basic challenge for any new organization is to build Capability, Capacity, and Credibility (3Cs).  The challenge for sustainable growth is to improve continually. Other basic management principles followed include- “Team spirit”, “Keep it Simple” and “Promise less and deliver more”.

What would you say are the key elements in achieving your entrepreneurial success?

• Childhood groundings (parental and spiritual)
• Try your best to be the best in whatever you may choose to do in life
• Sleep well; Have faith; the world will be there tomorrow morning
• Good luck
• To be married to the most wonderful person.  They say there is a woman behind every successful man.  That is not only true in my case; it is much more than that - discipline, challenge, and moral support.  My wife Sangeeta is a multi-talented and a very intuitive person. My wife has been the secret of CFDRC’s success by taking all the administrative and business responsibilities as the CEO of the company.
• To be surrounded by the committed employees and the most talented and loyal colleagues such as Andrzej Przekwas as the CTO and Sami Habchi and Vincent Harrand as the Vice Presidents.

What has being in business taught you?

• Life is fair, not necessarily easy, or simple.  “You reap what you sow”, is quite often true. 
• Being in business is like being on a roller coaster (exciting and scary), not knowing the next turn, and not having any “rest stations”.  It is the litmus test of one’s desire, persistence, and resilience. 
• Successful business is a measure of our contributions to the society, by providing new technologies, products and/or services, which are embraced and adopted by others of their free will.

What are some of the challenges in succeeding as an Indian entrepreneur and how have you encountered them?

Not being derailed by subtle biases - hesitations and reservations.  These are universally present and part of human nature.  These have to be compensated by working harder and by staying on course. Fortunately, since I came to the US three decades ago, the awareness and acceptance of Indian Americans, and their talent and contributions, have grown significantly in USA.  It presents unparalleled opportunities for the second generation Indians.

What is your dream for your company?

CFDRC is a unique “Technology Incubator” or a nursery with exotic technology plants and trees.  The current quest is to transform CFDRC into a Self-Perpetuating and growing organization - a platform for fulfilling leadership and entrepreneurship ambitions for the interested individuals.

What is your most favorite quote?

The true meaning of one’s life is the impact it makes on another life.

Briefly describe the partnerships and joint projects with other Universities and Centers.

In addition to collaboration with several National Research Centers and Universities, CFDRC has existing partnerships and joint research projects with the local Universities, such as University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama A&M, University of Alabama in Birmingham, Vanderbilt University, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee Research Center (UTRC), and Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) etc.  In addition, we hire students from those Universities and provide a challenging work and learning experience for Co-op students from the local Universities.

Describe how the innovation is a demonstrable leap ahead of what preceded it.  Talk about how it is different or better than other products or practices that address the same need or issue.

CFDRC’s software and expertise allow coupled multiscale, multiphysics simulations of fluid, thermal, chemical, biological, electrical, and mechanical phenomena for real world applications.  Such simulations provide clearer insights into complex systems and thus enable better decisions and facilitate better products with lower risk, improved safety, reduced cost, and less time.  This also enables faster selections of the most promising concepts and approaches.  Such early stage decisions have phenomenal impact on the success of complex systems.  The main challenge is to transform the common thinking and practice from “conducting experiments” first to the new paradigm of:” Performing Simulations First”.

Our technological advantage has enabled us to work on the nation’s most challenging problems.  Often times, performing simulations is the best (or only) way to gain insight.

Dr. Singhal’s Professional background:

Dr. Singhal has over 30 years’ experience and is well recognized in the fields of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Multi-Phase Flow and Heat Transfer, Cavitation, and Multidisciplinary Engineering Simulations. He obtained his B.Sc. and M.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from BHU Banaras and IIT-Kanpur, India.  He then worked for four years at Tata Consulting Engineers and concurrently obtained a diploma in Systems Management from Bombay University.

From 1974 to 1977, he pursued full-time studies for his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the Imperial College, London. After completing his Ph.D. in 1977, Dr. Singhal worked for CHAM of North America and progressed from the position of Project Engineer to President and Technical Director until 1986. Subsequently, he founded CFDRC with the goal of “Development and Effective Transfer” of CFD and related technologies.

Dr. Singhal has over 75 publications in international journals and conferences and has contributed invited articles to the Journal of Numerical Heat Transfer, Handbook of Thermal Design, and Progress in Nuclear Energy. He has also given invited lectures in England, Belgium, France, Japan, Mexico, and the United States, and at professional societies such as ASEI, IEEE, AIAA, and ASME.  He is a recipient of NASA’s award for “Significant Achievements in Flow Process Modeling and Contributions to the SSME Developmental Engine Program”.  He has participated in numerous workshops and panels organized by NASA, DoD, DoE, NRC, ASME, AIAA, IMRET, ISROMAC, and DARPA. He also visited Japan as a member of U.S. /NSF Delegation for discussions on “Computers in Heat Transfer Science – Outlook for the 21st Century.”

In the year 2005/06, Dr. Singhal served as a Panel Member for the National Research Council of the National Academies, and contributed to the “Dacadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics; Foundation for the future”. In 2008, as a member of Governor Riley’s Trade Mission to China, Dr. Singhal visited several Biotech organizations in Shanghai.  Dr. Singhal is a committee member & contributor to Alabama Science and Technology Roadmap initiative launched by the Governor’s office in 2009.

By Kusum Singh