User:Vpsandlas/V. P. Sandlas

Ved Prakash Sandlas is a distinguished scientist and former Chief Controller R & D, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Government of India. He retired from active Government Service in February 2005. Earlier, during 1980s, he had been Mission Director and Project Director of SLV-3, India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle. During 2008-2013, he had also been the Director General, Amity Institute of Aerospace Engineering (AIAE) and Amity Institute of Space Science & Technology (AISST). Since August 2013, he is functioning as Mentor, ITM University, Gurgaon.

Mr. Sandlas has made pioneering and significant contributions to the areas of Satellite Launch Vehicle Systems, Electronics & Communication Systems, Missile Systems, Information Technology, R & D Management and Electromagnetic Interference & Compatibility (EMI/EMC).

Early Life
Born on February 22, 1945 in a very modest Saraswat Brahmin family in the Village Manki, near Samrala in Punjab, Mr. Sandlas spent about his first two and a half years in Lahore (now in Pakistan), and then shifted to New Delhi in August 1947, when his father was transferred to the, then, Post and Telegraph (P & T) Department of the post-independence Government of India. He did his schooling in New Delhi and completed his B. Sc. (Hons.) in Physics from Delhi University in 1964. Subsequently he joined Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur and completed B. Tech. (Hons.) in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering in 1967.

Professional Career
Mr. Sandlas started his professional career in 1967 by joining the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Trivandrum and grew up to become Group Director, Electronics and, the Project/Mission Director for the two successful launches of the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) — with Rohini Satellites — on May 31, 1981 and April 17, 1983. He was also responsible for pioneering developments in the areas of Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), Telemetry Systems, Communication Networks, Electromagnetic Compatibility, Electrical Integration and Automatic Checkout Syatems.

Mr. Sandlas was transferred to the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in 1986 and appointed as the Director, Defence Electronics Applications Laboratory (DEAL), Dehradun and is credited with the introduction of satellite communications era in the Indian Defence Services, along with initiation of satellite-based surveillance & image processing, millimeter wave systems, missile-head seekers, etc. He was designated as Distinguished Scientist and appointed as Chief Controller R & D, at DRDO HQ in New Delhi in 1996 and contributed to review, coordination, interfacing and management of Electronics, Instrumentation, Combat Vehicles, Engineering, Armament and Computer Science Groups of DRDO Establishments, specifically responsible for satellite-based communications & surveillance, Information Technology, Electronic Warfare and Antarctic Communication Systems.

Mr. Sandlas retired from regular Government Service on February 28, 2005, and subsequently functioned as the founder Director General, Amity Institute of Space Science & Technology (AISST) and Amity Institute of Aerospace Engineering (AIAE), Noida, up to June 2013. Since August 2013, he is functioning as Mentor, ITM University, Gurgaon.