8 Scientific Contributions By Dr.

Kalam
That Gave Wings To India’s
Technological Ambition

A great scientist, people's President, and a phenomenal

teacher, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has been the driving force
behind many cutting-edge technologies in India.

From satellites to local healthcare, his contributions will

always be worthy of mention when we talk of science and
technology in India.

1. He was the Project Director in ISRO to help develop

India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
At a time when India had hardly dreamt of its own Satellite
Launch Vehicle (SLV), Dr. Kalam's efforts and hard work
for over a decade, made it possible for us to develop our first
indigenous SLV. SLV III injected Rohini satellite in the near
earth orbit in July 1980 making India an exclusive Space
 Club member.

2. He also became the Project Director for two missile

projects whose aim was to develop ballistic missiles from the
technology of the successful SLV programme.
After the success of the SLV programme, Dr. Kalam also
became the director of two projects, Project Devil and
Project Valiant. In the 1970s, the goal of Project Devil was to
produce a short-range surface-to-air missile. Although
discontinued in 1980 without achieving full success, Project
Devil, led to the later development of the Prithvi missile.

3. He took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous

Guided Missiles at DRDO.
After working for two decades in ISRO, Dr. Kalam was
appointed as the CEO of Integrated Guided Missile
Development Programme (IGMDP). He was responsible for
the development and operationalisation of AGNI and
PRITHVI missiles.

This also earned him the title of 'Missile Man of India'.

4. He was the brain behind multiple nuclear tests carried out
at Pokhran in 1998 which made India a nuclear weapon
state.
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was the Scientific Adviser to the
Defence Minister of India between 1992 and 1999 when
India went ahead with the nuclear explosions at Pokhran. He
supervised the Pokhran II explosions as the CEO of DRDO.
While camping in the Thar desert for over a fortnight, he
said:

"The testing was a 'defining moment' in the country's

history, next only to adopting the path of economic
liberalisation in 1991."

5. He helped design a cost-effective coronary stent known as

'Kalam-Raju-Stent' making healthcare accessible to all.
Dr. Kalam collaborated with cardiologist B. Soma Raju for
the development of the famed 'Kalam-Raju-Stent' for
coronary heart disease. The device was introduced in the
market in 1994, and led to reduction of prices of imported
coronary stents in India by more than 50 percent. The
 upgraded models of this stent are now available in the
market.

7. He was deeply involved in the country's Light Combat

Aircraft project.

Since passing out of the Madras Institute of Technology

where he specialised in Aeronautical Engineering, President
Kalam had been associated with avionics. In particular, he
was deeply involved with the country's Light Combat
Aircraft project. He also became the first Indian Head of
State to fly a fighter plane.

7. Dr. Kalam and Dr. Soma Raju, came up with a rugged

tablet computer in 2012 to take care of the health of
underprivileged people in rural India.

After the success of Kalam- Raju stent, he along with the

cardiologist, Soma Raju developed a tablet that was aimed at
arming healthcare workers at the primary level to respond
to emergency medical situations.

8. He was the driving force behind the development of

lightweight callipers for patients with motor disabilities.
While India has been declared polio free by the WHO, back
in 1995 and 1996, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and his team
worked endlessly to produce orthosis callipers that weighed
1/10th of the weight of those that were available in the
market. These floor reaction calipers made movement and
walking less painful and cumbersome, allowing kids to walk
more freely and fluidly without much help.

Dr. Kalam's contribution to the country has been

tremendous, giving a new direction and thrust to several
breakthrough technologies.
 He was one of the rare presidents of India who were
apolitical. He was one of the biggest surprise choice of B J P
to be the President of India. The post of President is an
apolitical head of the country. He wrote several books. His
auto biography is a gem of all. It is hard to think of another
great person better than him to decorate the President’s
chair. He was one of the rarest Muslim to visit Tirumala
(Thirupathi Balji Shrine). He got the rarest honor of getting
garlanded in the shrine. He avoided trouble to other
devotees. He chose the early morning first pooja. He prayed
at the shrine. He called for the register of visit by a non
Hindu and signed before entering the shrine. Believe it or
not he purchased 4 tickets for dharshan as three assisstants
who accompanied him. When asked by the priest whose
name he prefers to pray to add . He didn’t take even a
second to say, India. He reminded the priest the appropriate
mantra to chant. Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam was the boon of
India to humanity. No amount of writing will be sufficient to
praise him as a great human being who made India to raise
its head high against its enemies. The politicians of India
should learn to be like Dr. Kalam. Corruption and vested
interest are the two horns of devil born to democracy. Mr.
Kalam never deviated from the decorum of a president. He
remained a true patriotic and people's president until his last
breath. No leader or a head of the state was loved by all
people of India like Kalam after the demise of great freedom
fighters of India. Austerity was the chief quality of Mr.
 Kalam. He respected every intellectual person in India. He
therefore interacted with all children of India to promote the
quality of the future India. He is the pinnacle of greatness. If
politicians of India can be 25℅ of Kalam India will be a
super power in the next 5 years.

