The India Post, Chandigarh,14th November,2008 :Former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today inaugurated the National Seminar on Recent Advances in Aerospace Technologies, Maintenance and Optimization (AEROTECH-08) at Hotel Mountview, Sector-10. The seminar was organized by Aeronautical Society of India- Chandigarh Branch and Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, Chandigarh.The main objective of the seminar was to provide a platform for free flow of information and sharing of knowledge and experience between the veterans and younger generation. The seminar aims to provide an exposure to the budding technologists to present their achievements at a national forum.
Dr. Kalam on the occasion released the Seminar proceedings and Aero updates. He said that India has made significant growth in aerospace technology during the past five decades. He appreciated the efforts of the scientists of Indian Space and Research Organization for the successfully placement of Chandrayaan in the lunar orbit. The spacecraft entered into an orbit around the moon with a periselene of 504 km and an aposelene of 7502 km. This is the first time that an Indian built spacecraft has broken away from the Earth’s gravitational field and reached the moon. This historic event occurred following the firing of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft’s liquid engine at 16:51 IST for a duration of 817 seconds. Dr. Kalam further stated that the success of Chandrayaan demonstrates the Indian capability.
Chairman, Aeronautical Society of India- Chandigarh Branch, Dr. Satish Kumar, Associate Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory and Project Director AGNI, Dr. VG Sekaran, Former Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal BN Gokhale, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University, Prof. RC Sobti, young scientists, academicians and other distinguished guests were also present on the occasion.