Nigar Shaji

Nigar Shaji (born 1964) is an Indian aerospace engineer who works at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India's national space agency.

Early life and education
Nigar Shaji was born Nigar Sultana to a Tamil Muslim family. Her father, Sheikh Meeran, was a farmer, and her mother, Sythoon Beevi, is a homemaker. Shaji was raised in Sengottai, in the Tenkasi district of Tamil Nadu. She did her schooling in an SRM Government Girls Higher secondary school in Sengottai before going to the Government College of Engineering, Tirunelveli Madurai Kamaraj University, where she earned an engineering degree in electronics and communications. She went on to earn a master's degree in electronics from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. She has a brother, Sheik Saleem.

Career
Nigar Shaji joined ISRO in 1987 as part of the U R Rao Satellite Centre. She has worked on multiple satellite programmes, including serving as study director for India's proposed mission to Venus, which she spoke about in 2012. She was the Associate Project Director of Resourcesat-2A. As of 2023, she is the project director of Aditya-L1, India's first solar mission, which launched successfully on 2 September 2023.

Awards and honors
In 2023, Times Now recognized Shaji and P Veeramuthuvel for their "contributions to India's space endeavors", and she was given the 'Eve of Excellence' honor by Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College.

Personal life
Nigar Shaji lives in Bangalore with her mother and daughter. Her husband works in Dubai.