S.Somnath is an Indian aerospace engineer and rocket technologist best known for being appointed as the tenth Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in January 2022.
Somnath in ISRO
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Somnath Sridhar Panikkar was born in July 1963 (age 59 years; as of 2022) in Aroor, Alappuzha district, Kerala. He studied at St. Augustine’s School, Aroor. He did the pre-degree program at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam from 1978 to 1980. From 1980 to 1985, he pursued graduate studies in Mechanical Engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, University of Kerala. Later, he pursued a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering (specialization in Dynamics and Control) at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore from 1994 to 1995, and in 2008, he joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras to pursue a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
Physical Appearance
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
Somnath’s father’s name is Sridhar Panikkar who worked as a teacher. His mother’s name is Thankamma.
wife and children
Somnath is married to Valsala Somnath who works in the Goods and Services Tax Department. They have two children, a son, Madhav, and a daughter, Malika.
Somnath with his family
CASTEISMAND
She is a Malayali.
Address
M-13, Murali Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram-695022 Ambalamukku, Peroorkada, Kerala, India, P.O., Trivandrum-695 005, Kerala
Somnath address
ISRO Chairman
After graduating from college, Somnath joined ISRO in 1985. He joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, and the first project he worked on was the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) project. In 2010, he became Associate Director (Projects) of VSSC and Project Director of GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle. In 2014, he became Deputy Director of the Propulsion and Space Ordinance Entity. In 2018, he was appointed as the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), and in 2015, he became the Director of the Liquid Propulsion System Center (LPSC). In January 2022, he was appointed as the tenth Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for a three-year tenure.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- In 2009 he also received the Performance Excellence Award from ISRO.
- In July 2018, he received an honorary doctorate from Satyabhama University, Chennai.
- In October 2019, he won the National Aeronautics Award from the Aeronautical Society of India.
- In October 2020, he received an honorary doctorate from Centurion University Bhubaneswar.
- He won a gold medal during the master’s program.
- He received the Space Gold Medal from the Astronautical Society of India.
- He also won the Team Excellence Award for achieving GSLV Mk-III.
- On 1 November 2023, he was awarded the Karnataka Rajyotsava Prashasti (also known as the Rajyotsava Award), the second highest civilian honour, at the 68th Karnataka Rajyotsava.
Salary
As of 2019 his salary is Rs. 2.25 lakh under Level-17 of Apex Scale.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Somnath was the fourth South Indian to attain the post of chairman in 2022, after K Kasturirangan, G Madhavan Nair and K Radhakrishnan.
- He specialized in work for vehicle design, engineering, structural design, structural dynamics and pyrotechnics.
- Somnath defeated K. for the post of Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation. Took place of Sivan.
- During his graduation he ranked second in his class. Somnath joined his superiors at ISRO in 1994 for a project, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Due to some problem the satellite was stopped from launching, which Somnath resolved within a few minutes and the rocket was launched.
- In an interview, he said that when he was young, he was fascinated by rockets, the sun and the stars. He further said that his father used to teach Hindi subjects, but still he used to buy science books for him in both English and Malayalam languages.
- When he was studying engineering, he asked one of his teachers to teach him the rocketry subject Propulsion, which was not a part of his subjects.
- He joined a film society in Thiruvananthapuram as he was an ardent fan of cinema.
- He was also part of other groups including corresponding members of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Aeronautical Society of India (AESI), Astronautical Society of India (ASI), and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). ,
- He has given various speeches at TED Talks.
Somnath during TED Talks
- After becoming the Chairman of ISRO, he had said in an interview,
It is really a proud moment for me and everyone associated with me. I am truly overwhelmed with this workload and look forward to the challenging times ahead. I want to extend the benefits of the space program to everyone and also meet the national needs. Moreover, we need to expand it further and reach heights in terms of space economy.”
- In an interview he also talked about the strategy adopted during his tenure and said,
The areas of focus will be technology, policy, implementation and areas where stakeholders need to pay attention. There are different segments that we need to focus on. Looking at the technology side, we are a powerhouse of technology across various disciplines. We need to bring in new approach methods so that best use can be made of what is available. There are many new technologies also. We need to bring in new perspectives; Will have to work with various capacity builders like technology companies.
- Chief Minister of Kerala Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted and congratulated him on being appointed chairman.
Chief Minister @vijayanpinarayi congratulated VSSC Director S Somnath on being appointed as Chairman. @ISRO and DoS Secretary, and wished him a fruitful and innovative tenure. The CM said he was proud that Kerala has made another pioneering contribution to India’s space programme. pic.twitter.com/FcN0ljNBCn
– CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) 12 January 2022
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn