Meet the Team

Parimal Kopardekar, Ph.D.

Acting Director

As NARI’s Acting Director, Parimal Kopardekar (PK) is responsible for exploring new trends and needs related to aviation in the areas of autonomy, aeronautics manufacturing, and advanced air mobility. PK enjoys initiating new concepts and technology ideas that increase airspace capacity and throughput, reduce delays, and reduce the total cost of air transportation.

At NASA, he has initiated many innovative research projects including reduced crew operations, net-enabled air traffic management, and autonomy for airspace operations. He was named among the 25 most influential people in commercial drone industry in 2017, and he won the 2018 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals in the "Promising Innovations" category in 2018. With more than 15 keynote talks at national and international conferences, over 50 conference and journal papers, and three best paper awards, PK participates as a media expert on topics related to unmanned aircraft systems, urban air mobility, and autonomy.

Ricky Guest

Collaborative Technologies Specialist

Cecelia Town

Program Analyst / Resource Manager

Michael A. Tsairides

Special Projects Manager / Task Lead & Website Editor

Alina Eskridge

Project Coordinator

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the most frequently asked questions about NARI.

When was NARI created?

NARI began in 2012 as the first Aeronautics Virtual Institute at NASA.

Who funds NARI?

NARI is funded primarily out of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD).

What are NARI's primary areas of focus?

Anything that can fly in our airspace: from today's drones and commercial airplanes to tomorrow's eVTOL aircrafts.

Who does NARI partner with?

NARI partners with industry, government, academia, and international organizations.

Who can I talk to about partnerships?

Reach out to our partnerships team to learn more about current and future opportunities via our contact form.

I have a question that wasn't answered.

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Get in touch.

Interested in learning more or exploring opportunities with us? Reach out to our team and we’ll be happy to help.