Chennai: July 19, 2016, will be etched in the memory of students and faculty of Chennai’s Sathyabama University involved in the development of ‘Sathyabamasat’ as Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent some time with them discussing their achievements at his Parliament house office in New Delhi.
“He left an impression of a professor, who was interested in our satellite programme,” Puli Nihal Reddy, one of the five students involved in building the satellite after the interaction.

Mr Reddy and his college mates — Ragalapalli Reddy Tharun, Chacha Srihari, Raja Preetham and Soumya Ranjan Dash — along with B. Sheela Rani, Vice Chancellor of the Sathyabama University met Mr Modi for nearly 20 minutes and shared their experience of developing the satellite launched from Sriharikota on June 22.

The Prime Minister himself was impressed with the meeting and took to social networking sites Twitter and Facebook to speak about his interaction.
“A riveting interaction to remember with students involved in building satellite Sathyabamasat. You will recall that Sathyabamasat was one of the twenty satellites launched by Isro using PSLV-C34 on 22nd June 2016,” he said.

‘Sathyabamasat’ was one of the 20 satellites launched by PSLV-C34 rocket. The satellite will monitor greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere. “It was a dream come true moment for all of us,” said Soumya Ranjan Dash, one of the five students who met the PM. Another student Raja Preetham said, “Our six years of handwork was recognised by the Prime Minister and our hearts are filled with satisfaction.”

“When the Prime Minister asked our students to teach the technology of building satellites to students from other universities, they raised the issue of delay in getting the patents for the new technology,” said Mariazeena Johnson, director, Sathyabama University. “We asked the Prime Minister permission to open the Centre for Rocket Science in our university,” she said.