Karnataka - Bangalore   

It's a matter of satisfaction

Special Correspondent

Defence research preferred to attractive career in private sector

Vishal Mahajan

Bangalore: The sky is the limit for persons with specialised technical skills. To opt for a job with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) may well mean giving up high pay and perks offered by the private sector but there are other kinds of satisfaction in store for scientists.

This is the case with Vishal Mahajan who is with the Electronics Research and Development Establishment (LRDE), Bangalore, a part of DRDO.

His work on airborne radar systems, he feels, contributes to the country's Defence capability. "When something designed by my team has been put through trials, found satisfactory and meeting the needs of our armed forces and eventually gets used, I feel happy," says this graduate of the Regional Engineering College of Himachal Pradesh. "I specialised in electronics engineering. When some DRDO scientists visited our campus, I went through a campus interview and got selected," says Mr. Mahajan. Airborne radar systems need to be compact, lightweight and easily portable. They are used for maritime patrolling; identifying ships from a distance in helping qualified personnel figure out what kind of ships they are. "What we have now designed actually presents a 2D image on a screen and this makes interpretation of the images more accurate and useful. These radars are compact enough to be carried on small aircraft or helicopters and can spot approaching ships even during bad weather conditions" he says.

"Getting into the DRDO is not easy, there are tests with questions set by IIT faculty and the competition is tough.

"Once you are inducted, you benefit from the mentoring system with senior scientists taking you under their wings," Mr. Mahajan says.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Provide alternative space first
Draft CDP to be ready by September-end
Writers express support for CPI(M) candidate
New industrial policy soon
Arkavathy: issue of allotment letters from Monday
Van driver assaulted, robbed
Fresh outbreak of chikungunya in northern region?
Quacks abound in city
Railway stations to have cyber cafes
Sudarshan to step down as Legislative Council Chairman
Interactive error correction system for passports introduced on website
Bio-jewellery as expensive and trendy as gold ornaments
BJP wants Kumaraswamy to resign, say two former Ministers
Reckless vehicle drivers to have their licences cancelled
Panel cannot bar creation of wards: court
It's a matter of satisfaction
Innovation is important for promoting brands, says Mallya
Elections today to six seats in Council
For better work-life balance
`Chief Minister must focus on issues'
A course for wheelchair prescription
It's `smart cards' revolution in colleges
Drugs found to be not of standard quality
Karunanidhi `taking rest'
Four killed in car-bus collision
Officer hurt in attack
Vehicle set ablaze
Around the City
In Bangalore Today
The killer roads in Bangalore Rural

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu