He worked as an aerospace engineer with Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
Kalam is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology.
I am indeed delighted to participate in the IMA Rendezvous organized by Indian Management Association. I congratulate IMA for winning Best Management Association Award for the last 10 consecutive years.
He played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974. Some scientific experts have however called Kalam a man with no authority over nuclear physics but who just carried on the works of Homi J. Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai.
He is currently a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Management Indore, Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai), JSS University (Mysore) and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India.
Kalam was elected the President of India in 2002, defeating Lakshmi Sahgal and was supported by both the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the major political parties of India.
