‘Missile Woman’ Tessy Thomas to grace IIT Delhi convocation

Tessy Thomas, popularly known as the “Missile Woman of India”, will be the chief guest at the 56th Convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, scheduled for August 2.

Thomas earned her title as the first woman scientist to lead a missile project in India. She spearheaded the Agni-IV and Agni-V missile programmes under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Her contributions, particularly in the development of solid propellant systems, were pivotal to the success of the Agni missile series.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, IIT Delhi director Prof Rangan Banerjee said, “Over 2,750 students, including 530 PhDs, the highest ever, will be awarded degrees and diplomas. Thirty-five international students (UG-1, Masters-28, PhD-6) from 20 countries are graduating this year.”

He added, “This year we also see our first graduates in the UG BTech course in Energy Engineering and three PG courses — the Interdisciplinary PG MTech course in Robotics, and the Master of Science by Research in VLSI Design, Tools and Technology, and Artificial Intelligence.”

From the academic year 2025–26, the institute has launched two new undergraduate programmes — a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, the first of its kind at IIT Delhi, and a B.Tech in Design, which complements the existing Bachelor of Design course. Two new postgraduate courses in Optics and Photonics have also been introduced.