engineering

K. N. Shankara

K. N. Shankara is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand K. N. Shankara rather than just read about it. In short: Koodli Nanjunda Ghanapathi Shankara was a space scientist from India. He was the Director of ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad and ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore.

Key takeaways

K. N. Shankara belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect K. N. Shankara to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of K. N. Shankara from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Koodli Nanjunda Ghanapathi Shankara was a space scientist from India. He was the Director of ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad and ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore. He was the Director of Satellite Communications Program Office and Program Director, INSAT, and was looking after overall planning and direction of communication satellite program. His work in the field of transponder design and development led to a boost in India's communication satellite technology. For his contribution in the field of satellite technology, Shankara was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India in 2004. He is said to be the person who conceptualized Chandrayaan, India's first venture to Moon.

Early life Shankara was born on 7 May 1945. He did his post-graduation in Physics and received his Doctorate in Electrical Communication Engineering from Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore in 1972. He died on 17 July 2017, at the age of 72.

Career Shankara joined Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad in 1971 to work on the design and development of communication payloads. As Associate Project Director of INSAT- 2A and INSAT - 2B, he was responsible for the development transponders for these satellites. As Group Director at SAC until 1996, he contributed extensively to organise the work in the area of microwave technology and spacecraft electronics. He has also served as Honorary Professor at the Gujarat University and has large number of publications in national and international journals. Shankara moved to ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore in 1996 as deputy director, Electronics Systems Area, to direct technical activities on spacecraft electronics like, spacecraft power systems, telemetry, telecommand and data handling, communication systems, assembly, integration and checkout of spacecraft. In 2001, he took over as Director, Satellite Communications Programme and Programme Director, INSAT at ISRO Headquarters, Bangalore, in which capacity, he was involved in the overall planning and direction of the communication satellite programme of ISRO. In 2002, he became the Director of Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad and remained at that post till 2005. He then became the Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) and remained at the post since May 2008.

Awards Shankara received the IETE-IRS (83) award for 1995-96 and was also awarded “Om Prakash Bhasin” award for “Space and Aerospace” for 1998 and “Ramlal Wadwa Gold Medal” for “Outstanding contribution in Electronics” during 2000 by the IETE. He received Astronautical Society of India award for “Space System Management” in 2000 and “VASVIK award” in 2001 for contribution in “Electrical & Electronics and Science & Technology”. He was also awarded Appreciation Award from National Biomedical Engineering Society of India. In 2004 he was awarded Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of Space Technology.

References

External links K. N. Knsankara Archived 2 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine at Space Applications Centre

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with K. N. Shankara

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what K. N. Shankara claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to K. N. Shankara before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about K. N. Shankara ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of K. N. Shankara

In research: K. N. Shankara appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses K. N. Shankara in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: K. N. Shankara is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1947 births, 2017 deaths, 20th-century Indian engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for K. N. Shankara outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study K. N. Shankara in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what K. N. Shankara means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain K. N. Shankara out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is K. N. Shankara in simple terms?

Koodli Nanjunda Ghanapathi Shankara was a space scientist from India. He was the Director of ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad and ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore.

Why does K. N. Shankara matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study K. N. Shankara?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on K. N. Shankara.