Invited Speakers

October 2, 10:45 - 11:30, Room A

Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, Space Applications Centre, ISRO, India

Abstract: India is increasingly using space technology for its development of which satellite communications is a major component. This has enhanced the demand for more satellite bandwidth and venture into higher radio spectrum. To learn the behaviour of 20/30 GHz band over India that has a tropical climate and to test new technologies like on board antenna with high gain and shaped spot beams, onboard processing and switching etc., ISRO is getting ready to launch an advance communications technology satellite, GSAT-4. This program also involves development of various types of ground terminals and demonstration of newer applications like satellite based Grid computing etc. Applications payloads that support Indian satellite navigation program GAGAN is also a part of this satellite. Knowledge gained during this mission will help India to plan for future satellite missions in this region.

Biography: Dr. Kalyankumar Bandyopadhyay obtained his PhD in engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He is a senior Scientist at the Space Applications Centre of ISRO. He has served ISRO for more than 35 years in the field of satellite communications in various capacities from R&D engineer to system designer and Project Directors. From January 2007 to July 2008 he was the Director of Post Graduate course on satellite communications and on satellite navigation in the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (affiliated to UN). He was involved in many pioneering activities of Indian satellite communications program at different capacities. Some of them are

• Communications Systems for Disaster Management that developed Distress Alert System for fishermen, DTH based Cyclone warning system for Indian coastal villages and Tsunami data collection network part of Tsunami Early Warning System in Indian Ocean Region.
• He was the leader of the team that developed the TEC model over Indian region that is used in the Indian wide area augmentation system for satellite navigation, GAGAN.
• Technology demonstration Project to introduce digital TV, digital sound and data broadcast in the Indian satellite system.
• System Definition for INSAT Mobile Satellite System.
• India's first indigenously developed VSAT pilot project, Satellite Based Rural Telegraphy Network for North-East Region of India in late 1980's.
• India's first satellite based Computer Networking Experiment, COMNEX, using ATS-6 and Symphony satellites in 1970's.
• Represented ISRO in Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum at Jakarta in December 2006, in GPS summit conference at Munich in 2003, in UN workshop on Bridging the Digital Divide in 2000 at Kulalampur, in International Astronautical Conference at Hyderabad in 2007 and at Turin in 1997.

He has several papers in the peer reviewed journals. His present research interest is in microwave propagation studies and its mitigation techniques in ionized and non-ionized media and in Railways LMSS.