India launches fellowship for US institute

India Monday announced a fellowship in honour of Satish Dhawan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which will provide students an opportunity to study at his alma mater, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), an official said.

The Department of Space has established the fellowship at the Caltech's Graduate Aerospace Laboratories.

The fellowship will be provided to one meritorious graduating student from the aerospace department of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.

"It will be an excellent opportunity every year starting from the winter session of the academic year 2013-14 to pursue a masters in aerospace engineering at Caltech," the official said.

Dhawan obtained his Ph.D. in aerospace in from Caltech in 1951.

He was a distinguished visiting professor at Caltech during 1971-72, immediately before assuming the ISRO chairmanship in 1972.