10 Facts About Dr Sivan, A Farmer's Son Who Became ISRO Chief & Brought India Closer To The Moon
One of India's most renowned space scientists of recent times, Dr K Sivan, a national gem who rose to the heights of success and unparalleled scientific achievements, from nothingness.
Here is everything you need to know about the poor village boy with big dreams and a burning passion to turn them into reality, who went on to become the ISRO Chairman.
1. A farmer's son, Dr Sivan was born into a household of limited means in a village called Mela Sarkal Vilai in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district.
2. Kailasavadivoo Sivan is his given name, though today all of India knows him as Dr K. Sivan. An extremely bright student, Dr Sivan went to a Tamil medium government school during his formative years, and later moved to another school in a neighbouring village. Dr Sivan also happens to be the first graduate in his family.
3. Highly qualified and Alma Mater of some of the most prestigious engineering colleges in the country, Dr Sivan did his graduation in engineering from Madras Institute of Technology, followed by Master's in aerospace engineering from Indian Institute of Science and PhD in aerospace engineering from IIT-Bombay. He also holds multiple fellowships.
4. Dr Sivan is best known for developing cryogenic rocket engines for ISRO, and is often called 'Rocket Man' for his invaluable contributions in the field.
5. Dr Sivan joined ISRO in 1982 and his first assignment was the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Project.
6. Dr Sivan has had major contributions in the end to end mission planning, mission design, mission integration and analysis within ISRO and its functioning.
7. He is the reason India can launch a rocket on any day, under any weather or wind conditions, because he developed and implemented the day-of launch wind biasing strategy.
8. In his close to a four-decade-long career at ISRO, Dr Sivan has occupied numerous positions of power and responsibilities such as that of a Director, RLV-TD, Deputy Director, Aeronautics Entity, Group Director, Structures Entity, MSSG, Project Director, GSLV, Chief controller, besides others.
9. Dr Sivan made it possible for ISRO to create history in February 2017, by sending out 104 satellites in a single mission. He was the mastermind who laid out the technicalities of how the satellites would be placed in orbit.
10. Dr Sivan was appointed the chief of ISRO in January 2018.