DRDO gets a new chief: Distinguished scientist Samir V Kamat

• Distinguished scientist Samir V Kamat was appointed as Secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), according to a Personnel Ministry order.
• Kamat, who is Director General, Naval Systems & Materials, at the DRDO will succeed G Satheesh Reddy who has been named as scientific adviser to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

About

• Dr Samir V. Kamat, a distinguished scientist, has on 1 July 2017 assumed charge as Director General Naval Systems & Materials (NS & M) at DRDO.
• He obtained Tech. (Hons) in Metallurgical Engineering from in 1985 IIT Kharagpur and in 1988 he completed his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University, USA, specialising in the area of mechanical behaviour of materials.
• In 1989, he joined DRDO at DMRL, Hyderabad, as Scientist ‘C’ and elevated to the position of OS/Sc ‘H’ in October 2013. Later, he took over as the Director of the lab on 17 August, 2015.
• In 1986, Dr Kamat received the Indranil Medal by the Mining, Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India, in 1998 he got DRDO Young Scientist Award; Binani Gold Medal (jointly) of the Indian Institute of Metals in 2006; the National Metallurgists’ Day Metallurgist of the Year Award by the Ministry of Steel in 2008; the National Science Day Oration Silicon Medal in 2009, the DRDO Scientist of the Year award in 2012, and IIT Kharagpur Distinguished Alumni Award 2018.

What is the DRDO?

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military’s research and development, headquartered in Delhi, India.
• It was formed in 1958 by the merger of the Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production of the Indian Ordnance Factories with the Defence Science Organisation.
• Subsequently, Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS) was constituted in 1979 as a service of Group ‘A’ Officers / Scientists directly under the administrative control of Ministry of Defence.
• With a network of 52 laboratories, which are engaged in developing defence technologies, covering various fields, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, land combat engineering, life sciences, materials, missiles, and naval systems, DRDO is India’s largest and most diverse research organisation.
• The organisation includes around 5,000 scientists belonging to the DRDS and about 25,000 other subordinate scientific, technical and supporting personnel.
• As part of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, DRDO under Development cum Production Partner programme (DCPP) allowed handholding of domestic private sector industries to improve their development and production cycle of complex defence systems.
• VL-SRSAM (Vertical Launch – Short Range Surface to Air Missile) and Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) became some of the successful projects of this programme.