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Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam - The "Missile Man" of India

He was born in Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram district of Tamil Nadu on October 15, 1931. His father rented out boats to pay Abdul Kalam's school fees. The young man distributed newspapers to help and contribute towards the household and his school expenses. He did his B.Sc. at St. Joseph's College, Tiruchi, and DMIT in Aeronautical Engineering at MIT, Madras.

Abdul Kalam joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 1958. Later he moved to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) where he succeeded in putting the 35-kg Rohini I satellite on a low-earth orbit with the help of the SLV III (Satellite Launch Vehicle). After spending 19 prolific years in ISRO, he returned to DRDO to head the country's missile development programme, which culminated in the successful launch of the Agni and the Prithvi.

He went on to be the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development, and has been appointed Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. As chief of India's defence research and development programme, Kalam, transformed moribund government organisations into fighting machines that can deliver. The three underground nuclear tests in the Pokhran range of Rajasthan despite mounting pressure to abandon nuclear programme under his able guidance has made India reaffirm its nuclear preparedness.

The only brief experience that he had abroad was in 1963-64 when he was invited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to spend four months in the US at the Wallops Island Rocketry Centre and the Langley Research Centre.

He has been Awarded with the India's Highest civilian Award the "Bharat Ratna" in 1998. Other prestigious awards include Dr.Biren Roy Space Award, Om Prakash Basin Award for Science and Technology, National Nehru Award, Arya Bhatta Award. He is also the author of "Wings of Fire" - an autobiography.

The 66 year old, scientist leads an austere life and when he is not working his usual 18 hours a day, -- he also writes poetry and plays the veena.

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Dr. Krishen Kumar - "Himalayan" achievements

Education
Academic excellence was evident since his schools days at Shalimar Multipurpose High School. His first on the list of awards came in 1954 for overall academic achievements.

After completing his tenth, Krishen left home for Srinagar, where he secured the Government of India Merit-cum-Means Scholarship for graduate studies. In 1959, he was awarded the Highest Merit Certificate from Jammu and Kashmir University for a First Class First degree among all B.A. and B.Sc. He then moved to Calcutta to complete a Masters in Technology course from Calcutta University. There too, he won the University Gold Medal and Book Prize for a First Class First degree.

In 1964 Krishen headed westward to Kansas State University for his M S. His M S degree was followed up with an Electrical Engineering degree in 1966 and a Ph.D. in 1969 in the same discipline. Meanwhile he was also teaching in the area of Electro-magnetic Theory, Radar Systems and Electronics.

On the job
Krishen started out with Lockheed Electronics Company in June 1969 as Staff Scientist supporting the Earth Observations Division, NASA/Johnson Space Center. Dr. Krishen was also the Sensor Performance Evaluation Project Leader for the S-193 and S-194 Skylab Systems.

From February 1976 he worked on several projects at NASA. In February 1994 he was given the responsibility for providing technical interface to industries, NASA centres, universities and Government agencies on "research and technology transfer and development to promote NASA technology commercialisation and multi-use technology development". He has publications of over 100 technical papers, presentations, and reports - 43 of which have been published in books, technical journals or society proceedings.

At Home
Dr. Krishen is married to Vijay L. Raina, now the President and CEO of DDMS, Inc., an information research and technology business located in Houston, Texas.

Through out his career, Dr. Krishen has received memorable awards. Take a look at his Hall of fame-

