Pillars of BrahMos
Dr. A Sivathanu Pillai
Dr. Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai, a former Chief Controller, R&D, DRDO was the founder CEO & MD of BrahMos Aerospace. An electrical engineer from Madras University and management expert from Harvard Business School, he has contributed in India's major space research programmes along with Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Dr. Satish Dhawan and Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam. During his tenure at ISRO he was a core team member of SLV III project. Dr. Pillai joined DRDO in 1986 and was the Programme Director of IGMDP under the leadership of Dr. Kalam. His most important contribution has been the development of critical technologies using a network of academic institutions, R&D laboratories, and industries through an innovative consortium approach and technology empowerment. Dr. Pillai evolved the unique concept of the most successful joint venture BrahMos, which is a world leader in the family of cruise missiles. He has been the prime force behind the Joint Venture from the Indian side right from its initial days, advocating "Mind to Market" concept for the joint venture.
Dr. Pillai is the author of many technical papers and has co-authored the books The Path Unexplored, Thoughts For Change - We Can Do It and Envisioning an Empowered Nation with Dr. Kalam. He has also written Technology Leadership - A Revolution in the Making and Ocean Warfare - The Technology Waves. A fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and a member of many other professional bodies, Dr. Pillai has been awarded the 'Padma Bhushan' and 'Padma Shri' by the Government of India. He has also earned several other honours for his invaluable contribution in the field of science and technology.
Shri Atul Dinkar Rane is an outstanding defence scientist renowned for his decades of sustained R&D contributions in the indigenous design & development of mission critical Onboard computers (OBC), hardware in loop simulation studies, Systems analysis, development of mission software and avionics technologies for defence applications.
