Pramod Kale

Pramod Kale is an Indian engineer, who has worked for the Indian Space Research Organisation in various leadership roles.

He was born on 4 March 1941 in Pune, India. Kale completed his matriculation in 1956 from the M.C. High School, Vadodara and went on to study at Fergusson College in Pune. He completed his B.Sc Physics from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 1960 and then his M. Sc (Physics-Electronics) from Gujarat University, Ahmedabad in 1962.

Kale received the 2006 Aryabhatta award for his lifetime contribution to the promotion of astronomy in India.

Education

• S.S.C. 1956, M.C. High School, Vadodara
• Int. Sc, 1958, Fergusson College, Pune University
• B. Sc. (Physics) 1960, M. S. University, Vadodara
• M. Sc. (Physics -Electronics) 1962, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad

Career

While studying for his M. Sc. he worked at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad for getting practical experience of Electronics and Space Research. During that time he started work on Satellite tracking. After getting his M. Sc. in 1962, he worked for three years as a research student of Vikram Sarabhai. In 1963 he was selected as a team member for the establishment of Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), near Thiruvananthapuram and for that work was deputed to work at Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASA, USA.

Later positions included:

• Head-Electronics Division, (Satellite systems), Space Science and Technology Center, now Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. 1967-1969
• Resident Representative of ISRO at Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASA, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA 1969-1972
• Project Manager- Electronics and TV Hardware, Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), 1974-1976, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad
• Project Director, INSAT 1 Space Segment Project, Department of Space, Bangalore, 1977 -1987
• Director, Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Ahmedabad, 1987-1994
• Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Thiruvananthapuram, 1994
• Executive Director and Head, Microwave Antenna Division, Global Wireless Technology Limited, Pune 1996 till Mar 2002
• Director, Global Information Technology Academy, Pune June 2000 till Jul 2002.

Awards

• Shri Hari Om Ashram Prerit Vikram Sarabhai Award for System Analysis and Management Problems, 1975
• Padma Shri, Government of India, 1984
• Shri R L Wadhawa Gold Medal of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers 1991
• Bharat Jyoti Award presented by Front for National Progress 1999
• Aryabhatta Award, 2006 presented by the Astronautical Society of India in recognition of life time contribution to the promotion of astronautics.

Publications

Kale has published over twenty-five papers on various subjects from 1964 until 1994.