*Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam* (Tamil: [) born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as *Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam*, is an Indian scientist
and administrator who served as the11th
President of India
. Kalam was born and raised inRameswaram
, Tamil Nadu After graduating from Madras Institute of Technology
(MIT – Chennai) in 1960, Kalam joinedAeronautical Development Establishment
of Defense Research and Development Organization
(DRDO) as a chief scientist. Kalam started his career by designing a smallhelicopter
for the Indian Army
, but remained unconvinced with the choice of his job at DRDO.[15]
Kalam was also part of the INCOSPAR committee
working under Vikram Sarabhai
, the renowned space scientist.[9]
In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
where he was the project director of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV
-III) which successfully deployed the "Rohini"
satellite in near earth orbit in July 1980. Joining ISRO was one of Kalam's biggest achievements in life and he is said to have found himself when he started to work on the SLV project. Kalam first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965.[1]
In 1969, Kalam received the government's approval and expanded the program to include more engineers.[14]
Kalam addresses engineering students at IIT Guwahati
In 1963–64, he visited Nasa's
Langley Research Center
inHampton
Virginia
, Goddard Space Flight Center
inGreenbelt, Maryland
andWallops Flight Facility
situated at Eastern Shore of Virginia
.[7]
[16]
During the period between the 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar SLV
and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be success.
Kalam was invited by Raja Ramanna
to witness the country's first nuclear testSmiling Buddha
as the representative of TBRL
, even though he had not participated in the development, test site preparation and weapon designing. In the 1970s, a landmark was achieved by ISRO when the locally built "Rohini-1"
was launched into space, using the SLV rocket.[17]
In the 1970s, Kalam also directed two projects, namely, "Project Devil
"and "Project Valiant
" , which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV programme.[17]
Despite the disapproval of Union Cabinet
, Premier Indira Gandhi
allotted secret funds for these aerospace projects through her discretionary powers under Kalam's directorship.[17]
Kalam played an integral role convincing the Union Cabinet to conceal the true nature of these classified aerospace projects.[17]
His research and educational leadership brought him great laurels and prestige in 1980s, which prompted the government to initiate an advanced missile program under his directorship.[17]
Kalam and Dr. V. S. Arunachalam, metallurgist and scientific adviser to the Defense Minister, worked on the suggestion by the then Defense Minister, R. Venkataraman
on a proposal for simulataneous development of a quiver of missiles instead of taking planned missiles one by one.[18]
R Venkatraman was instrumental in getting the cabinet approval for allocating 388 crore rupees for the mission, named Integrated Guided Missile Development Program
(I.G.M.D.P) and appointed Kalam as the Chief Executive.[18]
Kalam played a major part in developing many missiles under the mission including Agni
, an intermediate range ballistic missile andPrithvi
, the tactical surface-to-surface missile, although the projects have been criticised for mismanagement and cost and time overruns.[18]
[19]
He was the Chief Scientific Adviser
to the Prime Minister
and the Secretary of Defence Research and Development Organisation
from July 1992 to December 1999. The "Pokhran-II
" nuclear tests were conducted during this period where he played an intensive political and technological role. Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator, along with R. Chidambaram
during the testing phase.[7]
[20]
Photos and snapshots of him taken by the media elevated Kalam as the country's top nuclear scientist.[21]
In 1998, along with cardiologist
Dr.Soma Raju, Kalam developed a low cost Coronary stent
. It was named as "Kalam-Raju Stent" honouring them.[22]
[23]
In 2012, the duo, designed a rugged tablet PC for health care in rural areas, which was named as "Kalam-Raju Tablet".[24]
, studied physics at the St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli
, and aerospace engineering
at the Madras Institute of Technology
(MIT), Chennai
.
Before his term as President, he worked as an aerospace engineer with Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO).[1]
Kalam is popularly known as the "Missile Man of India" for his work on the development ofballistic missile
and launch vehicle
technology.[2]
He played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's "Pokhran-II
" nuclear tests in 1998, the first since theoriginal nuclear test by India
in 1974. Some scientific experts have however called Kalam a man with no authority over nuclear physics but who just carried on the works of Homi J. Bhabha
and Vikram Sarabhai
.[3]
Kalam was elected the President of India in 2002, defeatingLakshmi Sahgal
and was supported by both the Indian National Congress
and theBharatiya Janata Party
, the major political parties of India
. He is currently a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
andIndian Institute of Management Indore
, Chancellor
of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram
, aprofessor
of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University
(Chennai), JSS University (Mysore) and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India.
Kalam advocated plans to develop India into a developed nation by 2020 in his book "India 2020
". Books authored by him have received considerable demands in South Korea
for the translated versions.[4]
He has received several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna
, India's highest civilian honour. Kalam is known for his motivational speeches and interaction with the student community in India.[5]
He launched his mission for the youth of the nation in 2011 called the "What Can I Give Movement" with a central theme to defeat corruption in India
. Kalam was also criticized for inaction as a president on the pending mercy plea petitions, that delayed prosecution of the convicts.HideEarly life and education
APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in a Muslim
family to Jainulabdeen, a boat owner and Ashiamma, a housewife, at Rameswaram
, located in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.[6]
He came from a poor background and started working at an early age to supplement his family's income.[10]
After completing school, Kalam distributed newspapers in order to financially contribute to his father's income.[10]
[11]
In his school years, he had average grades, but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn and spend hours on his studies, especially mathematics.[11]
"I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness as did my three brothers and sisters."—A quote from Kalam's autobiography[8]
After completing his school education at the Rameshwaram Elementary School, Kalam went on to attend Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli
, then affiliated with the University of Madras
, from where he graduated in physics
in 1954.[12]
Towards the end of the course, he was not enthusiastic about the subject and would later regret the four years he studied it. He then moved to Madras
in 1955 to study aerospace engineering.[9]
While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean was dissatisfied with the lack of progress and threatened revoking his scholarship unless the project was finished within the next two days. He worked tirelessly on his project and met the deadline, impressing the Dean who later said, "I [Dean] was putting you [Kalam] under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline".[13]
