Tessy Thomas is an Indian scientist who served as the Director General of Aviation Systems at the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in 2018. She is the Project Director of Agni-IV missile of DRDO. As we all know, Tessey is the first female scientist ever to lead India’s missile program.
Wiki/Biography
Tessy Thomas was born in April 1963 in Thathampally, Alappuzha, Kerala (age 59; as of 2022). She is passionate about math and science subjects and is committed to pursuing a career in science and technology. Thomas grew up near the Equatorial Rocket Launch Station in Tumba and has been fascinated by rockets and missiles since he was a child. She attended St. Michael’s High School and St. Joseph’s Girls’ High School, Alappuzha. After completing her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Calicut University in Kerala, she pursued her master’s degree in guided missiles funded by DRDO from the Institute of Arms Technology (now Defense Institute of Advanced Technology), Pune. Initially, she aspired to become an IAS officer. She even wrote the exam but cleared the DRDO interview on the same day, changing the trajectory of her life. Thereafter, she obtained a PhD in Missile Guidance from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, Telangana and an MBA in Operations Management from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi.
Tessie Thomas in early adulthood
family
Parents and siblings
Tessie Thomas had a difficult childhood. When Tessie was in eighth grade, her father, Taiparambil Thomas, was paralyzed and bedridden after a stroke. Her father’s career was ambivalent. Some media said he was an IFS officer, while others said he was a small businessman. Her mother, Kunjamma Thomas, was a learned teacher, but when Tessie’s father became paralyzed by a stroke, she was out of work. Her mother single-handedly raised Tessie and her five siblings, four sisters and a brother. Two of her siblings are engineers, and the other is studying for an MBA.
Tessie Thomas and her mother
husband and children
Her husband Saroj Kumar Patel is a naval officer. The couple met while studying at the Institute of Arms Technology (now known as Defense Advanced Institute of Technology) in Pune. Her son Tejas Patel is a former manager at Ernst & Young.
Tessy Thomas with his son Tejas Patel and mother
religion
She is a Roman Catholic and practices Christianity.
Race
She hails from a Syro-Christian Malayali family in Alappuzha, Kerala.
Signature/Autograph
Signature of Tessie Thomas
Profession
She started her career at DRDO in 1983 under the leadership of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. When Tessy joined DRDO, the organization was not considered a domain for women, with only five women working in the organization. In 1986, she joined the Institute of Arms Technology (IAT), Pune (now the Institute of Defense Advanced Technology) as an instructor in guided missiles. In 1988, she joined the Defense Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad. When Karam took over as lab director a few years later, Thomas was a junior staff member at the lab and then left. At DRDO, she has been involved in Project Agni, an ambitious project from its inception, and has contributed in various areas such as guidance, control, inertial navigation, trajectory simulation and mission design. She designed the long-range missile system guidance scheme used for all Agni missiles. In 2001, she was awarded the Agni Award for excellence in self-reliance. As program director, she led the AGNI-4 program, which demonstrated many new technologies and significant improvements in missile technology. Tessie Thomas and her team prepared and integrated the missile system and successfully launched the missile.
On the 20th, the AGNI-IV missile team took a group photo when launching the AGNI-IV ballistic missile at Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha, including DRDO chief Shri Avinash Chander and AGNI-IV project director Tessy Thomas in January 2014
Thomas was also appointed project director for the 5,000-km range Agni-V, which was successfully tested on April 19, 2012. During her tenure as Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory, DRDO, she assumed multi-dimensional roles and responsibilities and led research and development efforts. From 2014 to 2018, she served as head of Strategic Missile Systems. On June 1, 2018, she became Director General of Aviation Systems. In the same year, she was appointed as the Government Nominated Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
dispute
Cover-up of sexual harassment probe against a senior DRDO scientist
In 2018, a former researcher at DRDO’s high-profile missile force in Hyderabad complained that her allegations of sexual harassment against a senior scientist were ignored by Tessie Thomas, forcing her to escalate the matter to the headquarters. In defense of the charges, Tessey said:
This does not appear to be a genuine case and we have set up a committee to investigate. The investigation concluded that these allegations were untrue.”
However, the victim claimed that she was intimidated by Thomas into withdrawing her complaint. Thereafter, the victims who were under contract with DRDO were terminated from their services.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
Awards
- Agni Award for Outstanding Self-Reliance (2001)
- DRDO Pioneering Research/Outstanding Technology Development Award (2007)
- DRDO Scientist of the Year Award (2008)
- DRDO Excellence in Performance Award for Agni-4 (2011)
- DRDO Excellence in Performance Award for Agni-5 (2012)
In 2012, former Defense Minister Shri AK Antony presented the DRDO Award to Tessy Thomas
- Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Academic and Management Excellence in Public Administration (2012)
- Suman Sharma Award from the Institute of Engineers, India
- National Engineering Design Research Forum (2009)
- Marie Curie Mahila Vijnana Puraskar (2012)
- Dr. Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award (2014) for outstanding contributions in the field of missile technology
- Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya Award (2016) for outstanding contributions in the field of engineering in the design, development and realization of indigenous missile systems by the National Center of Telangana, Hyderabad, Institution of Indian Engineers (India)
- The Andhra Pradesh Science Congress awarded her the Distinguished Women Scientist Award (2016), Andhra Academy of Sciences, for her contribution in the field of missile technology
- Keertan Sanjeevani Pushpalata Ranade Women’s National Award (2018)
Shrinivas Patil, the chief guest and former governor of Sikkim, presented the Keertan Sanjeevani Pushpalata Ranade Women’s National Award (2018) to Tessy Thomas.
- Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Award (2022)
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan presents the APJ Award (2022) established by Nurul Islam University to DRDO Scientist Dr Tessy Thomas in Thiruvananthapuram
Honorary degree
- Received Doctor of Science (Honours) from IIT Kanpur in 2019
- Doctor of Science (Honours), Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi, 2018
- Doctor of Science (Honours) from Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra, 2017
- Received PhD (Honours) from ITM University, Gwalior in 2016
- Doctor of Science (Honours) from Sri Padmavati Mahira Vidyalaya University, Tirupati, 2015
- Doctor of Science (Honours), Hindustan University, Chennai, 2014
- Doctor of Science (Honours) from Mangalayatan University, Aligarh in 2012
- PhD in Space Science (Honours) from Kalyani University, West Bengal, 2012
Facts/Trivia
- In an interview, her math scores in classes 11 and 12 were both 100%.
- She accepted an education loan of Rs. 100 per month from State Bank of India to study engineering in Government Engineering College.
- She is often called “India’s Missile Woman” and “Agni Putri” (Daughter of Fire). She prefers this nickname because her role model APJ Abdul Kalam is known as “Missile Man”.
- She was named after Mother Teresa, Tessie being a derivative of Teresa or Teresa.
- In an interview, she said she found ironing to be a great way to relieve stress.
- She is the secretary of the DRDO Ladies Club and spends her weekends organizing events for the wives of DRDO officers and other women scientists.
- In 2017, Anand Mahindra, the Indian billionaire and chairman of the Mahindra Group, tweeted that DRDO’s Tessy was the first woman to lead India’s missile program and should be more famous than any other Hollywood stars are all tall.
- She is not a vegetarian. Fish curry and rice are her favorite foods.
- She revealed in an interview that she likes to watch the typical Indian TV series “Saas and Bahu” in her spare time, which seems unusual for a woman who loves science. In an interview, when talking about her love for TV series, she said:
This is how I relax. I love how well-dressed and well-groomed the actors are…my husband says the same, how do you watch these series? But I like them. “
- She loved playing badminton and was a champion in school and college sports.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education