- Pessie Madan
Pessie Madan is a retired Brigadier of the Indian Army and an early leader in India’s high-technology research and development sector.
Biography
Madan was born to a
Parsi family inRangoon ,Burma (nowMyanmar ) on September 26, 1916. He and his family fled Burma just before its capture by the Japanese duringWorld War II , returning toIndia on the heels of the retreatingBritish army .Education
Madan studied Chemistry at the University College Rangoon, earning a B.Sc. (Honours) in Chemistry followed by a Physics (Honours) degree. He was awarded the University's S. Ramanatha Reddiar Prize (Gold Medal) for highest standing in the Physics Honours Examination. [Handbook of Indian Universities, 7th printing. Hesperides Press. Bangalore: READ BOOKS. ISBN 9781406766424.] Later, he completed a course in
Electronic engineering (Wireless and Radar) at Marconi College in Essex, U.K.Career
In 1943, Madan was commissioned into the British Army in India, where he commanded a field unit in the turbulent North-West Frontier Province. After the war, he continued as an officer of the
Indian Army , serving in the Corps of Electrical & Mechanical Engineers. He earned the rank ofBrigadier before retiring, at the age of 52. In 1975 he received the Padma Shri for his services to the nation. [http://india.gov.in/myindia/padmashri_awards_list1.php]Upon retiring from the military, Madan began a career in India's rapidly growing high-technology sector, initially with the nation's premier defense electronics public sector company,
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). While there, he planned and supervised the construction of BEL’s Radar and Communications factory atGhaziabad , and became its first General Manager. He later planned and supervised construction of Gujarat Communications and Electronics Limited, a public sector electronics company of the state ofGujarat . He served as its Chairman and Managing Director for seven years, and remained Chairman for an additional five years.In 1980, Madan joined the
Tata Power Company, serving as an Advisor to what is now the largest private sector power utility company in India. In this capacity, he steered the company’sMumbai -based Research and Development activities away from consumer electronics, toward the development of high-tech weapon systems for the Defence Ministry. To manufacture these new systems, he set up a Tata Power production unit capable of precision engineering inElectronic City ,Bangalore . The unit, Tata Electronics Development Services, is now known as the [http://tcpsed.com/ Strategic Electronics Division] . Madan served as an Advisor to Tata Power for seventeen years before finally retiring in 1997 at the age of 80 years.Since retirement, Madan has turned to writing; [http://www.pessiemadan.com] in 2008, his autobiography "An Odyssey: My Reminiscences" was published by Konark Publishers. [Pessie Madan (2008). An Odyssey: My Reminiscences. New Delhi: Konark Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 9788122007404.]
Notes
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