Dr. P. Kunhikrishnan took charge as director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), also known as the Sriharikota Range, at Sriharikota near Sullurupeta in Nellore district here on Sunday. He takes the place of Dr. M.Y.S. Prasad who retired after a term of four years.
Dr. Kunhikrishnan, who was earlier deputy director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, joined the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) back in 1961 after taking a B.Tech degree in electronics and communications engineering from the College of Engineering at Trivandrum.
In his previous assignments, Dr. Kunhikrishnan played a key role as the certifying authority for the quality of avionics systems, electrical integration and check-out systems used in satellite launch vehicles. He has in the past received the ISRO individual merit award, the Astronautical Society of India award and the first Sir C.V. Raman Memorial Award for outstanding scientist.
