It is a dream of every boy and increasingly more girls to fly aircrafts
and perhaps even go to space. As the country increasingly makes its mark in the
competitive market of launching satellites to their orbits for several
countries the scale of the business will grow. The demands and the kind of
skills required will varied and ever changing. The need of the hour one
continuously hears is greater interaction between industry and academics.
Recently one of the premier organisations interacted with students from all
over the country for fifteen days in possibly the first ever interaction of its
kind in the history of its existence. Three students from Goa were part of that
interaction and from all accounts it seems to have radically altered their
plans for life.
For Steve de Sa, Sanad Baligeri and BrijaliDergurkar, 10th
standard students of Rosary High School an invitation by ISRO to spend 15 days
at its facility in Trivandrum. Steve said the school had received a circular
from ISRO inviting students to visit its facilities. There were parameters like
academic performances, memberships of science clubs etc which had to be
fulfilled. Steve made the short list of three because of his performance in
academics as well as the fact he felt that he had been a brand ambassador for
the company Robotics that helped him get selected. Sanad Baligeri felt his
interest and membership of the Astronomy club swung it in his direction. He had
some academic achievement he said but this membership certainly helped him.
BrijaliDergunkar was miles away from the conventional image of an ideal candidate
for this 15 day stay at ISRO. More interested in cultural activities at school
and in her surroundings, the confirmation of her candidature was a pleasant
surprise.
ISRO has four centres in India, in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Sikkim
and Chandigarh. Around 108 students were selected from various schools in the
country and they were sent to these four centres depending where they were
placed. The three students from Goa were sent to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
in Trivandrum. They were part of a group of 24 students who were based there.
The schedule was quite hectic with interactions with scientists everyday in a
formal and informal setting. Like many young people, Steve, Sanad and Brijali
were excited by the satellites. They learned about the applications and the
future technologies that would come into play. There were several group
discussions and debates. They were divided into groups and given a topic to
present in audio, video and poster. This happened on the final day.
Sanad was excited seeing all the rockets, the propellant tanks
and the various boosters. In the second week of their stay a debate was
conducted between urban and rural youth on space with the scientists backing
the rural scientists and Sanad said it felt good to beat them. Interactions
were vigorous and everything about technology was discussed. Brijali said it
was excellent to see all the rockets and the fact they were given an assignment
to launch a water rocket made it even more exciting. They were evaluated for
their performances.
The purpose of such initiatives is perhaps to also encourage the
youth of the country to look at space technologies as something they could get
involved in. For the three young students the trip has been an eyeopener at the
options available. Steve would like to consider a future in space technologies
and is keen on working on gaining the percentages that are essential to be
considered for an institute like ISRO. Instaed of going abroad, he said it
would make a lot of sense to work in India. Sanad was equally keen about
working in the space industry. Perhaps the biggest change was in young Brijali.
She said “ I was working towards qualifying as a teacher but after this visit,
I would certainly like to have a career in the sciences more specifically space
technology. I will focus on the sciences and make it. This has certainly opened
my eyes to the possibilities”.
A
space industry with a Goan presence in the years ahead. Amen to that.
