A Brief Introduction
Dr. A . P. J ABDUL KALAM was born on 15 October 1931 at Rameshwaram in
Tamil Nadu. He specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras
Institute of Technology. Dr. Kalam made significant contribution as
Project Director to develop India's first indigeneous Satellite Launch
Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully injected the Rohini Satellite in
the near earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member
of Space Club. He was responsible for the evolution of ISRO's launch
vehicle programme, particularly the PSLV configuration. After working
for two decades in ISRO and mastering launch vehicle technologies, Dr.
Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided
Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organization as the Chief
Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
He was responsible for the development and operationalisation of AGNI
and PRITHVI Missiles and for building indigeneous capability in
critical technologies through networking of multiple institutions. He
was the Scientific advisor to Defence Minister and Secretary,
Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to
December 1999. During this period he led to the weaponisation of
strategic missile systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in
collaboration with Department of Atomic Energy, which made India a
nuclear weapon State. He also gave thrust to self-reliance in defence
systems by progressing multiple development tasks and missile project
such as Light Combat Aircraft.