National Conference On Recent Developments In Aerospace & Defence Technology

70TH AGM OF THE AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA & NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN AEROSPACE & DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY 
Theme: Regional Transport Aircraft Opportunities and Challenges

The inauguration of the 70th Annual General Meeting of the Aeronautical Society and the National Conference on Recent Developments in Aerospace and Defence Technology on the theme “Regional Transport Aircraft - Opportunities and Challenges” was held at Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (HITS), Chennai on 21st February 2020. The chief guest for the event was Thiru. BANWARILAL PUROHIT, Honorable Governor of Tamil Nadu. The two-day conference aims and acts as a forum for knowledge sharing between business professionals, scientists, academicians, industrialists, researchers and students in the field of aerospace sector.

In his address, the Honourable Governor said that he is happy to be in HITS for the inauguration of the 70th Annual General Meeting of The Aeronautical Society of India. He made a special mention of the Founder Chairman (Late) Dr. K.C.G. Verghese who inspired and motivated many students in the field of Aviation. He said that HITS has grown in leaps and bounds and is producing many talented engineers. He greatly appreciated the institution for its notable contribution towards the development of the nation.

Dr. K. Sivan, Chairman, ISRO, was presented the Outstanding Leader in Aerospace and Defence award. He received the award from the Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Sivan recollected his struggle-filled childhood in Kanyakumari and the education that he underwent in government institutions.He also mentioned about the future missions of ISRO and said that Chandrayan 3 will be launched in a year’s time and as a first time accomplishment in the history of space research, a humanoid will travel in Chandrayan 3. Dr. Sivan also said that four astronauts have been selected and are undergoing training in Russia for future missions. He also informed about the new launch pad that is to be established in Tamil Nadu.

Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog was presented the Life-time Achievement award. He received the award from the Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Saraswat dedicated his award to his team members for last 40 years which helped him in his journey of developing certain technologies for the nation. He mentioned that our country has done tremendous work as far as aerospace &defence technologies are concerned. But the technology is not static and we have many more miles to achieve. When the technologies are changing universities like Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science (HITS) with their programs like aeronautics & aerospace have to make a major change. He also mentioned that he was lucky to receive a honorary doctorate from HITS.

Dr. Anand Jacob Verghese, Vice President of AeSI, Organising Committee Chairman and Director & CEO of Hindustan Group of Institutions delivered the welcome address. He welcomed all the distinguished guests and delegates from ISRO, DRDO, HAL, NAL, DGCA, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Airport Authority of India, Airlines and Aviation Companies. In his address, Dr. Anand Jacob Verghese said that this is the first time the AeSI AGM is held in a large scale in Chennai and is attended by 500 delegates. He proudly highlighted the fact that the Chennai Branch of AeSI has been functioning for six decades and is one of the largest professional societies that houses more than 700 members.

The inaugural function was followed by sessions on Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics, Air Transportation and Airworthiness, Aircraft Structures, Propulsion & system Avionics. The Technical Sessions dealt with the Trends of Regional Transport Operations, Perspective on Advances in Air Transportation, Trends in Airline Operations, Global Market Trends – MRO/Pilot Training, Challenges in Airline Management. Also special lecture sessions like: Dr. KCG Verghese Memorial Lecture, A Lecture on Aviation Law and Dr. Kalpana Chawla Memorial Lecture.

Apart from Dr. K. Sivan and Dr V.K. Saraswat many notable personalities presented awards under different categories as follows: