Dr. Niranjan was born in Agragon (Agragone), Ankola Taluka, Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka State in 1944. He is a distinguished academician and researcher in the field of aerospace engineering.

He is B. E. in Mechanical Engineering from Engineering College, Gulbarga and M.Tech. and Ph.D. from IIT Bombay is an Indian aerospace engineer and Professor Emeritus[1] at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.[2] He is known for his research work on thermomechanical behavior of textile composites and ballistic impact, low velocity impact, fatigue and fracture of composites. His special interest is also on science and technology of aircraft production. Major awards and recognitions conferred to him are: Fellowship of the National Academy of Sciences, India (2004) Fellowship of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (2005) Professor H. H. Mathur Award for "Excellence in Research in Applied Sciences 2006 by IIT Bombay; "Excellence in Aerospace Education Award 2008 by the Aeronautical Society of India; Aerospace Engineering Division Gold Medal of the Institution of Engineers (India) for the year 1992-93 for his research on polymer matrix composites and "Shri Hotchand M. Lala and Shrimati Jamuna H. Lala Excellence in Teaching Award, 2013by IIT Bombay.

Naik was Head of Aerospace Engineering Department during January 2002 – December 2004. He has provided services to Advisory Boards of many International Conferences. He has also provided services towards referring many journal publications. He is a fellow / member of many professional societies. Naik was on the Board of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)[20][21] as an Independent Director during November 2009 – November 2012.

Naik was one of the key persons in National Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research (NCAIR)[22][23] and participated in setting up objectives and goals of NCAIR.