B N Suresh is IIST director

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) dream space technology institute has got its first head.Dr B N Suresh, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), has been appointed director of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST). Suresh will continue to hold the additional charge of VSSC director.The order appointing Suresh - a Padmasree awardee and IIT-Chennai alumnus - as IIST director was issued earlier this month. ISRO’s plan is to start the IIST this year at a temporary campus at the VSSC until the main campus is ready at Ponmudi.An expert on control and guidance systems, Suresh succeeded current ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair as VSSC director on September 20, 2003.Joining the ISRO in 1969, Suresh contributed significantly to the design and development of satellite launch vehicles, aerospace engineering, aerospace control actuation systems and integrated simulation for aerospace system.He is the recipient of a number of awards including the Dr Biren Rai Space Science Design Award, 1993; the Agni Award of the Defence Ministry in 1999 and the ASI Award instituted by the Astronautical Society of India. He was awarded the Padmasree in 2002.He has also been selected chairman of Science and Technology Sub-Committee of United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS).