DRDO chief urges students to research and innovate

Manipal: “Research and Innovate to make the future secure,” was the advice to budding engineers at the special lecture by Dr Satheesh Reddy, Chairman, Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) at Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal on Saturday.

The event, the first of an upcoming series of talks to kick off TechTatva’19, MIT’s annual technical fest, was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations of Manipal Acagemy of Higher Education (MAHE).

Dr Reddy, who also serves as the Secretary of the Department of R&D in the Ministry of Defence, and the Director-General of the Aeronautical Development Agency in his address spoke on India’s advances in defence technology.

He highlighted the importance of academia, R&D organisations and the quality of production for defence advancements. He spoke about stealth technologies, autonomous submarines and tanks, life support systems, and the 5th dimension of warfare, AI.

Dr Reddy also talked about the current status of India’s military, including the country’s indigenous aircraft like the LCA Tejas. He gave the audience a detailed insight into Mission Shakti, an anti-satellite test conducted on March 27, 2019, which proved a great success and moved India into a select group of nations with the ability to intercept outer-space satellites.

The talk concluded with Dr Reddy urging the students to research and innovate in their fields to contribute to the development of the nation. The talk was followed by a Q&A session, where the audience asked the speaker a variety of questions on subjects ranging from foreign policy to his experiences in the Defence Ministry.

Earlier during the programme Dr Arvind Kumar, the Associate Director of the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, introduced the DRDO chief to the audience. The Director of MIT, Dr Srikanth Rao, thanked Dr Sathish Reddy for his time, crediting him as a worthy successor to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. The session ended with MIT Student Council President Archit Agrawal proposing the vote of thanks.