Asian Voice covered a story in February this year entitled 'King’s College seeks further funds from India for establishing Satish Dhawan Chair in Space Policy' Bhupendrabhai Jasani has written a short piece on Professor Satish Dhawan in the hopes that it will help to attract some interest to establish a Professorial, Chair in the name of Dhawan, at King's College London.
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Professor Satish Dhawan, born in Srinagar India on 25 September 1920 and died on 3 January 2002, was the architect of a very successful Indian Space Programme. Not only this but he had trained many highly competent scientists, to name two, Professor K Kasturirangan (former Chairman of ISRO) and Dr A J P Abdul Kalam, in charge of launcher and missile programmes and who eventually became the President of India.
He was educated at the University of Punjab, India, University of Minneapolis and California Institute of Technology, USA. His efforts led to operational systems like telecommunications satellites, the India Remote Sensing satellite and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The latter launched the Indian Lunar and Mars probes and more recently the sixth of the seven navigation satellites. His academic qualifications were exceptional with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and a Bachelor of Science in physics, followed by a Master of Arts in mathematics. In addition he had a Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering, a Master of Science in aerospace engineering and then double PhDs in mathematics and aerospace engineering. In spite such achievements, he was an unassuming man.
Apart from his roles as an organisation builder and deeply committed to India’s development, Professor Dhawan was, above all, a humanist who saw high technology, as a way of transforming societies. He believed that space capabilities should be used to uplift the lives of the people in remote villages and rural communities of India and other in parts of the developing world. Moreover, he had recognised that remote sensing could also be used to improve international relations particularly when used under an international regime. Through international collaboration on development oriented initiatives, the world would be a better and safer place to live in.
King’s College London wishes to establish a Chair (see my previous article (Asian Voice, 06022016 and Gujarat Samachar 13022016) and explore how advanced space technologies can be used for the greater good of all and achieve some of Dhawan’s ideals. We will draw on the humanitarian aims of the Indian Space programme to underpin the work of the Chair. Each year, the College will invite a distinguished academic or a figure with experience in the application of space technology, to examine some of the key issues in the field. The resulting in-depth study will then be disseminated through published papers, lectures and teaching.
The late Sir Arthur C Clarke wrote to Bhupendra Jasani: "We will take no frontiers into space. There is evidence that some nations are still attempting to do just that, making the heavens unsafe for us all. King's work is tremendously important to ensure that outer space remains the Commons of all mankind."
