Indian Rocket Scientist Satish Dhawan

Prof. Satish Dhawan (25 September 1920–3 January 2002) was a Padma Vibhushan-awardee. Satish Dhawan had become ISRO’s third Chairman in 1972, serving for a tenure of 12-years. He was born in Srinagar India and got an education in India and the United States. Prof. Satish Dhawan is recognized with set up India’s first supersonic wind tunnel, for aircraft testing. He is considered to be the father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India and one of the most renowned researchers in the field of turbulence and boundary layers. Following his death on January 3, 2002, ISRO’s satellite launch center at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, was renamed as Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

He was also the Chairman of the Space Commission and Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Space. In the period of his tenure, he directed the Indian space programme through extraordinary growth and spectacular achievement.Even when he was the head of the Indian space programme, he dedicated considerable hard work towards boundary layer research. His most significant offerings are obtainable in the seminal book Boundary Layer Theory by Hermann Schlichting.