Satish Dhawan (25 September 1920 – 3 January 2002) was an Indian

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

, widely regarded as the father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India. Born in Srinagar, Dhawan was educated in India and further on in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Dhawan was one of the most eminent researchers in the field of

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...

and boundary layers, leading the successful and indigenous development of the Indian space programme. He succeeded

M. G. K. Menon Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon (28 August 1928 – 22 November 2016) also known as M. G. K. Menon, was a physicist and policy maker from India. He had a prominent role in the development of science and technology in India over four ...

, as the third chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1972.

Education

Dhawan was a graduate of the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

), where he completed a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in physics and mathematics, a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in English literature. In 1947, he completed a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degree in aerospace engineering from the

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. T ...

, and an aeronautical engineering degree from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

followed by a double PhD in mathematics and aerospace engineering under the supervision of his advisor Hans W. Liepmann in 1951.

Leadership in space research

In 1972, Dr Dhawan became chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and secretary to the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

at the Department of Space.

APJ Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied ...

explained that in 1979 when he was the director of a

Satellite Launch Vehicle The Satellite Launch Vehicle or SLV was a small-lift launch vehicle project started in the early 1970s by the Indian Space Research Organisation to develop the technology needed to launch satellites. SLV was intended to reach a height of and c ...

, the mission failed to launch the satellite in the orbit. Instead, it was put into

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...

. Abdul Kalam's team knew that there was a leakage in the fuel of the system, but they hoped that the leakage was negligible, and thus they thought there was enough fuel in the system. This miscalculation lead to the failure. Satish Dhawan, being the chairman at the time, called Abdul Kalam and conveyed to the press; "We failed! But I have very strong trust in my team and I believe that next time we will definitely succeed". This surprised Abdul Kalam, as the blame of the failure was taken by the chairman of ISRO. The next mission was prepared and launched successfully in 1980. When this succeeded, Satish Dhawan told Abdul Kalam to attend the press meet without his presence. It was observed that when the team failed, he took the blame. But when the team succeeded, he attributed the success to his team, thus portraying the picture of an ideal leader. Satish Dhawan was chairman of ISRO until 1984.

Director, IISc (1962–1981)

Dhawan joined as faculty at the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

(IISc),

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

, in 1951 and became its director in 1962. Although 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 set up the country's first supersonic wind tunnel at IISc. He also pioneered research on relaminarization of separated boundary layer flows, three-dimensional boundary layers and trisonic flows.

Support of space research

Dhawan carried out pioneering experiments in rural education,

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Eart ...

and

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

communications. His efforts led to operational systems like

INSAT The Indian National Satellite System or INSAT, is a series of multipurpose geostationary satellites launched by ISRO to satisfy the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search and rescue operations. Commissioned in 1983, INSAT i ...

, a telecommunications satellite;

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

, the Indian Remote Sensing satellite; and the

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...

(PSLV), that placed

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the league of space faring nations.

Honours

Dhawan died on 3 January 2002 in

. Following his death, the satellite launch centre at Sriharikota,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, located about 100 km north of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in South India, was renamed to the

Satish Dhawan Space Centre Satish Dhawan Space Centre - SDSC (formerly Sriharikota Range - SHAR) is a rocket launch centre ( spaceport) operated by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is located in Sriharikota, Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikota ...

. Satish Chander Dhawan Government College For Boys in

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

is named after him. Department of Mechanical Engineering Building at

Indian Institute of Technology Ropar Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) is a public technical university located in Rupnagar, Punjab, India. It is one of the eight newer Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development ...

is also named after him as Satish Dhawan Block,

IIT Ropar Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) is a public technical university located in Rupnagar, Punjab, India. It is one of the eight newer Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) established by the Ministry of Human Resource Developmen ...

. The Computer Centre of Uttar Pradesh Textile Technology Instutute Kanpur is also named as Prof SATISH Dhavan Computer Centre in year 2019

Career

:*Senior Scientific Officer, 1951 :*Professor and Head of the Department of

Aeronautical Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...

, 1955 :*Director, 1962–1981 *

, US :*Visiting Professor, 1971–72 *

National Aerospace Laboratories The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) is India's first and largest aerospace research firm established by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Delhi in 1959. The firm closely operates with HAL, DRDO, and ISRO and ha ...

:*Chairman, Research council, 1984–93 *

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

:*President, 1977–1979 * Indian Space Research Organisation :*Chairman, 1972–1984 *Indian Space Commission :*Chairman, 1972–2002

Awards

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

(India's second highest civilian honour), 1981 *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

(India's third highest civilian honour), 1971 *Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration, 1999 *Distinguished Alumnus Award,

*Distinguished Alumnus Award, California Institute of Technology, 1969

Personal life

Satish Dhawan was born on 25 September 1920 in Srinagar in the state of Jammu and Kashmir,

, in a Saraiki Hindu family. His father came from

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; bal, , Urdu and skr, , ps, ډېره اسماعيل خان), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 37th largest city of Pakistan ...

, and Satish Dhawan grew up in Lahore and Kashmir. He was married to Nalini Dhawan, a cytogeneticist, and his daughter Jyotsna Dhawan is serving as Senior Principal Scientist in the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.

Works

* 1953: "Direct measurements of skin friction", Technical Report 1121,

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...

, Washington DC. * 1958; "Some properties of boundary layer flow during the transition from laminar to turbulent motion",

Journal of Fluid Mechanics The ''Journal of Fluid Mechanics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of fluid mechanics. It publishes original work on theoretical, computational, and experimental aspects of the subject. The journal is published by Cambridge U ...

3(4): 418 – 36 * 1967: "Aeronautical Research in India", (22nd British Commonwealth Lecture), Journal of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows, ...

71: 149-184. * 1982: "A glimpse of fluid mechanics research in Bangalore 25 years ago", in ''India: Surveys in fluid mechanics'',

(Eds. R Narasimha, S M Deshpande) 1-15. * 1988: ''Developments in Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology'', (Eds. R Narasimha, APJ Abdul Kalam) Indian Academy of Sciences. * 1991: "Bird flight", ''Sadhana Proceedings in Engineering Sciences'', Indian Academy of Sciences. * 2000: Special Section on Instabilities, transitions and turbulence, (Ed. R Narasimha)

Current Science ''Current Science'' is an English-language peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It was established in 1932 and is published by the Current Science Association along with the Indian Academy of Sciences. According to the ''Journal C ...

79: 725-883.

References

* P.A. Davidson, Y. Kaneda, K. Moffatt, and

K.R. Sreenivasan Katepalli Raju Sreenivasan is an aerospace scientist, fluid dynamics, and applied physicist whose research includes physics and applied mathematics. He studies turbulence, nonlinear and statistical physics, astrophysical fluid mechanics, and cr ...

(eds, 2011). ''A Voyage Through Turbulence'', chapter 11, pp 373–92,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

External links

*
Bird Flight by Satish Dhawan
(2nd edition, 2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhawan, Satish 1920 births 2002 deaths California Institute of Technology alumni Space programme of India Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in science & engineering Indian Space Research Organisation people University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni Indian fluid dynamicists Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering People from Srinagar University of the Punjab alumni Indian aerospace engineers Directors of the Indian Institute of Science Indian Institute of Science faculty Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering 20th-century Indian engineers Engineers from Jammu and Kashmir 20th-century Indian physicists Fluid dynamicists