• 1997 Outstanding Technological Achievement Award of the Business Opportunity Symposium Series (BOSS) Conference sponsored by the Texas Association of Minority Business Enterprises, Austin, Texas, September 1997.
• Fellow, Society for Design and Process Science, for significant engineering achievements in design and process improvements, 1996, Austin, Texas, USA.
• Performance Award from NASA Johnson Space Center for excellence in performance of assigned duties, September, 1994 and 1995.
• Houston Leadership Award for 1992 World Congress on Superconductivity Conference, held in Munich, Germany, March 1993.
• Group Achievement Award for Space Operations, Applications and Research (SOAR) Symposia and Exhibitions from NASA, January 1993.
• NASA Johnson Space Center Inventor's Award for U.S. Patent No. 5,005,147, June 1992.
• Best Paper Award from Instrument Society of America, ROBEX Conference, as co-author of the paper entitled, "Error Analysis for an Image Point Correspondence Algorithm" (1989)
• Technical Man-of-the-Year from Galveston Bay Section of IEEE (1989,1990).
• Outstanding Presentation Award at the Fourth Space Logistics Symposium, November 1991, by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and the Society of Logistics Engineers (SOLE), Cocoa Beach, FL.
• Outstanding Performance Rating from NASA/JSC for overall performance in duties as Assistant to the Director for Technology and Advanced Programs, Mission Support Directorate (1988).
• Group Achievement Award from NASA Johnson Space Center for JSC's Space Exploration Initiative Ninety-Day Study (1991).
• IEEE/Galveston Bay Section Award for outstanding Student Activities Program at University of Houston at Clear Lake (1988).
• Outstanding Performance Rating from NASA/JSC for overall performance in duties as the Manager, Advanced Programs, Tracking and Communications Division (1987).
• NASA/JSC Certificate of Commendation for dedicated, innovative, and exemplary performance in developing, organizing, advocating, and implementing outstanding communications, tracking, and vision advanced programs (1987).
• Certificate of Recognition for NASA Technical Brief, Johnson Space Center (1987).
• Group Achievement Award for JSC's Strategic Game Plan, Johnson Space Center (1987).
• IEEE/Galveston Bay Section Award for Propagation of Electrical Sciences Education in Area High Schools (1986).
• OAST Sensor Working Group Achievement Award from NASA Administrator for dedicated, innovative, and exemplary performance in the NASA Sensors Technology Development as one of the original members of this Group (1986).
• Sustained Superior Performance Award for Excellence in the performance of duties as Manager of Advanced Programs in the Communications and Tracking Division of NASA/JSC (1986).
• Sustained Superior Performance Award for Excellence in the performance of duties as Manager of Research and Development Programs in Communications and Tracking at NASA/JSC (1985).
• Who's Who in the World for recognized efforts in the Advancement of Sciences and Arts.
• Sustained Superior Performance Award for Excellence in the performance of duties as Manager of Research and Development Programs in Communications and Tracking at NASA/JSC (1984).
• Men of Achievement (United Kingdom) for efforts in the development of international understanding through Advancement of Arts and Sciences.
• Outstanding Performance Rating from NASA/Johnson Space Center for overall performance in duties as Manager, Research and Technology Programs, Communication and Tracking Division, 1982.
• Personalities of America, for recognized efforts in the Advancement of Science, Technology, and Arts.
• American Men and Women of Science, for achievement in the field of Science.
• Who's Who in the South and the Southwest (USA), for Contributions to the Advancements of Science, Technology, and Arts.
• Who's Who in Technology Today, for significant contributions to the disciplines of advanced science and technology.
• Superior Performance Award for performance in assigned duties at National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center, 1979.
• Outstanding Performance Rating for overall performance in duties as Manager of Advanced Microwave Programs from National Aeronautics and Space Administration/ Johnson Space Center, 1979.
• Commendations from National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Johnson Space Center and Lockheed Electronics Company for outstanding performance in the evaluation of Skylab S-193 and S-194 Microwave Systems.
• Commendations from National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Earth Observations Division and Lockheed Electronics Company, Incorporated for outstanding contribution to the NASA/Johnson Space Center Aircraft Earth Resources Program.
• Commendations from Lockheed Electronics Company, Incorporated for outstanding performance in teaching the course, "Fundamentals of Microwave Remote Sensing," at National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.
• Phi Kappa Phi for outstanding performance in Ph.D. and M.S. (3.92 average out of 4.0) at the Kansas State University, USA.
• Professional Membership in Eta Kappa Nu Society, USA for contributions to the advancement of Science and Engineering.

Currently, Dr Krishen is the Program Chairman of the World Congress on Superconductivity and was recently appointed to the Texas Board of Licensure for Professional Medical Physicists (TBLPMP) by the Governor of Texas, George Bush for overseeing licensing and licensing procedure for professional medical physicists and processes complaints for the States of Texas in USA.

• Index