Dr SHASHIKALA SINHA

India is only the fourth country to develop the highly sophisticated Ballistic Missile Shield and the scientist behind the development is Shashikala Sinha. As Project Director she is responsible for Advanced Area Defence Interceptor Missiles at the Department of Defence Research and Development Organization. Shashi led the successful firings of the supersonic interceptor against ballistic missiles in endoatmosphere, in consecutive tests last year. An allumni of IIT Kharagpur, she rejoined work in 1997 after a break of several years following the birth of her children. She worked her way up through the system becoming a full time scientist in 2001. Today, she has helped point India towards the future of defence in space by creating an indigenous program to counter a wide range of threats.