Avinash Chander

Avinash Chander is an Indian scientist who was Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, the Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development. He had succeeded V. K. Saraswat in this post but was sacked by the union government due to incompetency.

He is the chief architect of the Agni series of ballistic missile systems.

Awards Chander is recipient of numerous awards, some of which are listed below: IIT Delhi Alumni Award Padma Shri DRDO Scientist of the year, 1989 Astronautical Society of India Award, 1997 Awarded by Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt. of India. AGNI Self-Reliance Award, 1999 Dr. Biren Roy Space Science Award, 2000 DRDO Award, 2007 Outstanding Technologist Award, 2008 DRDO Technology Leadership Award, 2008 Fellow, Indian National Academy of Engineers Fellow, System Society of India Fellow, Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences Vice-president, Astronautical Society of India Chairman – Sensors Research Society, India Aryabhata Award - Astronautical Society of India. Eminent Engineer Award, The Institute of Engineers (India) 2016.