Women of TeamIndus: The Story of Mohini Parameswaran
Mohini Parameswaran is perhaps the most popular person working at TeamIndus. She works on Spacecraft health monitoring and ground segment software for the Moon Mission. She is also one of the most experienced people in TeamIndus, having worked earlier with the European Space Agency — ESA — for nearly 13 years and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for more than two decades. At ISRO and ESA, she worked on a gamut of prestigious projects. That list starts from the early days of the Rohini series of satellites to IRS 1C for ISRO and from Envisat to the Rosetta Mission for ESA. Here are edited excerpts from a conversation with her.
What made you join TeamIndus?
I first heard about TeamIndus through a chance meeting with the Mission Director Mr. N.S. Hegde(Formerly Mission Director of Chandrayaan-1), when I met him at ISAC — ISRO Satellite Centre — in October, 2015. Soon after, in the first week of November, I came across TeamIndus again when I read an article about four start-up companies in the space industry in a newspaper. I felt prompted to call Mr. Hegde and ask him about it again whereupon he informed me that the one without any photos in the newspaper article is TeamIndus.
I was invited to visit the TeamIndus office on the 9th of November, 2015 and was impressed by the presentation on the GLXP mission. Among other things, the members of TeamIndus and I discussed how mission operations are conducted at European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) and about SCOS-2000, ESOC’s Mission Control software, given my experience with these operations and systems. I left the office that day with the healthy feeling that the younger generations in India have excellent opportunities to study and work in their fields of choice and are utilising them well.
Next January, tired of the retired life, I contacted Mr. Hegde to determine if there was any work in TeamIndus that matched my experience. I was invited to sit in on the monthly review held on the last Saturday of every month. Within a short while, I was working twice a week at TeamIndus.
TeamIndus follows the philosophy of mixing extremely young engineers fresh out of college with people like you who have been there and done that. How has the experience been working with young scientists?
I had decided that if I get a chance to work with this young and energetic team, I will be healthy both physically and mentally. So when I got a chance to join, I took the opportunity. It was, and has continued to be, a very refreshing experience to work with a team whose average age is just over half the span of my career! These youngsters are open and have the courage to ask questions that I perhaps may not have thought of. The team liked my approach and what I brought to the project and now, here I am, working everyday with them.
There is a great spirit in this group of people that needs to be sustained in future missions and projects because venturing into something as potentially limitless and advantageous to mankind as the space industry, especially as a private sector company in India, is a pioneering undertaking. It is in some ways equivalent to the pioneers and explorers of old — requiring a high level of commitment, focus, integrity and an enthusiasm for discovery. I am confident that we will complete this and future missions successfully, blaze a trail and set an example for all who wish to achieve exceptionally and be part of something greater than themselves.
What is that one piece of advice you have for the next generation of youngsters thinking of pursuing science?
Sustain this spirit through out your career and life. Continue the high level of commitment, focus, integrity and the enthusiasm for discovery. Set an example for all who wish to achieve exceptional goals.
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