The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, headquartered in Delhi, India. It was formed in 1958 by the merger of the Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production of the Indian Ordnance Factories with the Defence Science Organisation under the administration of Jawaharlal Nehru. Subsequently, Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS) was constituted in 1979 as a service of Group 'A' Officers / Scientists directly under the administrative control of Ministry of Defence.
Raja Ramanna was an Indian physicist who is best known for his role in India's nuclear program during its early stages.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras is a public technical university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is selected as one of the 8 public Institutes of Eminence of India. As one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it is recognized as an Institute of National Importance. IIT Madras is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in India.
Rajagopala Chidambaram is an Indian Physicist who is known for his integral role in India's nuclear weapons program; he coordinated test preparation for the Pokhran-I (1975) and Pokhran-II (1998).
Ashok Jhunjhunwala is an Indian academic. He received his B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and PhD from the University of Maine. He has been a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras since 1981, where he is currently Institute Professor. During his career, he has contributed extensively to technology innovation and adoption in the Indian context.
Kota Harinarayana is an aviation engineer. He was born in Brahmapur. He was appointed as chairman of the board of governors of IIT (BHU), Varanasi by Hon'ble President of India on 25 August 2020 for three years. He was the vice-chancellor of the University of Hyderabad and the president of the Aeronautical Society of India.
Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre is an Indian scientist and former head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), India's premier Defence research and development organization. In that capacity, he also served as the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister. He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan award.
Koppillil Radhakrishnan is an Indian space scientist who headed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) between November 2009 and December 2014 as Chairman of Space Commission, Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO. Prior to this, he was the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (2007-2009) and Director of National Remote Sensing Agency (2005-2008) of the Department of Space. He had a brief stint of five years (2000-2005) in the Ministry of Earth Sciences as Director of Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
A Sivathanu Pillai is an Indian scientist who formerly served as Honorary Distinguished Professor at Indian Space Research Organisation (2015-2018) and an honorary professor at IIT Delhi in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (2015-2016) and a Visiting Professor at Indian Institute of Science (2014-2015).
Vijay Kumar Saraswat is an Indian scientist who formerly served as the Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Indian Minister of Defence. He retired on 31 May 2003 and presently member of NITI Aayog i.e. Planning Commission of India and Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University. and President of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum
Dr. A. E. Muthunayagam is a leading space scientist in the Indian Space Research Organisation and the chief architect of rocket propulsion in India. He was responsible for the creation of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. For his significant contributions to the development of Propulsion Technology in India, he is known as the father of propulsion technology in India's space program. He chose to return to India from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the development of propulsion technology in the Indian Space Research Organisation. He established the Test Stands and Assembly and Integration Facilities in Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Mahendragiri for testing liquid stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. He is the founder director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre] and held the position from 30 November 1985 to 14 April 1994. He held the secretary position in the Department of Ocean Development. He worked as an executive vice-president in Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment. He worked as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai from 2005 to 2008. He was appointed under Section 11 of the IIT Act of 1961, which lays down the composition of the Board of Governors for each of the seven Indian Institutes of Technology across India
Vallampadugai Srinivasa Raghavan Arunachalam is an Indian scientist. He is the founder and chairman of CSTEP, a science and technology think tank.
Avinash Chander is an Indian scientist who was Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, the Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development. He had succeeded V. K. Saraswat to this post.
Prahlada Rama Rao is an Indian missile scientist, former vice chancellor of Defence Institute of Advanced Technology and a former director of Defence Research and Development Laboratory, the largest of the Defence Research and Development Organization laboratories in India, known for his contributions to Indian space programme. He was honoured by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Ramadas Panemangalore Shenoy was an Indian defence scientist and writer, known for his contributions in the field of radar technology. He secured a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and joined Defence Research and Development Organization in 1961, involving himself with the indigenous development of radar technology till his retirement, as a Distinguished Scientist, in 1989.
G. Satheesh Reddy Junior is the Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri, leading India's indigenous development of defence systems and technologies. He has worked on the development of missiles, fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial defence systems, and radar systems.
Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS) is a Central Group 'A' Civil Service of the Government of India. DRDS scientists are Gazetted defence-civilian officers under the Ministry of Defence. They are responsible for developing new technologies and military hardware for the Indian defence and security forces.
Dipankar Banerjee is an Indian physical metallurgist, materials engineer and a former chief controller of R&D at the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Known for his studies on titanium alloys, Banerjee is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies namely Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences, India as well as the Indian National Academy of Engineering. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Engineering Sciences in 1993. He received the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2005.
Sudhir Kumar Mishra is an Indian engineer, defence scientist and civil servant. He is currently the director general at the Defence Research & Development Organisation, and the chief executive officer and managing director of BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India's and Russia's ministries of defence.
Shashikala Sinha is an Indian scientist. She is known for her role as a project director in the Endo-Atmospheric Interceptor Missile Advanced Area Defence programme, part of the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme. As of 2019 she is graded as a 'Scientist H' in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and leads a team of around 300 scientists.
