Kids have a limitless imagination. A power which, when fuelled by the right tools of education, can let them reach for the stars. And while we are at stars, why not let space be their limit? The fields of Art, Science, and Technology require as much imagination as the girt, and determination to question as well as spend time to look for the solutions.
Chennai-based Space Kidz India, is one organiztion creating young scientists for the country and spreading awareness among children for a borderless world. It creates International experiential learning for students in the field of science, Technology, Art, and Culture.
Space Kidz India (SKI) is in a constant search for young talents in the field of Science and Technology and also provides them an International exposure apart from extending an opportunity to meet up with eminent Indian Scientists and rub shoulders with them.
Led by their Mother-Figure, Dr. Srimathy Kesan, the children travel abroad for space education. The Young Scientist Program was designed to promote science awareness to high school students, to increase their understanding of science, and to attract them into scientific careers, as there is a big vacuum in the enrolment of young scientists in our research centres.
To know more about SKI and its functioning, we got in touch with Dr. Srimathy, and the following interview was a resultant aspect.
How did a trip to Florida lead to the foundation of Space Kidz India?
During the trip to Florida, I felt great to represent India at the two day meet in the US. I enjoyed being one of the 10,000 delegates and there were 3,600 booths at the conference. When I visited the NASA booth, I came to know they conduct a space camp for kids and they mentioned to me that no students come to them from India, hence, I had invited the Space coast Director and team to Chennai to speak to the Indian audience about their Space program.
Kennedy Space Centre- NASA gave me the recognition as their ambassador. I faced some initial hiccups as it was hard to convince parents to send their kids to the US and also getting US visas from the consulate due to a lack of proper papers for many of the children.
But, finally, I could manage to mobilize as many as 108 children from 8th to 12th standard in the 12-16 years age group. The first delegation of children for NASA left on April 27, 2010. It is the 10th anniversary of our maiden trip and my entry to entrepreneurship.
It was no small achievement for me as I was searching for a purpose in my life till then. There at KSC, NASA, I learned many things about satellites and rockets, their importance in the scientific progress of a country. That trip inspired me to take up many more visits to NASA as well as other space centres in Europe and Russia.
Space Kidz India (SKI) was officially inaugurated in a small office space in the year 2012 June. For me, Space means, space within you, space above you, and space – platform.
Determination and knowledge are the twin goals of SKI and that’s how today, the World has recognized us as the “Only organization to have launched 12 Balloon Sats, 2 Sub Orbital Satellites and 1 Orbital Satellite” and all with children in the ages between 16 years until 21 years (MIND YOU THEY ARE ALL REAL SATELLITES) KalamSat – NASA (the World’s lightest and 1st ever 3D printed Satellite), KalamSat V2 – ISRO (lightest student Satellite and 1st Satellite to fly in the 4th stage of the PSLV)
At present, what is SKI’s range of services or offerings?
A commercial organization with research and development as its spine. It is pure hard work, dedication, and not running a mad race thinking of a ghost competitor has put us in a place where we are today. A small buck size organization with huge wings of a dragon has never been in the race of competition.
- Designing and manufacturing of student Cubesats
- Designing and launching of Balloonsats
- Launchpad facility for launching balloon satellites
- Science awareness camps/Astro camps/Astrobiology camps
- Revisiting Space History through Space awareness camps at NASA, ESA, and GCTC.
How is your company strategizing to sustain competition in your respective industry?
The space industry is just as vast as Space! Whereas in India there are few companies active and we know their objectives. Space Industry includes the generation of scientific knowledge, the diffusion of innovation and creation of markets, Space technology touches and enhances practically every aspect of life on Earth. So, every mission of ours is unique and has a certain objective.
As mentioned earlier, no company in India has launched as many ballonsats & satellites as we have launched and also the first to break the barrier as students launching the world’s smallest satellite and standing unique in the country with innovative solutions and missions. Staying innovative, bringing youth together from across the globe with no boundaries, and making the impossible, possible.
What underlying challenges did you come across in the initial phase (or continue to face) of your organization?
Well the challenges, initially faced as the first ambassador for the NASA space camps was humongous, because, very seldom children are permied as young as 12 years old to cross oceans, fly and go to a different land to learn something for a week. So, parents were skeptical about sending their children with a total stranger and hence, I had to work hard to convince them and I should say by the grace of god it really worked and today I can proudly say I was able to take about 1500 children of all age groups between 12-22 years across the Country to United States, Canada, and to Russia, currently being the ambassador to the Russian Space Center I have taken enough and more children to Gagarin Cosmonaut training centre, Moscow and also being the ambassador for the Aero festival – “MAKS, Russia”.
