A P J Abdul Kalam

APJ Abdul Kalam was born in a poor Tamil Muslim family in the Rameshwaram district of Tamil Nadu on 15 October 1931 Right from his childhood, he was an average student, but teachers described him as a hardworking and a bright student with exceptional love for mathematics and science He graduated in physics from Saint Josephs College, Tiruchirappalli in 1954 and later graduated from Madras Institute of Technology in Aerospace Engineering in 1960 It was a time when Aerospace Engineering in India was in its nascent stages He joined Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO and started his career designing small helicopter for Indian Army In 1969, he was transferred to ISRO and made the project director of Indias first satellite launch vehicle SLV, which later successfully deployed Rohini satellite in 1979 In the 1970s, he was also involved in two other important projects to develop indigenous ballistic missiles on the technology used to launch SLV vehicle He played a vital role in developing most of Indias current missiles under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program including the most famed Agni range of missiles He also served as 11th President of India from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007