Aluru Seelin Kiran Kumar (born 22 Oct 1952) is an Indian space scientist and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, having assumed office on 14 January 2015. He is credited with the development of key scientific instruments aboard the

Chandrayaan-1 Chandrayaan-1 (, ) was the first Indian lunar probe under the Chandrayaan program. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impact ...

and

Mangalyaan The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called ''Mangalyaan'', was a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was India's first interplanetary missio ...

space crafts. In 2014, he was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of science and technology. Kiran Kumar previously served as Director of Ahmedabad Space Applications Centre. Narayan Ramdas Iyer with A

Biography

Mars Orbiter Mission - India - ArtistsConcept

Kiran Kumar Aluru Seelin was born in a Hindu family in Hassan District in 1952, in the Indian state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. He graduated in Physics (Honours). In 1971, from the National College of

Bangalore University Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by Univer ...

. This was followed by a degree of MSc in Electronics from the same university, in 1973. His further studies were at the

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

from where he passed MTech in Physical Engineering, in 1975. Kiran Kumar started his career, joining Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, in 1975, working on ''Space borne Electro -optical imaging instruments''. He has remained at the institution ever since and is the Director of the Electro-optical Systems Group since April 2012. He also served as the chairman of ISRO from Jan 2015 to Jan 2018. He has represented Indian Space Research Organization at many international forums such as the

World Meteorological Organisation The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Internat ...

and Indo-US Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation and holds the Chair of the ISRO at the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEO).

Legacy

Kiran Kumar's legacy spans across his contributions to the scientific world, specifically Indian space endeavors, and his efforts towards the dissemination of knowledge by way of articles and lectures.

Scientific contributions

Kiran Kumar is known to have made contributions to the Indian space programmes, from the early projects like Bhaskara TV payload till the later programmes such as

and

. Kumar is credited with the design and development of the electro-optical image sensors used in India's first remote sensing satellite, Bhaskara, launched in 1979 and the subsequent one in 1981, as well as the ocean colour instruments used in weather forecasting, sea zone/landscape mapping and telecommunications. He is also reported to have contributed to the design and development of the imaging instruments for projects such as ''INSAT–3D'', ''Resourcesat'', ''Micro Satellite'' and

Cartosat The Cartosat is a series of Indian optical earth observation satellites built and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Cartosat series is a part of the Indian Remote Sensing Program. They are used for Earth's resource ...

. The Terrain Mapping Camera and Hyperspectral Imager payloads of

project is also credited to the efforts of Kiran Kumar. It was the group led by Kumar which developed three of the five scientific instruments

Academic contributions

Kumar has attended many seminars and conferences where he has delivered lectures and keynote addresses. He has also published several articles in peer reviewed international journals, ResearchGate has listed 41 of his articles. * * *

Awards and recognitions

*Kiran Kumar has received many awards and honors, starting with the Indian Society of Remote Sensing Award in 1994. Four years later, in 1998, he received the Vasvik award, followed by the Astronautical Society of India Award in 2001. The

Indian Space Research Organization The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

honoured Kumar with the Individual Service award in 2006 and the Bhaskara Award of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing came his way in 2007. The next year, 2008, saw Kumar getting the Team Achievement Award 2008 of

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm (Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...

and the ISRO Performance Award from the

. * Kiran Kumar has been conferred with the fellowship by the National Academy of Engineers and is a corresponding member of the

. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

honored Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin with the

by including him in the 2014

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

Honours. Kiran Kumar was awarded the Honorary Doctorate Degree from

GITAM University Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) is a private deemed university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Founded by the late Dr M. V. V. S. Murthi in 1980 in Visakhapatnam, it also has campus in Hyderabad and Bengaluru ...

on 24 March 2015. *He is the Chairman of Bangalore Association for Science Education (BASE) which administers the premier institute Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru. * In 2017 he was awarded the Vijnan Ratna H K Firodia award for his direction of the Indian space programme in such areas as earth observations, communication, navigation and developed indigenous launch vehicles. * In 2019 France's highest civilian award - ''Chevalier de l'Ordre national de la Lgion d'Honneur'' - for his contribution to India-France space cooperation. * Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar is the President-Elect of The Aeronautical Society of India.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiran Kumar, A. S. 1952 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Scientists from Karnataka People from Hassan district Indian Space Research Organisation people Indian Institute of Science alumni Indian space scientists Bangalore University alumni Indian aerospace engineers Engineers from Karnataka 20th-century Indian engineers Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2015