Nigar Shaji

Nigar Shaji (born 1964) is an Indian aerospace engineer who works at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India's national space agency.

Early life and education Nigar Shaji was born Nigar Sultana to a Tamil Muslim family. Her father, Sheikh Meeran, was a farmer, and her mother, Sythoon Beevi, is a homemaker. Shaji was raised in Sengottai, in the Tenkasi district of Tamil Nadu. She did her schooling in an SRM Government Girls Higher secondary school in Sengottai She went on to earn a master's degree in electronics from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. She has a brother, Sheik Saleem.

Career Nigar Shaji joined ISRO in 1987 as part of the U R Rao Satellite Centre. which she spoke about in 2012. She was the Associate Project Director of Resourcesat-2A. As of 2023, she is the project director of Aditya-L1, India's first solar mission, which launched successfully on 2 September 2023.

Awards and honors In 2023, Times Now recognized Shaji and P Veeramuthuvel for their "contributions to India's space endeavors", and she was given the 'Eve of Excellence' honor by Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College.

Personal life Nigar Shaji lives in Bangalore with her mother and daughter. Her husband works in Dubai.