It was a great event for DRDO when Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, Dr Kota Harinarayana and Shri Amitav Mallik, were conferred with Padma Shri on 23 March 2002 by Dr KR Narayanan, President of India. Following are the highlights of their contributions towards advancement of Defence Science in India.
Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, Distinguished Scientist & Chief Controller R&D was born in 1947. He obtained BE (Electrical) from Madras University in 1969 and received PhD in Technology Management in 1996 from University of Poona. He attended the Programme for Management Development at Harvard Business School, USA in 1991. He joined ISRO at the Space Science and Technology Centre, Thiruvanathapuram in 1969 where he worked in the area of systems engineering of launch vehicles. He assisted Dr Vikram Sarabhai in the evolution of ten year profile for space missions and was a core team member of SLV -3 project under the leadership of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Project Director, SLV-3. He also worked as a Senior Scientist in Aerospace Design and Dynamics Group at VSSC and later Technical Adviser to Prof Satish Dhawan for Launch Vehicles at ISRO HQrs. Development of four types of rocket motors for SLV-3 and the rocket systems, the evolution of PSLV configuration and possible options for GSLV, and direction for future ISRO launch vehicles for new missions have been his major contributions to the Indian Space Programme.
Dr Pillai joined DRDO in 1986 at the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, as Director, Planning and Programme Analysis in the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He became Programme Director; IGMDP in August 1992 and assumed additional responsibility as Associate Director, DRDL in October 1994. He was appointed Chief Controller R&D, DRDO HQrs, New Delhi in 1996 and was elevated to Distinguished Scientist from September 1999. As CC R&D, currently he is responsible for missile laboratories for all missile projects, ranges, naval systems and certain international collaborations. He played a key role in conceiving and shaping the Indo-Russian JV Company BrahMos and is presently its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director.
Dr Pillai has published and presented several papers in international and national journals and symposia. He is a Visiting Professor (Technology Management) at Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad. He is the recipient of the DRDO Scientist of the Year Award-1988, and the Dr Vikram Sarabhai Research Award in Systems Analysis-1991. He is a member of the IEEE and Astronautical Society of India.
