Nigar Shaji is an Indian scientist, who works at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). She is the project director of India’s first solar mission, Aditya L-1.
Wiki/Biography
Nigar Shaji was born in 1964 (age 60 years; as of 2024) in Sengottai town of Tenkasi district of Tamil Nadu. She completed her schooling in Sengottai at the SRM Girls School. Shaji holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering from Tirunelveli Government Engineering College. After graduation, she pursued a master’s degree in electronics and communications at Birla Institute of Technology in Ranchi.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Nigar Shaji (right)
Family
Shaji belongs to a Muslim Tamil family in Sengottai in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi district.
Parents & Siblings
Shaji is one of the four children of Sheikh Meeran and Sythoon Beevi. Her father, Sheikh Meeran, was a maths graduate who opted for farming as a profession, and her mother, Sythoon Beevi, is a homemaker. Her brother Sheikh Saleem is a retired professor from a college in Tenkasi.
A picture of Nigar shaji’s brother
Husband & Children
Shaji got married to Shahjahan in 1990. Her husband works as an engineer in a Gulf country. Her son, Tariq, works as a scientist in the Netherlands, and her daughter is a doctor.
A picture of Nigar Shaji with her Son
Career
ISRO
Shaji started her career at Satish Dhawan Space Centre as a radar engineer in 1987.
U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC)
After joining the ISRO, she worked as a test engineer at the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru and also held various positions. She worked as the Associate Project Director in the Indian Resourcesat-2A satellite.
Aditya-L1 Mission
She is the programme director for all lower orbit and planetary missions. Shaji is the Project Director of ISRO’s first solar mission, Aditya L-1 Mission, launched on 2 September 2023.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- Shaji and P Veeramuthuvel were honoured by Times Now for their “contributions to India’s space endeavours” in 2023.
- Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College honoured her by giving the ‘Eve of Excellence’ in 2023.
Facts/Trivia
- She is fond of reading Tamil and English novels, and she has read “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez many times.
- In her leisure time, she likes trekking with friends.
- Since childhood, Marie Curie has been the role model of Nigar Shaji.
