M. Y. S. Prasad

M.Y.S. Prasad is an Indian scientist and the former director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota Range (SDSC-SHAR). Govt. of India’s Civilian Award Padma Shri for the year 2014 for his distinguished service in Science and Technology.

Profile of Dr. M.Y.S. Prasad
M.Y.S. Prasad Distinguished Scientist (APEX), ISRO & Director, SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.


 * Retired on 31 May 2015 as Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC-SHAR) of ISRO.
 * Regular Employee strength of SDSC is 2100, and annual Budget Rs. 500 Crores
 * DS (APEX) is Secretary to Government of India Grade since 1 May 2013.
 * He is currently serving as the Vice-Chancellor in India's one of the top private universities, Vignan's University located in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

 * Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics and Communications) in 1974 from Government College of Engineering, Kakinada.
 * Ph.D. from BITS, Pilani in the subject of "Interference in Satellite Communications" in 2005.
 * 39 years of experience in Indian Space Program, Steering various activities and programs in different Centres and Units.

Positions held in ISRO

 * Director of SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota, AP                              : Jan 2013 to 31 May 2015
 * Associate Director SDSC SHAR                                        : 2008 to Dec2012
 * Deputy Director SAC, Ahmedabad                                      : 2005 to 2008
 * Director DECU, Ahmedabad	                                     : 2006 to 2008
 * Director MCF Hassan, Karnataka                                      : 1999 to 2005
 * Associate Director MCF                                              : 1998 to 1999
 * Deputy Project Director PSLV, Thiruvananthapuram                    : Nov 1997 to Oct 1998
 * Counsellor (Space), Embassy of India – Paris, FRANCE                : 1994 to 1997
 * Deputy Project Director ASLV & Project Manager-Avionics ASLV, VSSC  : 1982 to 1994
 * Project Engineer SLV-3, VSSC Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala             : 1975 to 1982
 * Worked in launch vehicle development, communication satellite operations, communication payload and ground systems development, international assignments, and presently in Launch Vehicle Operations Centre. Managed all areas with in-depth technical knowledge and enhanced teamwork.

Major contributions
Technology
 * Control of preparation, final operations and Launch of all PSLV and GSLV launches since 2008 at SDSC SHAR Seventeen PSLV and three GSLV Launches.
 * Handled many emergencies in Real time during Launch preparations, including a large Leak of Propellant in GSLV-D5 first launch attempt in August 2013.
 * Contributed extensively to the Failure Analysis of GSLV-F06 and GSLV-D3 Missions.
 * Commissioning of 9 GSO Satellite Missions from MCF, Regular operations and Emergency operations connected with many on-orbit Satellite anomalies.
 * Handled major emergency of INSAT-2E Satellite, and guided the Team to operate the Spacecraft through many innovative methods for its complete mission life of 12 years.
 * Introduced On-Board Computers into Launch Vehicles starting from ASLV.
 * Proposed, introduced, qualified and made operational a system in all Launch Vehicles called "Realtime Decision System in the Flight Sequencing" – which is a key element for all Launch Vehicle successes.
 * Introduced Design, Tests, Analysis and Solutions for all Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) problems in Launch Vehicles.

Infrastructure
 * Created and commissioned New Master Control Facility at Bhopal for GSO Satellite operations.
 * Augmented MCF Hassan Ground Stations and Control Centre to operate 20 Satellites simultaneously.
 * Created Satellite based Disaster Management Communication System - with 22 User Nodes, 15 Disaster Monitoring and Decision making Nodes, and with Hub at New Delhi.
 * Planned and realised Satellite Communication Link to connect Indian Antarctica Research Station Maithri to Goa.
 * Lead the Team to realise New Mission Control Centre at SDSC SHAR.
 * Lead the Team to realise Acoustic Suppression System at Second Launchpad at SDSC SHAR.
 * Conceived, Planned, Designed, and presently guiding a large active phased array antenna based beam steering radar for Multi Object Tracking. Project costing Rs. 260 Crores is nearing completion.

International Experience

 * He has worked for four years in Paris as Counsellor (Space) and Networked many International Aerospace Professionals for the benefit of ISRO.
 * Represented India (& ISRO) in the United Nations Committee On Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) for 11 years from 1996-2006.
 * Member of the Working Group which evolved "UN Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines", adopted by UN General Assembly in December 2007.
 * Elected as Member of International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) in 2008. Currently Member of IAA Awards Committee.
 * Worked as the Vice-President of International Astronautical Federation (IAF) for 4 years from 2006-2010.
 * Elected as Member of International Institute of Space Law (IISL).
 * Visited Aerospace Organisations and Companies in the following Countries during the last 20 years : USA, France, Germany, Italy, U.K., Scotland, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Czech Republic, Hungary, Tunisia, French Guiana, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, Canada. This exposure helped to network a large number of Space Professionals, and also to observe their models of working with close understanding.

Awards and recognition

 * Kannada Rajyotsava award in the field of Science, 2001.
 * ISRO Merit award for in Orbit Management of Geo-stationary Satellites 2007.
 * ISRO Team Excellence award for Operations of INSAT-2E, 2007.
 * Selected and elected as Member of International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) in 2008
 * ISRO Team Excellence award as the Leader of the team for Satellite based Disaster Warning and Communication Systems, 2009.
 * ISRO Team Excellence award for EDUSAT Utilisation Programme, 2009.
 * ISRO Team Excellence award as Team Leader for Development of Innovative Launch Facilities, 2011.
 * "Professor Nayudamma" Award for 2013.
 * Lifetime Achievement Award in Space Technologies by Arunai Engineering College, Tamil Nadu, in 2013.
 * Honorary doctorate from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada in June, 2013.
 * Govt. of India’s Civilian Award Padma Shri for the year 2014.
 * Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award 2014–15 by the Indian Science Congress Association.
 * Enrolled in the Institution of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) as Fellow and Honoured with Diamond Jubilee Medal – 2014 for outstanding contribution in the field of Electronics, Communication, IT.
 * International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Laurels for Team Award-2013, as Technology Leader in Chandrayaan-I Mission.
 * Honorary Doctorate from Vignan University, Guntur for the year 2014.
 * Honorary advisor at Egnify Technologies Pvt.Ltd.

Publications and public outreach

 * 40 publications in various Indian and international journals and international conferences.
 * Delivered more than 60 invited lectures on different areas of space field in various universities/engineering colleges.
 * Taught satellite communication subject for M.Tech. students.