Category: Hall of Fame

Shri S. R. Paranjpe ( ______ – 23 March 2013)

Shri Paranjpe is one of the founders of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam erstwhile Reactor Research Centre. He was fondly called the father of India Fast Reactor Programme. He was instrumental sin setting up the Fast Breeder Test Reactor as well as several associated facilities which made IGCAR a centre of excellence in the field of sodium cooled fast reactors. He also initiated the design of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, which is currently under construction at Kalpakkam.

He served as Director of IGCAR.

Shri N. Srinivasan (11 May 1930 – 18 May 2014)

Shri N. Srinivasan established comprehensive facilities and initiated programmes towards development of fast reactors and associated fuel cycle, as the first Project Director of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam (erstwhile Reactor Research Centre). He was instrumental is setting up the Fast Breeder Test Reactor as well as other associated facilities.

Dr. Baldev Raj ( 9 April 1947 – 6 January 2018)

Prof. Baldev Raj was born on 9th April 1947. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering from the Government Engineering College, Raipur under the Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University (currently National Institute of Technology, Raipur). After completing his B.E., Prof. Raj moved to Bengaluru to join Indian Institute of Science to complete his PhD and then moved to Chennai to obtain a Doctor of Science degree from Sathyabhama Deemed University. His long academic journey saw him specializing in various area including Non-destructive Science & Technology, Materials Performance, Technology Management and Nano Science & Technology.

A man of vast experience and varied interests Prof. Raj pursued basic sciences and their applications with a multi-disciplinary approach to solving problems. His interests covered a vast array of subjects ranging from material science and cultural heritage.

During his long illustrious career Prof. Raj held various cardinal posts:

Director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam during 01.05.2004 – 30.04.2011
Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru since 2014.

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Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (12 August 1919 – 30 December 1971) was an Indian scientist and innovator widely regarded as the father of India’s space programme.

The nation honoured him awarding Padma Bhushan in 1966 and Padma Vibhushan (posthumously) in 1972.

He served as Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission during 1966-1971.

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Homi Jehangir Bhabha (30 October 1909 – 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director, and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). He was also the founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) which is now named the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in 1966, in his honor.

He was Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) during 1948-1966.

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Shri B. Bhattacharjee took over as Director, on April 3, 2001. Earlier, he was Project Director, Rare Materials Project, Mysore, and Director, Chemical Engineering and Technology Group, BARC. He was a key person in the building of the Uranium Corporation of India Limited, Jaduguda, Bihar, which supplies the entire uranium needed for India’s nuclear electricity programme. Later, Bhattacharjee switched over to multidisciplinary R & D activities at BARC, Mumbai, for the development of High Speed Rotor (HSR) needed for producing enriched uranium and other strategic materials. The successful commissioning of HSR technology in India has put the country among a select band and enabled production of some materials of “strategic importance”. Bhattacharjee played a key role in two other projects: desalination plant coupled to a nuclear electricity station and the Special Materials Project. BARC has already supplied 15 desalination plants to different States. A massive desalination plant, adjacent to the Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam (NDDP), was also constructed under his guidance.