DRDO’s ASL Hyderabad gets new director

Dr M Raghavendra Rao, a distinguished scientist with extensive experience in missile propulsion technologies, has been appointed Director of the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Hyderabad. ASL plays a pivotal role in India’s missile development programmes.

Hyderabad: Dr. M Raghavendra Rao, an Outstanding Scientist, has been appointed as Director of the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) Hyderabad. He assumed charge at the facility on Saturday.

ASL is a premier DRDO laboratory under Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, spearheading the design, development and delivery of state-of-the-art defence systems for missile development programmes.

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A graduate in Mechanical Engineering from NIT, Bhopal, Dr. Rao received a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT Chennai and a PhD from NIT Warangal.

In DRDL, Dr. Rao contributed to the Indian Guided Missile Defence Programme (IGMDP) and as a Technology Director of liquid propulsion, led design and development of defence systems for Agni, air defence, advanced naval systems and hypersonic propulsion technologies.

Dr. Rao’s contributions include design and development of liquid propellant-based control systems, engines, and scramjet engines. He was the Director of the Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory (TBRL) of DRDO and responsible for deployment of different Low-Intensity Conflict (LIC) & Strategic systems, it said.