BENGALURU: After ISRO successfully launched the Aditya-L1 Solar Mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota on Saturday ISRO chairman S Somanath introduced the two key team members as Mission Director Biju SR, and Project Director Nigar Shaji.

The distinguished woman scientist Shaji said that it was a dream come true for the team Aditya L1. "I am extremely happy that Aditya L1 has been injected into the precise orbit flawlessly by PSLV as always. And Aditya L1 solar panels are deployed and it is being normal," she said.

The journey of Nigar Shaji, (59), with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), began in 1987 when she joined the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SHAAR), a prominent arm of the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru.

She hails from the southern district of Tenkasi, and her roots trace back to Sengottai in Tamil Nadu, a small town well known in the state as a major market of Dosa kal (commonly known as Dosa tawa).

She was born to a humble family of Sheikh Meeran, a farmer, and Saitoon Biwi, a homemaker and completed her early education at SRM Girls School in Sengottai after which she went to Madurai Kamaraj University to pursue an engineering degree in electronics and communications. Later she did her  Master's in Electronics and Communications from BIT, Ranchi.

Before her involvement in the Aditya-L1 mission, Nigar Shaji made significant contributions to the design and development of Indian remote sensing, communication, and interplanetary satellites. 

She has also served as the Associate Project Director for the Indian remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2A, a crucial asset for national resource monitoring and management. Her work in this field included research on image compression, system engineering, and space internet technologies.