Minal Rohit is an Indian scientist and

systems engineer Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinking p ...

with the

Indian Space Research Organisation 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 of ...

(ISRO). She helped send the ''

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 missi ...

'' space probe to Mars. After graduating from Nirma Institute of Technology, Rohit joined the

ISRO 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 of ...

. She worked with mechanical engineers on the team of

MOM ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...

. She monitored systems and the methane sensors involved with the spacecraft. She became part of the team that launched MOM as a system integration engineer .

Early life and education

Minal Sampat was born in

Rajkot, India Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...

. As a child, Rohit dreamt of becoming a doctor, but a space show on the TV changed her mind in class 8. During her education, she noticed that her female peers aimed for scientific careers based on their possible salaries rather than the pursuit of knowledge. Although she ended up getting a full education along with college, many girls around her only received partial education. She graduated from

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by N ...

in 1999, along with graduating from

Space Applications Centre The Space Applications Centre (SAC) is an institution of research in Ahmedabad under the aegis of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is one of the major centres of ISRO that is engaged in the research, development and demonstra ...

with a B Tech in communications and was a gold medalist in

electronics and communication engineering Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...

from Nirma Institute of Technology and Science, Ahmedabad.

Career

Rohit started her career as a Satellite Communications engineer at

(ISRO) and went on to work for the Space Application Center. She was one of 500 scientists and engineers who worked on the

Mars Orbiter Mission 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 ...

. As Systems Engineer for the mission, she helped integrate and test the sensors that the orbiter was carrying. She abstained from taking any leaves for two years. Rohit was a head engineer and a

Project Manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined fi ...

for upcoming projects such as Chandrayaan II. Sampat is currently Deputy Project Director at ISRO. She aims to become the first woman director to head a national space agency.

Research contributions

Rohit was one of 500 scientists working on the Mangalyaan mission headed by the

, and one of the 10 women assigned to the project. She served as project manager as well as systems engineer and was involved with incorporating the components of the

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ear ...

sensor (MSM), Lyman-Alpha Photometer (LAP), Thermal Infrared Imaging

Spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where th ...

(TIS), and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

Color Camera (MCC) onto the

orbiter A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to spaceflight, fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth ...

. She is a senior engineer at the

. She is currently involved with the

Chandrayaan-II Chandrayaan-2 (, ; ) is the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), after Chandrayaan-1. It consists of a lunar orbiter, and also included the ''Vikram'' lander, and the ''Pragyan'' lunar ...

, the follow up mission to 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 impac ...

, India's first successful

Lunar probe The physical exploration of the Moon began when ''Luna 2'', a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made an impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation ...

. Her primary work on the project involves improving the Insat-3DS

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

to increase atmospheric data and quality received.

Legacy

Minal Rohit was one of ten women out of 500 scientists to bring India to Mars. She helped India become the first country to orbit Mars with a satellite on the first attempt. Rohit was featured in a short film ''Snapshots from Afar'' where she discussed her contribution to the ''Mangalyaan'' space probe to Mars.

Awards and accomplishments

Rohit won the ''Young Scientist Merit Award'' from the

in 2007 for her contributions to their Telemedicine program and the ''ISRO Team Excellence Award'' in 2013 for her work on

INSAT The Indian National Satellite System or INSAT, is a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites launched by ISRO to satisfy the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search and rescue operations. Commissioned in 1983, INSAT is ...

3D meteorological payloads. Regarding the MOM project, Rohit and her colleges were praised in a speech from Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indi ...

over their work on the mission with the 15 month time constraint. She graduated

with a gold medal in electronic and communication engineering. She received the ISRO Young Scientist Merit Award 2013 for her contribution to the Telemedicine programme. Sampat was named one of CNN's 2014 Women of the Year.

Personal life

Rohit has one son.

References

External links

* * https://www.shethepeople.tv/home-top-video/chandrayaan-2-minal-rohit-scientist-systems-engineer {{DEFAULTSORT:Rohit, Minal Women scientists from West Bengal Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Indian Space Research Organisation people Scientists from Kolkata Gujarat University alumni Indian space scientists Engineers from West Bengal 21st-century Indian engineers Indian women engineers 21st-century women engineers Space systems engineers Indian systems scientists Engineers from Gujarat Women scientists from Gujarat 21st-century Indian women scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Women planetary scientists Planetary scientists