Born on 22 August 1942, Prof. Narinder Kumar Gupta works in the area of large deformations of metals and composites at low, medium and high rates of loading. His researches find application in development of constitutive behaviour of materials, understanding of the basic mechanics of large deformation, design for crash worthiness of road and air vehicles, design for safety in defence applications and in design of metal forming processes. He has published his researches extensively in national and international journals, guided researches at Ph.D. and M.Tech. levels, and undertaken national and international research and consultancy projects. He has been visiting Professor / fellow / invited to deliver guest lectures in universities in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa,  Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, UAE, UK, and USA. He has been serving on the Editorial Advisory Boards of International Journals of Mechanical Sciences, Int. J. of Impact Engineering, Int. J. of Crashworthiness, Latin American Int. J. of Solids and Structures, Thin Walled Structures, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, Journal of Aeronautics Society of India, Sadhana, and Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy. He is past President of the Indian Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and past President of the Indian Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has been Chairman of the National Committee of Indian National Science Academy for IUTAM and IMU; he is member of IUTAM Bureau and IUTAM Congress Committee, and member SPC & Panel Chair (Solid Mechanics) ICIAM. He is member / chairman of several other national and international academic bodies. He is Fellow of Indian National Science Academy, Indian National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, India, Aeronautical Society of India , Institution of Engineers and TWAS. Currently he is vice president of the Indian National Science Academy. He is Hon. Member of and National Representative for India to the World Innovation Foundation. He is recipient of Erskine (New Zealand) award, Alexander von Humboldt (Germany) Research Award, and several other honours and awards. He has been conferred Doctor Honoris Causa of Russian Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Gupta was conferred Padma Shri by the President of India in 1991.