Dr APJ Abdul Kalam is known as the 'Missile Man' of India, but many are not aware that there is also a 'Missile Woman' of India. Senior Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Dr Tessy Thomas is the 'Missile Woman' of India and also has an inspiring journey of how hailing from a small village in Kerala, Dr Tessy Thomas went on to become a leading scientist and the Director General Aeronautical Systems at the DRDO.
Dr Tessy Thomas was born in April 1963 in Thathampally, Kerala, and was always a bit fascinated with science and technology. Dr Tessy Thomas gre up close to the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Stations which also diverted her attention toward rockets and missiles.
Dr Tessy Thomas completed her schooling at St Michael Higher Secondary School and St Joseph Girl's Higher Secondary School. She later did her B.Tech in Electrical Engineering in 1983 from the University Of Calicut and then pursued DRDO-sponsored ME in Guided Missiles from the Institute of Armament Technology.
Dr Tessy Thomas also did a PhD in Missile Guidance from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad in 2014 and obtained MBA in Operations Management from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, in 2007.
Reports state that Dr Tessy Thomas wanted to become an IAS officer and had also appeared for the UPSC exam, however, her DRDO interview got cleared first and she decided to take up the opportunity that knocked on her door.
Dr Tessy Thomas Joined IAT, Pune as a faculty member in Guided Missiles in the year 1986. She has been associated with Agni Programme right from its developmental flights. Dr Tessy Thomas was also the brains behind designing the guidance scheme for long-range missile systems which are used in all Agni missiles. For this, she was awarded the Agni Self Reliance Award in the year 2001.
Dr Tessy Thomas has been working for more than 32 years and has been a guiding light in several fields including Guidance, Control, Inertial Navigation, Trajectory Simulation, and Mission Design.
Dr Tessy Thomas also led a major project named AGNI-4 as Project Director and was also the Project Director (Mission) for the long-range AGNI-5 system.
In her career, Dr Tessy Thomas has received many awards during her long and illustrious career. Some of the awards won by her are, the DRDO Agni Award for Excellence in Self-Reliance in 2001; the DRDO Award for Path-breaking Research/Outstanding Technology Development-2007; the DRDO Scientist of the Year Award in 2008; DRDO Performance Excellence Award for Agni 4 in 2011; DRDO Performance Excellence Award for Agni 5 in 2012; Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration Academics and Management in 2012; Suman Sharma Award by The Institution of Engineers (India), National Design and Research Forum for Engineering Design in 2009; Smt. Chandaben Mohanbhai Patel Industrial Research Award for Women Scientists in 2009 by VASVIK; Maharana Udai Singh Award by Maharana Mewar Foundation Annual Awards for Contribution in the field of S&T in 2013 and Madam Marie Curie Mahila Vijnana Puraskar in 2012, among others.
Dr Tessy Thomas' story is one of hard work and determination and serves as an inspiration for all the women who want to dabble in the field of science and technology.
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