A. S. Kiran Kumar

Aluru Seelin Kiran Kumar (born 22 Oct 1952) is an Indian space scientist and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, having assumed office on 14 January 2015. He is credited with the development of key scientific instruments aboard the Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan space crafts. In 2014, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of science and technology. Kiran Kumar previously served as Director of Ahmedabad Space Applications Centre.
Biography.
Kiran Kumar Aluru Seelin was born in a Hindu family in Hassan District in 1952, in the Indian state of Karnataka. He graduated in Physics (Honours). In 1971, from the National College of Bangalore University. This was followed by a degree of MSc in Electronics from the same university, in 1973. His further studies were at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore from where he passed MTech in Physical Engineering, in 1975.
Kiran Kumar started his career, joining Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, in 1975, working on "Space borne Electro -optical imaging instruments". He has remained at the institution ever since and is the Director of the Electro-optical Systems Group since April 2012. He also served as the chairman of ISRO from Jan 2015 to Jan 2018. He has represented Indian Space Research Organization at many international forums such as the World Meteorological Organisation and Indo-US Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation and holds the Chair of the ISRO at the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEO).
Legacy.
Kiran Kumar's legacy spans across his contributions to the scientific world, specifically Indian space endeavors, and his efforts towards the dissemination of knowledge by way of articles and lectures.
Scientific contributions.
Kiran Kumar is known to have made contributions to the Indian space programmes, from the early projects like Bhaskara TV payload till the later programmes such as Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan. Kumar is credited with the design and development of the electro-optical image sensors used in India's first remote sensing satellite, Bhaskara, launched in 1979 and the subsequent one in 1981, as well as the ocean colour instruments used in weather forecasting, sea zone/landscape mapping and telecommunications.
He is also reported to have contributed to the design and development of the imaging instruments for projects such as "INSAT–3D", "Resourcesat", "Micro Satellite" and Cartosat.
 The Terrain Mapping Camera and Hyperspectral Imager payloads of Chandrayaan-1 project is also credited to the efforts of Kiran Kumar. It was the group led by Kumar which developed three of the five scientific instruments
Academic contributions.
Kumar has attended many seminars and conferences where he has delivered lectures and keynote addresses. He has also published several articles<ref name="DETECTION OF OH/H2O ON THE CENTRAL PEAK OF JACKSON CRATER FROM MOON MINERALOGICAL MAPPER (M3) DATA ONBOARD CHANDRAYAAN-1"></ref> in peer reviewed international journals, ResearchGate has listed 41 of his articles.