S Somanath, the ISRO Chairman is currently pursuing a PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Madras.

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) honoured 12 of its alumni in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) who were part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission on Sunday. The institute organised an event titled 'Over the Moon with Team Chandrayaan-3' and top scientists and engineers from ISRO during the event interacted with students from IIT Madras and various government schools and city colleges.

Among the ones honoured during the event include Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair who completed his PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, in 2011 and Dr P Veeramuthuvel (PhD / ME), who completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2016.

Dr Nair is now the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), ISRO and Dr Veeramuthuvel is the Project Director, Chandrayaan-3, ISRO.

Also, S Somanath, the ISRO Chairman is currently pursuing a PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Madras.

Recalling his days as a PhD student at IIT Madras, Dr Nair said, "I stayed in this campus for hardly one semester but that one semester made a lot of changes in me. My guru for PhD, Prof P Chandramouli is now heading the Department...We feel proud that we belong to this institute and that we could do something that is because of the energy and enthusiasm that we got by being part of great institution."

An institute statement issued in this regard listed the names of the IIT alumni who are ISRO scientists and engineers and were part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. The names of the alumni who were also present in the event and shared their experiences are:

- Dr P Arun Kumar (1999/M.Tech/ME), Deputy Director, Earth Storable Engines and Stages (ESES)

- Dr John Tharakan (1987/M.Tech/ME, 2001/PhD/AMBE), Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC)

- Abdul Hameed, (2004/M.Tech/ ME) Scientist/Engineer, U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC)

- Rajeev Senan C. (2005 / M.Tech / ME), Division Head, Monopropellant Systems and Components Division, LPSC

- Dr Shamrao (2009/ M.Tech, 2020/PhD / ME), Scientist, URSC

- HM Raghavendra Prasad (2012 / M.tech / ME), Scientist/Engineer, Head, Mechanism Assembly Section, Spacecraft Mechanisms Group, URSC

-Dr S Mathavaraj, Scientist (2012 / M.Tech / AE), URSC

- Karthik (2019 / MS, PhD / EE), Scientist, LPSC

- BS Phani Dinakar (2017 / M.Tech / ME), Scientist, URSC

- Sakthivel M. (2017 / M.Tech / ME), Scientist/Engineer, Mechanism and Development Division, Spacecraft Mechanisms Group, URSC