SINGAPORE, 27 AUGUST 2008 – Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) conferred an honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering on well-known space scientist and India’s former President, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.
Singapore’s President and Chancellor of NTU, Mr S R Nathan presented the honour in an award ceremony held yesterday (26 August) at the Nanyang Auditorium.
“The honorary degree is conferred in recognition of Dr Kalam’s life-long achievements in the service of India, his international reputation in science and technology and his contributions to the improvement of India-Singapore relations,” said a NTU spokesperson.
“The conferment of an honorary doctorate on Dr Kalam is a major boost to the growing
academic partnership between Singapore and India, and will enhance the level of engagement between institutions in the two countries,” she added.
Distinguished contributions
Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, also known as “Missile Man of India” for his works, earned his Aeronautical Engineering degree from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1957 and contributed to the development of India’s first satellite launch.
As the Chief Executive of the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India, Dr Kalam was in charge of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Project.
As the President of India in 2002, he continued to promote the application of technology in solving human and societal problems.
According to the NTU spokesperson, Dr Kalam, then President of India, was particularly
impressed during his visit to NTU in 2006 with the convergence of key technologies like nano, bio and information technologies in the University. He was confident that a major collaboration between Singapore and India would greatly benefit humankind. Since then, NTU has benefited from the close working relationship with the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) in nano-technology.
