Ex-ISRO chief Dr K Sivan is now chairman of IIT Indore's board of governors

Eminent space scientist and former ISRO chairman Dr K Sivan has been appointed as the chairman of the board of governors of IIT Indore for three years, the institute said in a release on Thursday.

Dr Sivan replaces Professor Deepak B Phatak whose tenure ended on August 21, said the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, which introduced a course in Space Science and Engineering this year.

The Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) catapulted India to an elite league of nations after the success of its lunar exploration mission Chandrayaan-3. India also became the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the Moon's south pole.

Dr Sivan headed ISRO from 2018 to 2022 and was in charge of its Chandrayaan-2 mission that was launched on July 22, 2019.

IIT Indore Director Prof Suhas Joshi said they were delighted and excited to have Dr Sivan, an alumnus of IISc Bangalore and IIT Bombay, as the chairman of the board of governors.

There could not have been a better time to induct him into the IIT Indore family when India has achieved a historic feat with the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 and proved its prowess and expertise in space engineering.

Pro Joshi said IIT Indore has introduced 10 new academic programmes, including BTech in Space Science and Engineering, this academic session and has become the first IIT to offer the course in the country. The programme has an intake capacity of 20, including 4 girl students, he said.

I believe that IIT Indore will get an opportunity to contribute to the country's space mission by working in the untapped areas of space engineering under the guidance of Dr Sivan, he added.