ons as rfn >>> dt = np.dtype([('a', 'i4'), ('b', 'f4,u2'), ('c', 'f4', 2)]) >>> a = np.arange(20).reshape((4,5)) >>> a array([[ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4], [ 5, 6, 7, 8, 9], [10, 11, 12, 13, 14], [15, 16, 17, 18, 19]]) >>> rfn.unstructured_to_structured(a, dt) array([( 0, ( 1., 2), [ 3., 4.]), ( 5, ( 6., 7), [ 8., 9.]), (10, (11., 12), [13., 14.]), (15, (16., 17), [18., 19.])], dtype=[('a', '