2. About the Legend
• Full name :Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
• Visit on the Planet:15th Oct 1931,at Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram
District,Tamil Nadu
• Father:Jainulabdeen Marakayar,a boat owner
• Mother:Ashiamma
• Has three siblings
5. Education
Primary education was from Rameshwaram elementary school.
Later he settled in schwartz, Ramanathapuram where he was highly inspired by
his teacher IYADURAI SOLOMON,who told to master three forces desire,belief and
expectation.
In 1950 he joined St Joseph college at Tiruchirapalli to do B.Sc.
He joined DMIT in Aeronautical Engineering at MIT,Madas(1954-1957)
In 1958,after passing as a graduate,aeronautical engineer,he joined Hindustan
Aeronautical Limited(HAL),Bangalore as a trainee.
6. Personal life
• Abdul kalam personal life was full of struggles and hard .
• Kalam's father was a devout Muslim, who owned boats which
he rented out to local fishermen
• Kalam started his career as a newspaper vendor.
• On Wednesday April 29, 2009, Abdul kalam became the first
Asian to be bestowed the Hoover Medal, America's top
engineering prize, for his outstanding contribution to public
service.
• Abdul Kalam was the Third President of India to have been
honoured with a Bharat Ratna before being elected to the
highest office, the others being Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and
Zakir Hussain .
7. • Defense research and development organization
Work at
( D.R.D.O. )
• Indian space research organization
( I.S.R.O. )
9. Major Contributions
He helped in the development of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-3, in1980 which helped
India to become the member of Space Club by injecting Rohini, in Earth’s nearest orbit. As the
Project Director, he was heavily involved in the development of India's first indigenous Satellite
Launch Vehicle (SLV-III).
In 1982, as Director of DRDO, Kalam was entrusted with the Integrated Guided Missile
Development Programme(IGMDP), India's most successful military research task to date. The
programme constituted of 5 major projects for meeting the requirements of the defence services.
The 5 projects were scheduled to be completed in a time frame of only 10 years and consisted of:
(1) Nag - an anti-tank guided missile
(2) Prithvi - a surface-to-surface battlefield missile
(3) Akash - a swift, medium-range surface-to-air missile
(4) Trishul - a quick-reaction surface-to-air missile with a shorter range
(5) Agni - an intermediate range ballistic missile, the mightiest .
10. Cont…
He played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India’s Pokhran-II Nuclear test in
1998.
He served as a principal scientific adviser to the Defense Minister and later Govt of India (1999-
2001) and was responsible for evolving policies, strategies and missions for many development
applications.
Dr. Kalam was also the Chairman, Ex-officio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet
(SAC-C).
As Chairman, Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), he generated
the Technology Vision 2020 documents.
11. Achievements
• Apart from being a notable scientist and engineer, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam served as
the 11th President of India from the period 2002 to 2007. Before Kalam, there
have been only two presidents - Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain - to
have received the Bharat Ratna before being appointed to the highest office in
India.
• He is a man of vision and also referred to as the Missile Man of India.
• People loved and respected Dr APJ Abdul Kalam so much that he was popularly
called the People's President.
• He was the first scientist who became president of India.
12. Contd…
• In the year 1981, the Government of India presented him the nation's highest
civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan
• The Padma Vibhushan in 1990
• Bharat Ratna in 1997.
• He received honorary doctorates from about 30 universities globally.
13. Awards
Year Name of award Awarding organization
2012 Doctor of Laws Simon Fraser University
2011 IEEE Honorary Membership IEEE
2010 Doctor of Engineering University of waterloo
2009 Hoover medal ASME Foundation, USA
2009 International von Karman
Wings Award
California institute of technology
2008 Doctor of engineering Nanyang technological
university, Singapore
2007 Honorary doctor of science University of Wolverhampton,
U.K
15. Books
• Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam .
• Scientist to President by Abdul A.P.J. Kalam;
• Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam;
• India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
• India-my-dream by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
• Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam;
• Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life
• Children Ask Kalam by A.P.J Abdul Kalam;
• Indomitable Spirit by A.P.J Abdul Kalam