Personal life
K. Sivan was born in Mela Sarakkalvilai, near Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu state of India. His parents are Kailasavadivoo and Chellam. Sivan is popularly known as the "Rocket Man" for his significant contribution to the development of cryogenic engines, for India's space programme.
Education
Sivan is son of a farmer and studied in a Tamil medium Government school in Mela Sarakkalvilai Village and later in Vallankumaranvilaiin Kanyakumari district. He is the first graduate from his family. Later Sivan graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering from Madras Institute of Technology in 1980. He then got a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1982, and started working in ISRO. He earned a doctoral degree in aerospace engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 2006. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the Aeronautical Society of India and the Systems Society of India.
Career
Sivan worked on the design and development of launch vehicles for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Sivan joined ISRO in 1982 to participate on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Project. He was appointed as the director of ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre on 2 July 2014.On 1 June 2015, he became the Director of VSSC.He joined ISRO in PSLV Project and has contributed immensely towards end to end mission planning, mission design, mission integration and analysis. The mission design process and innovative mission design strategies perfected for PSLV has become the foundation for ISRO launch vehicles like GSLV, GSLV-MK3 and RLV-TD. He is the chief architect of 6D trajectory simulation software, SITARA which is the back-bone of the real-time and non-real-time trajectory simulations of all ISRO launch vehicles. He commissioned world class simulation facility in ISRO for mission synthesis and analysis which is used for mission design, sub-system level validation and integrated validation of avionics systems in all ISRO launch vehicles. He developed and implemented an innovative day-of launch wind biasing strategy which has made possible rocket launch on any day of the year at any weather and wind conditions. He has contributed significantly in establishing a Parallel computing facility and Hypersonic wind tunnel facility, which has opened new avenues in the area of computational fluid dynamics, and self-reliance in wind-tunnel testing. He evolved novel strategies for launching India's MARS mission endeavor through PSLV, ISRO's work horse. He also led the RLV-TD development program and spearheaded its design, qualification, aerodynamic characterization and hardware development. He joined GSLV Project in April 2011 as Project Director with a mandate to demonstrate the robustness and reliability of GSLV as well as flight demonstrate the Indigenous Cryo Stage. His leadership led to the historical achievement of most successful GSLV flight with indigenous cryogenic stage. During his career at ISRO, he has held many responsibilities like Group Director, MSSG, Project Director, RLV-TD, Deputy Director, Aeronautics Entity, Deputy Director, Structures Entity, Project Director, GSLV, Chief controller, etc
It was Sivan's expertise that gave ISRO the ability to send 104 satellites in a single mission, setting a world record on 14 February 2017. He was the key person who worked on the technicalities of how the satellites would be placed in orbit. The new ISRO chairman has also played a key role in developing the indigenous Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MK II, and was part of the team that ideated on the Swadeshi space shuttle (a reusable launch vehicle).
Sivan was appointed the chief of ISRO in January 2018 and he assumed office on 15 January.Under his chairmanship, ISRO launched Chandrayaan 2, the second mission to the moon on July 22, 2019.If successful, India will only be the fourth country after US, China and the erstwhile USSR to make a successful landing on the lunar surface.
Awards
- Shri Hari Om Ashram Prerit Dr Vikram Sarabhai Research award (1999)
- ISRO merit award (2007)
- Dr Biren Roy Space Science award (2011)
- Distinguished Alumnus Award (2013) from MIT Alumni Association, Chennai
- Distinguished Alumnus Award (2018) from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
He was conferred Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from Sathyabama University, Chennai in April 2014.
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