Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabhudin Adbul
Kalam, the twelfth President of India, is rightfully termed as the father of India's missile
technology. He was
born to parents Jainulabdeen Marakayar and Ashiamma on 15th October, 1931, at
Dhanushkodi
in
Rameshwaram district, Tamil Nadu. Dr. Kalam as an eminent Aeronautical Engineer,
contributed for the development of India’s first Satellite launch vehicle SLV-3
and the missiles like the Trishul, Agni, Pritvi etc.
He did his secondary education at
Schwartz High School in Ramanathapuram, B.Sc. at St. Joseph's College(1950),
Tiruchi, and DMIT in Aeronautical Engineering at the MIT, Madras during 1954-57. After passing
out as a graduate aeronautical engineer, Kalam joined Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bangalore as a trainee and
later joined as a technical assistant in the Directorate of
Technical Development and Production of the Ministry of Defence.
In the
1960's Kalam joined
the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thumba in Kerala. He played a major role in the
centre's evolution to a key hub of space
research in India, helping to develop the country's first indigenous
satellite-launch vehicle. During 1963-82, he served the ISRO in
various capacities. In 1982, he rejoined DRDO as Director, and conceived the Integrated Guided Missile Development
Programme (IGMDP) for five indigenous missiles. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has established an Advanced
Technology Research Centre, called 'Research Centre Imarat' to undertake
development in futuristic missile technology areas. He also served as the
Principal Scientific Adviser to the Defence minister and later the Government
of India. After retiring from the post Dr. Kalam joined Annamalai University
till he became the President in January 2002.
He is a member of Indian
National Academy of Sciences, Astronautical Society of India and many other
professional bodies. Dr. APJ abdul Kalam has been awarded Padma Bhushan in
1981,
Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and India's Highest civilian Award 'The Bharat
Ratna' in 1997. Other prestigious awards include Dr.Biren Roy Space Award, Om
Prakash Basin Award for Science and Technology, National Nehru Award, Arya Bhatta
Award etc. Dr. Kalam was
conferred with the degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc. Honoris-causa) by twenty
eight universities.
Dr. Kalam,
a bachelor is a connoisseur of
classical Carnatic music. He plays veena
in his leisure. He writes poetry in
Tamil, his mother tongue. Seventeen of his poems were
translated into English and published in 1994 as a book entitled 'My
Journey'. He reads the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita with equal devotion. He is also the Author of
the books 'India
2020 : A vision for the New Millennium'(1998 with YS Rajan), 'Wings of Fire : an
Autobiography' and 'Ignited Minds – unleashing the power within India'.
Totally dedicated to the nation,
Dr. Abdul Kalam's vision is to transform India into a developed nation by the
year 2020 through hard work and perseverance. He holds a
first world dream for the third world nation.
Write to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam - E-mail