I was able to take children there too. At MAKS the children are awarded for their creativity their presentation and model making with regards to Aerospace. We had the opportunity to meet President Mr. Putin, though we did not go very close to him, but yes, of course, we had an opportunity to meet him and we also had an opportunity to meet and interact with the Science and Education Minister of Russia. So, it was a great treat I should say.
Well, the opportunities are huge as now the parents have understood the importance of sending their children abroad for educational tourism because it’s not only that they spend their valuable time on one particular thing for example when I take children to NASA or Russia I not only take them to the Space Centre but also a couple of Universities there to give them hands-on experience and awareness on what disciplines are available across the globe and that apart, of course, a cultural tour and a cultural performance at the senate, Universities, etc. is an add on.
Now our sector has got some relaxation from the government and we hope many opportunities are opening up and we are ready to align accordingly and work.
As an entrepreneur, what is your opinion on the current COVID-19 crisis and its impact on the economy, employment, and human life?
The COVID-19 pandemic is considered as the most crucial global health calamity of the century and the greatest challenge that humankind has faced since the 2nd World War. It has rapidly spread around the world, posing enormous health, economic, environmental, and social challenges to the entire human population.
Amidst the current Coronavirus crisis, and despite government stimulus efforts, overall funding is rapidly drying up as banks and venture capital firms retreat to the side-lines. Every company – startup and settled firm alike – will have to focus its energies on execution while husbanding what cash reserves they have. Let’s hope the best of them make it through with their values intact. We should not allow the current situation to let us forget how critical it is to cultivate and incubate new ideas.
Despite all efforts – global lock down, social distancing guidelines, and increased sanitization — the number of COVID-19 cases has been rising across the world. However, with the exceptional efforts of doctors and other healthcare workers, over two million people have recovered from this infectious disease. But does your life return to normal after recovery? The COVID-19 saga will come to an end without a doubt.
We will get back to our lives and visit the great outdoors. But that life will be significantly different. Moreover, reaching that point will depend on our current actions. We must respect social distancing measures and reduce the spread of the disease. Only then will we experience the post-pandemic world.
Being a business leader and an industry expert, what advice would you give to future entrepreneurs or those who aspire to start their ventures?
The journey of entrepreneurship is an extremely beautiful one. I would attribute it to giving birth to a child, ten months of pain, and one beautiful outcome. So how many ever challenges we face during the startup and then as we grow still there are beautiful moments that we could cherish forever that will mould us to be a good entrepreneur, a responsible human being for the society and the country. India needs more exports rather than imports, being a huge subcontinent with varied cultures.
I presume we need to come up with more innovative ideas, more global industries, new techniques that can be a support to the global ecosystem. I would encourage more and more entrepreneurs so that our GDP will be in fancy figures. “As a woman myself, I would like to encourage fellow women to become entrepreneurs be it small scale, mid-scale or large scale whatever be the capacity but be an entrepreneur and lead the country.”
What do you envision for your company’s future in terms of growth, expansion, or other developmental aspects?
I am a very ambitious entrepreneur, not for growing my kitty but very ambitious in spreading knowledge in science amongst the youth of the country and creating more scientific entrepreneurs for the country. About the space industry, we have started working on a small rocket that would take a payload between 1 and 10 kilos. This is purely gonna be educational and we have about 8000 higher education institutions in the country and I am sure we will have a launch every month.
Now that the finance ministers opened up the partnership between private players and ISRO, we are looking forward to having a partnership and utilizing the facility of ISRO for launching our small rockets. This is definitely going to be not only commercially successful but also it is going to build a huge brand image for the country across the globe.
About the Leader
Dr. Srimathy Kesan, born to an auto-mobile engineer Srinivasan and a homemaker Meena, was an active student in sports and NCC right from her school days. She pursued B. Com and parallelly represented Andhra Pradesh in 10 Basketball Nationals apart from being a State athlete. An early marriage took her to Chennai where she got busy with her family putting a pause to her career.
Not one to be bogged down by problems, she took up a variety of activities ranging from giving voice-over to making ad films and penning scripts, fashion choreography, after a hiatus of around 16 years. A confessed hard worker, a travel conference saw her meeting an old friend, and an opportunity for an international travel conference at Florida in the US, in February 2009.
That trip changed the life of Srimathy for good and events thereafter led to the establishment of Space Kidz India.
