Early Days

• Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 to a Tamil Muslim family in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and lived till 27 July 2015.

• He was an Indian Aerospace Scientist, author and served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007.

• Abdul Kalam got his early education at Schwartz Higher Secondary School, Ramanathapuram. He spent hours on his studies, especially mathematics.

• He graduated in the field of Physics from Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu in 1954.

• Kalam completed his Aerospace Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology in 1960.

• Kalam played a leading role in the development of India’s missile and nuclear weapons programs.

• Kalam was noted for his integrity and his simple lifestyle. His few personal possessions included his books, his veena, some articles of clothing, a CD player and a laptop.

• He died on 27th July 2015 while delivering a lecture on "Creating a Livable Planet Earth" at Indian Institute of Management Shillong.

Abdul Kalam as a Scientist

SLV - 3

PSLV

Agni Missile

Prithvi Missile

• Kalam joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as a scientist in 1960.

• He started his career by designing a small hovercraft in DRDO.

• Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in 1969.

• He was the project director of India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980.

• Kalam developed the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and SLV-III projects between 1970 to 1990.

• Kalam directed two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant, which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV programme in 1970s.

• Kalam played a major role in developing many missiles under the mission including Agni, an intermediate range ballistic missile and Prithvi, the tactical surface-to-surface missile. This development of successful missiles earned him the name "Missile Man".

• Kalam played an important role in the Nuclear Weapons tests in 1998 which solidified India as a nuclear power and established Kalam as a national hero.

• Kalam served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretary of the Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999.

• Kalam along with cardiologist Soma Raju developed a low cost coronary stent, named the "Kalam-Raju Stent" in 1998.

• They also designed a rugged tablet computer for health care in rural areas, which was named the "Kalam-Raju Tablet" in 2012.

Abdul Kalam as President of India

Awards and Honors