Important role inn development of

indian missiles and nuclear project

From being the people's President to spearheading the

development of the most significant Indian missiles, late
President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has contributed to the
development of the country in different spheres.
As an aerospace scientist, Kalam worked with India's two
major space research organisations - Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO).
While, his work in the development and operationalisation
of Indigenous guided missiles - AGNI and PRITHVI -
earned him the title of the 'Missile Man of India,' there are
many more ways in which Kalam has helped India in the
 division of science and technology.

1. Directed the project to develop India's first Satellite

Launch Vehicle (SLV)
Back in 1980s, when India had hardly dreamt of having its
indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), Dr Kalam's over
10-year-long hard work as the project director for the
development of the indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle at
ISRO led to the ground-breaking scientific development.
It was in July 1980, that India's SLV-III successfully
deployed the Rohini satellite in the near-Earth orbit leading
to the country becoming a member of the exclusive Space
Club.
2. Directed projects for the development of ballistic missiles
Kalam also headed the projects Devil and Valiant which had
the aim of developing ballistic missiles using the technology
behind the successful SLV program. Under mission Kalam
with other projects, members developed many missiles
including AGNI which is an intermediate-range ballistic
missile and PRITHVI which is a surface-to-surface missile.
3. Headed multiple nuclear tests at Pokhran
Serving as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the then Prime
Minister, Kalam played a major role in heading the
 Pokhran-II nuclear testing leading to him being known as
the best nuclear scientist of the country at that time. The
nuclear testing under the supervision of Kalam during the
period of July 1992 to December 1999 made India a nuclear-
armed state.
4. He worked in making healthcare accessible to all
Working jointly with cardiologist Soma Raju, the late
President developed a cost-effective coronary stent 'Kalam-
Raju Stent' which helped in making healthcare accessible to
all.
5. Developed the rugged 'Kalam-Raju tablet'
The duo of Kalam and Soma Raju later in 2012 designed a
rugged tablet computer for better health care administration
in the rural pockets of the country. They termed it the
'Kalam-Raju tablet.'
For his work in the stream of science and politics, the 11th
President was also awarded India's highest civilian honour
or the Bharat Ratna.
Kalam breathed his last on July 27, 2015, while delivering a
lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong when
he collapsed and died from a cardiac arrest.
Five years after his demise, his contributions are still
remembered as some of the best scientific and technological
developments in the country.
 written work

Dr. A. P J. Abdul Kalam was fond of writing songs and

poetry and he wrote a lot of books in his career:

Developments in Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology,

1988: Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam wrote the book along with
Roddam Narasimha

India 2020: A vision for the New Millennium, 1998: Dr. A. P.

J. Abdul Kalam wrote the book along with Y S Rajan

Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

wrote the book along with A Sivathanu Pillai

You Are Born To Blossom: Take My Journey Beyond, 2011:

He wrote the book along with Arum Tiwari
 Target 3 Billion, 2011: The book was written along with
Srijan Pal Singh

A Manifesto for Change: A Sequel to India 2020: Dr. A.P.J

Abdul Kalam wrote the book along with V Ponraj

Reignited: Scientific Pathways to a Brighter Future, 2015:

He wrote the book along with Srijan Pal Singh

Transcendence My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh

Swamiji, 2015

My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions, 2013

Indomitable Spirit

Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India, 2002

The Luminous Sparks, 2004

 Mission India, 2005

Inspiring Thoughts, 2007

Forge your Future: Candid, Forthright, Inspiring, 2014

Turning Points: A journey through challenges, 2012

Awards

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the 'missile man' who

came to be known as 'People's President' died on Monday
after he collapsed during a lecture at the IIM.
He was one of the most distinguished scientists of India with
the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30
universities and institutions. He has been awarded the
coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma
Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat
Ratna (1997). He was also a recipient of several other awards
and Fellow of many professional institutions.
 List of awards:
IEEE Honorary Membership, IEEE in 2011

Doctor of Engineering, University of Waterloo in 2010

Hoover Medal ASME Foundation, USA in 2009

International von Kármán Wings Award, California

Institute of Technology, USA in 2009

Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa), Nanyang

Technological University, Singapore in 2008

King Charles II Medal Royal Society, UK in 2007

Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of

Wolverhampton, UK in 2007

Ramanujan Award, Alwars Research Centre, Chennai in

2000
 Veer Savarkar Award, Government of India in 1998

Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration, Government

of India in 1997

Bharat Ratna, Government of India in 1997

Padma Vibhushan, Government of India in 1990

Padma Bhushan, Government of India in 1981

vision of 2020

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the legendary Missile Man, had a

vision for India. He strongly advocated two main points:
Education and Information Technology. Kalam writes that
education is the most important element for growth and
prosperity of a nation.
 Kalam writes that Education is the most important element
for growth and prosperity of a nation. India is in this process
of transforming itself into a developed nation by 2020. Yet
we have 350 million people who need literacy and many
more that have to acquire employable skills to suit the
emerging modern India and the globe