STRASBOURG, France, July 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Kalpana Chawla Project for Innovation, Entrepreneurism and Space Studies at the International Space University (ISU) has been established to honor the Indian-American Astronaut Dr. Kalpana Chawla. The scholarship project is focused on developing strong technical and leadership qualities with talented Indian women.
The scholarship is used to provide funding for Indian nationals to attend ISU’s Space Studies Program (SSP). The goal is to attract talented Indian women who are post-graduate students with backgrounds in science, medicine, materials, satellite technology and other space-related areas of focus, who also share Dr. Chawla’s selfless and passionate pursuit of education and excellence.
As part of an annual campaign to identify and assist in funding three exceptional Indian post-graduate students, scholarship endowment fund, Jean-Pierre Harrison, engineer, pilot, author, and husband of Kalpana Chawla said, “Kalpana would be honoured to be associated with this programme and having her name associated with the outstanding opportunities provided to these young ladies.”
The Dr. KC Scholarship project announces its second and third funded scholars. The two scholars are Anisha Rajmane and Palak Singh.
Anisha from Kolhapur is a production engineer who worked as a trainee engineer at Manugraph India LTD, Kolhapur in the field of quality check and inspection. Her interest started gradually growing with some undertakings on appropriate metals required for proper functioning of the satellites and temperature change, outgassing, contamination, erosion, plasma effects, atmospheric density, solar and nuclear radiation have on the satellites and spacecraft. She has a career objective to work with the commercial aerospace sector at a global level with areas of interests in space engineering, space laws and management. She is also associated with Astro Education Pune as an instructor and has been engaged in various space-related activities in the city of Kolhapur.
Palak obtained her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, with a strong desire of being an innovator in the field of aerospace. She had been working as a research assistant in the Aerospace Department at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to develop an aircraft in ultralight aviation with challenging restraints presented in terms of objective and design. She has been performing incredibly and participating in space settlement design and development. She holds interest in research of lifting bodies and re-entry and hopes to work further on it in the near future. Currently, she is working on Finite Element Method Analysis of Bird Strikes.
According to Michael Potter, one of the scholarship founders, “This is a historic moment to achieve an international impact with a few select, but very talented Indian post-graduate students. India will continue to play on the international stage, as it moves forward leading the development of space technologies and activities.”
Since its founding in 1987, ISU has graduated more than 4,200 students from over 100 countries. Together with hundreds of ISU faculty and lecturers from around the world, ISU alumni comprise an extremely effective network of space professionals and leaders that actively facilitates individual career growth, professional activities and international space cooperation.
This scholarship is a commitment to creating the building blocks that are necessary for India to maintain its leadership in the global space community and marketplace. The project is seeking partnerships and sponsorships that will enable next year’s scholars to attend.
Website
http://www.kalpanachawlascholars.org
Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/Dr-Kalpana-Chawla-Scholarship-Project-International-Space-University-1436549163275574/?notif_t=page_fan¬if_id=1497276800607924
Contact : Géraldine Moser
External Relations, International Space University
moser@isunet.edu
+33 (0)3 88 65 54 49
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4ef74ab3-8a1f-4ef1-9cc5-259bfa31c0b4