Saroj kumar

Agni missile

Tessy is known to be the first-ever woman scientist to head a missile project in India. Her passion for the subjects of mathematics and science her to pursue a career in the field of science and technology. Growing up near the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, Thomas was fascinated by rockets and missiles since childhood.

After completing her B. Initially, she aspired to become an IAS officer. She even wrote the exam, but she got through the DRDO interview the same day and changed her trajectory. Tessy Thomas had a difficult childhood. Her father, Taiparambil Thomas, was left bedridden after a paralytic stroke when Tessy was in Class 8.

Her mother single-handedly brought up Tessy and her five siblings, four sisters and a brother. Two of her siblings are engineers while another pursued an MBA. Her husband, Saroj Kumar Patel, is a navy officer. Tessy Thomas with his son, Tejas Patel, and mother. She is a Roman Catholic and follows Christianity. Tessy joined DRDO when it was not considered the domain of women, with only five women working in the organization.

Thomas was a junior in the lab when Kalam took over as its director for a couple of years before moving on. At DRDO, from the beginning, she was associated with the ambitious project of developing the Agni Programme right from its developmental flights, contributing in various fields such as Guidance, Control, Inertial Navigation, Trajectory Simulation and Mission Design.