Tessy Thomas

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Tessy Thomas
Tessy thomas.png
Director General (Aeronautical Systems), DRDO
In office
1 June 2018 (2018-06-01) –30 April 2023
Occupation Scientist at DRDO

Tessy Thomas (born April 1963) is an Indian scientist and former Director General of Aeronautical Systems and the former Project Director for Agni-IV missile in Defence Research and Development Organisation. [1] She is the first ever female scientist to head a missile project in India.

Contents

Early life

Tessy Thomas was born in April 1963 A Syro Malabar Catholic family Alappuzha, Kerala, [2] [3] She was named after Mother Teresa (Tessy being a derivative name of Teresa or Tressia). [4] There is conflicting information on whether her father was an IFS officer or a small-time businessman or an accountant. [5] [6] [3] When Thomas was 13, her father suffered from a stroke which left his right side paralyzed. Her mother who was a teacher, remained a homemaker to look after the family in such dire condition. [4] [7]

She grew up near Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, Trivandrum and says her fascination with rockets and missiles began then. She was stimulated even by the wonderment of aircraft flying. [8] [4]

Thomas has four other sisters and one brother. She has mentioned in interviews about her parents ensuring their children received proper education and encouraging the six siblings to pursue careers of their own interest so that they can excel. Two of her siblings are engineers while another pursued an MBA. [4] [9]

Thomas credited her hometown and mother for her personal development. “I grew up with the pretty backwaters of Kerala as my backyard. I guess nature gives you strength and good thoughts. The power of nature cannot be undermined in one’s development.” Of her mother she has said, “It must have been tough for my mother — who was not allowed to work — to look after us on her own. Yet she made sure each of her five daughters and one son had a good education.... I’ve inherited her strong will for sure. I am equally persevering and determined like my mother.” [4] [3]

Education

Thomas studied in St. Michael's Higher Secondary School and St. Joseph's College for Women,Alappuzha. She had a natural flair for mathematics and physics. She scored one hundred percent in mathematics during her Pre-degree years in the college. In the same years she had also scored more than ninety five percent in science. [4] [3] [7]

She took an education loan of ₹ 100 per month from State Bank of India to study engineering from Government Engineering College, Thrissur. She also received a scholarship that covered her tuitions fees having been entered into the first ten students of the merit list during her admissions. The loan gave her the courage to live in a hostel while pursuing her B.Tech. [4] [10]

In both school and college Thomas was involved in extracurricular activities including political issues. She excelled in sports especially badminton bringing much recognition to her alma maters. [11]

She also has an M.Tech in Guided Missile from the Institute of Armament Technology, Pune (now known as the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology). [10] She also pursued MBA in Operations Management and Ph.D. in guidance missile under the Defence Research and Development Organisation. [3]

Career

Thomas joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation in 1988, [12] where she worked on the design and developments of the new generation ballistic missile, Agni. She was appointed by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam for the Agni Project. [3] In addition, Thomas was the associate project director of the 3,000 km range Agni-III missile project. [13] She was the project director for mission Agni IV which was successfully tested in 2011. [14] Later,Tessy Thomas was appointed as the project director of the 5,000 km range Agni-V in 2009, which was successfully tested on 19 April 2012. On 1 June 2018, she became the Director-General, Aeronautical Systems of DRDO and served their till 30 April 2023. [1]

She is a fellow at the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Institution of Engineers-India (IEI) and Tata Administrative Service (TAS). [3]

Personal life

She is married to Saroj Kumar, a commander in the Indian Navy and they have a son,Tejas. [15]

Awards

Thomas received the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for her contribution for making India self-reliant in the field of missile technology. [16] [17]

She was also the recipient of the Dr Thomas Cangan Leadership Award at the Faculty of Management Studies – Institute of Rural Management, Jaipur (FMS-IRM) in 2018. [18]

She was also awarded the Lokmanya Tilak National Award in 2022.

Thomas won 'Woman pioneer of the year' award at ETPrime Women Leadership Awards 2023 which was held at Mumbai. Rekha Menon, the former chairperson of Accenture India handed over the award to Dr Thomas. [19] [20] [21]

Publications

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 M Somasekhar (29 May 2018). "Tessy Thomas elevated as D-G Aero of DRDO". The Hindu Business Line.
  2. ↑ Profile of Dr.Tessy Thomas
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "We watched breathlessly, praying for inner strength as the missile took off". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 DD News (9 October 2016), Tejasvini: Interaction with Tessy Thomas, The Missile Women of India , retrieved 20 January 2018
  5. ↑ Aji, Sowmya (28 April 2012). "India's Missile Woman: Tessy Thomas". India Today. No. 7 May 2012.
  6. ↑ Bagla, Pallava (20 April 2012). "The 'missile woman' behind India's new ICBM". BBC News.
  7. 1 2 Atul Vidyalaya (4 January 2016), Atul Vidyalaya - Speech - Agni Putri - Dr.Tessy Thomas, Missile Woman of India - 2015 , retrieved 20 January 2018
  8. ↑ Bagla, Pallav (20 April 2012). "The 'missile woman' behind India's new ICBM". BBC News. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  9. ↑ INDIA SCIENCE NEWS ISN (9 February 2013), Tessy Thomas.mp4 , retrieved 20 January 2018
  10. 1 2 "Tessy Thomas – The First Indian Woman Scientist to Head a Missile Project in India". Be An Inspirer. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "Dr. Tessy Thomas" . Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. ↑ "In Love With Rocket Science: The Story of Tessy Thomas, India's Missile Woman". The Better India. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  13. ↑ Smt. Tessy Thomas is first woman scientist to head missile project Archived 22 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine .
  14. ↑ 'Agni Putri' Tessy Thomas breaks glass ceiling
  15. ↑ "Meet India's "Missile Woman"" (PDF). IWSA Newsletter. 34 (3). September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  16. ↑ "Scientist honoured for work on Agni missile tech" . Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  17. ↑ "'Missile woman' Tessy Thomas conferred Shastri award". 2 October 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  18. ↑ "6th Thought Leadership Lecture Series at FMS-IRM". The Faculty of Management Studies, Institute of Rural Management. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  19. ↑ Banerjee, Sanhati (16 August 2023). "ETPWLA 2023: Dr. Tessy Thomas wins Woman Pioneer Award at ETPrime Women Leadership Awards 2023". The Economic Times.
  20. ↑ "Watch ETPWLA 2023: Celebrating excellence in women leadership". The Economic Times .
  21. ↑ Banerjee, Sanhati; Pema, Tenzin (31 July 2023). "TPWLA 2023: Grand Felicitation Ceremony of ETPrime Women Leadership Awards to be held on August 4". The Economic Times.
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