Dr Prahlada takes over as VC of DIAT

Posted by- Neelam Mathews
Aug 13, 2011

Dr. Prahlada Distinguished Scientist and chief Controller of Aero Programs, DRDO, has taken over as the Vice Chancellor of D.I.A.T [Defense Institute of Advanced Technology] in Pune, an autonomous University fully funded by the department of Defense Research and Development Organisation [DRDO], Ministry of Defense,.

D.I.A.T, as it is known today, came into being as the institute of Armament Studies in 1952.

In 1967, the institute was renamed as “Institute of Armament Technology [IAT] which moved to its present location at Girinagar, Pune. From the relatively narrow scope of Armament Studies in the 50s, the role of the Institute was considerably enlarged.

Dr. Prahlada, born on  Feb 5, 1947 in Bangalore, is a Mechanical Engineering Graduate from University College of Engineering, Bangalore University (1969). Subsequently he got his Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering Department from IISc., Bangalore, with specialization in Rockets and missile Systems and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad.  Since 1971 he has served in various ISRO and DRDO Establishments covering VSSC Trivandrum, ADE Bangalore, DRDL Hyderabad and DRDO HQrs at Delhi.

As project Director for the mobile surface to air area defense missile system, AKASH, he has provided leadership for about 1000 scientists/engineers working at various development centers over 20 years in the country.

In his position as Director of the biggest DRDO laboratory, DRDL, during 1997-2005, he was responsible for many missile projects. He was Program Director for the Joint Venture Project (Indo-Russia) BrahMos and contributed to Project formulation, management and conduct of initial flight trials. He has spearheaded commercialization of DRDO technologies into civilian products through a customized program with FICCI.