Hyderabad: Research Centre Imarat, the defence research institute in Hyderabad that Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had created from scratch in the 70s was enveloped in a pall of gloom as the people remembered the ever-smiling father of Indian’s missile programme.
Hyderabad was the second home for Dr Abdul Kalam, where he spent many years as a defence scientist and had a pivotal role in shaping and developing several defence researches.
Hyderabad in a way was the launching pad of Dr Abdul Kalam’s meteoric rise that ultimately took him to the highest constitutional position of President of India.
Recalling his work, Dr Satish Reddy, current head of the RCI said, “[The] DRDO has risen under him. Many laboratories like DRDL, Midhani, RCI and ICBM were established under his guidance”.
Dr Abdul Kalam was instrumental in persuading the Andhra Pradesh government to allot 2,100 acres of land in the early 70s for setting up the DRDO.
Dr Avinash Chandar, former head of DRDO, recalled that the Integrated Guided Missile Development programme had started with Dr Abdul Kalam.
He also collaborated with several experts to take the benefits of the defence technologies to the masses, especially in the field health care. He jointly developed India’s first indigenous heart stent with Dr B. Somaraju of Care Hospital. Named Kalam Raju stent, the device replaced more expensive imported stents,
“The main goal behind developing the stent was cost effectiveness”, Dr Somaraju, who heads Care Hospitals, said.
Dr Abdul Kalam was also involved in developing low-weight Ortho Calipers for the polio-afflicted people using the space-age material.
The people who worked with Dr Abdul Kalam on different projects and initiatives called him “a beautiful mind” and a “genial genius”.