India Untold
Dr Tessy Thomas was born in April 1963 in Thathampally, Kerala. Her home was situated near the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station.
Dr Tessy Thomas completed her schooling from St Michael’s Higher Sec School and St Joseph’s Girls’ School. She pursued her BTech from Calicut University in 1983.
Dr Tessy Thomas completed her ME from Institute of Armament Technology, sponsored by DRDO. Later, she obtained her PhD in Missile Guidance from JNTU, Hyderabad, in 2014.
Dr Tessy Thomas aspired to become an IAS officer and even prepared for the UPSC exam. However, during the same time, she was selected for a role at DRDO.
Dr Tessy Thomas joined IAT, Pune, in 1986 as a faculty member in Guided Missiles. She was closely involved with the development of the Agni series project.
Dr Tessy Thomas spearheaded the Agni-4 project and also served as the project director for the Agni-5 project.
Dr Tessy Thomas has worked at DRDO for more than 32 years in domains like simulation, guidance, control, navigation, trajectory, and mission design.
Dr Tessy Thomas has earned prestigious awards and honours like Madame Curie Women’s Science Award, Lal Bahadur Shastri Award, and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award.
For her immense contributions, Tessy Thomas has also earned the title of ‘Missile Woman of India.’