Prof. SatishDhawan was an Indian rocket scientist who was born in Srinagar,
India and educated in India and the United States. He is considered by the Indian scientific
community to be the father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India and one of the most
eminent researchers in the field of turbulence and boundary layers.
He succeeded Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of the Indian space programme, as Chairman of the
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1972. He was also the Chairman of the Space
Commission and Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Space. In the decade
following his appointment he directed the Indian space programme through a period of
extraordinary growth and spectacular achievement.
Even while he was the head of the Indian space programme, he devoted substantial efforts towards
boundary layer research. His most important contributions are presented in the seminal book
Boundary Layer Theory by Hermann Schlichting.
He was a popular professor at the Indian Institute of Science, (IISc) located in Bangalore. He
is credited for setting up the first supersonic wind tunnel in India at IISc. He also pioneered
research on relaminarization of separated boundary layer flows, three-dimensional boundary
layers and trisonic flows.
Prof. SatishDhawan carried out pioneering experiments in rural education, remote sensing and
satellite communications. His efforts led to operational systems like INSAT- a
telecommunications satellite, IRS - the Indian Remote Sensing satellite and the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that placed India in the league of space faring nations.
Following his death in 2002, the Indian satellite launch centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh,
located about 100 km north of Chennai in South India was renamed as the Prof. SatishDhawan Space
Centre.
University of the Punjab in Lahore (undivided India at that time and now in Pakistan)
BA in Mathematics and Physics,
MA in English Literature
BE in Mechanical Engineering, 1945
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
MS in Aeronautical Engineering,1947 California Institute of Technology,
Aeronautical Engineer’s Degree, 1949
PhD in Aeronautics and Mathematics,1951, (with Prof Hans W. Liepmann as his advisor)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Indian Space Research Organisation
Indian Institute of Science,California Institute of Technology
National Aerospace laboratories
Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian Space Commission
Dr.Hans W. Liepmann.
Indian space program.
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,India
Senior Scientific Officer, 1951.
Professor and Head of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering,1955.
Director,1962-1981
California Insititute of Technology, USA
Visiting Professor,1971-72
National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, India
Chairman,Research Council, 1984-93
Indian Academy of Sciences
President, 1977-1979
Indian Space Research Organisation
Chairman, 1972-1984.
Indian Space Commission
Chairman, 1972-1984
Padma Vibhushan.
Indira Gandhi Award.
Distinguished Alumnus Award,Indian Institute of Science
Distinguished Alumnus Award, California Insititute of Technology, 1969
Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration, 1999
Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration, 1999