V. S. R. Arunachalam

Vallampadugai Srinivasa Raghavan Arunachalam (1935 to 2023) was an Indian materials scientist and engineer who rose to lead the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the body that directs defence technology for India. He studied science at the bachelor and master level and took a doctorate in materials science and engineering at the University of Wales in 1965. He worked at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the National Aeronautical Laboratory in Bangalore and the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory in Hyderabad before heading the organisation for about ten years in the 1980s. During that period its budget grew roughly eightfold, and he is credited with getting past bureaucratic and financial obstacles to start large projects such as the Light Combat Aircraft and the Integrated Guided Missiles programme. He also served as scientific adviser to the Defence Minister, advised the government on topics such as optical fibre communications and indigenous iron and steel technology, taught as a collaborating professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, and founded the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy. He received the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.