Dr. Parimal Kopardekar

Parimal Kopardekar (PK) serves as NASA’s Senior Technologist for Air Transportation System where he develops concepts and technologies to increase efficiency of current operations and enabling future airspace operations. He also serves as the Principal Investigator for UAS Traffic Management (UTM) to safely enable large-scale UAS operations in the low altitude airspace.

He managed Safe Autonomous System Operations project, which is focused on autonomy/autonomicity in civil aviation, as part of the Airspace Operations and Safety Program. The project’s goal is to develop gate-to-gate concepts and technologies aimed at improving aircraft and airspace efficiency, capacity, mobility, throughput, reduce delays, and overall airspace operations productivity. His portfolio covers technologies for flight deck, airline operations center, and air navigation service provider. He is particularly passionate about identifying and initiating high-risk and high-reward, game-changing, and disruptive innovations.

He is recipient of numerous awards: NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Ames Honors Award for Project Management, NASA Ames Engineer of the Year, and AIAA Distinguished Service Recognition Award. He has published more 40 articles with two best paper awards.

He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering and Bachelor’s degree in Production Engineering.  He also serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Aerospace Operations.