Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, usually referred to as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is an Indian scientist and administrator who served as the 11th President of India. Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, studied physics at the St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, and aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chennai.

Before his term as President, he worked as an aerospace engineer with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Kalam is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology.He played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.

He has received several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. Kalam is known for his motivational speeches and interaction with the student community in India.

APJ ABDUL KALAM was born on 15 October 1931 in a Muslim family to Jainulabdeen, a boat owner and Ashiamma, a housewife, at Rameswaram, located in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. After attending school, Kalam distributed newspapers in order to financially contribute to his father's income. In his school years, he had average grades, but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn and spend hours on his studies, especially mathematics.

"I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness as did my three brothers and sisters." Dr. Kalam

In his book India 2020,Kalam strongly advocates an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and a developed nation by the year 2020. He regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's 79^th birthday was recognized as World Students' Day by United Nations. He has also received honorary doctorates from 40 universities. With so many achievements to his name, the humble, simple living & high thinking philosophy of Dr. Kalam makes him stand out of the masses. He has proved that age is not a limit to win the hearts of the young. And hence we feel proud in projecting this 81-year ‘young’ scientist as our TSR Youth Icon of the Week. J