'I aspired to be a doctor, picked engineering as per dad's advice,' says ISRO chief

Chennai, India

Dr S Somanath, the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is a Gold medallist in Engineering, but did you know that he was also a high school state-topper in Biology? In a special address to budding doctors, Dr Somanath revealed his own teenage passion towards a career in the medical profession and how it did not materialise.

"In my home state (Kerala), I was a topper in Biology and aspired to be a doctor. However, my father (a teacher by profession) asked me to take up Engineering or Math, as the medical profession is very tough and demanding," he smilingly recalled.

He said that his father advised him to pursue Engineering or Mathematics, as it would help him lead a simple life as a Teacher or Professor. Either way, his career choices have made him the Space-sector technocrat Dr S Somanath and he is also topping it up by pursuing an additional Doctorate at IIT Madras' Mechanical Engineering Department. 

Addressing students at the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR University in Chennai, Dr Somanath touched upon how the medical and the space domains (though seemingly unconnected) are closely linked, and how ISRO has been working closely with medical professionals as part of the Gaganyaan astronaut programme. Referring to ISRO's keen involvement in the field of bio-astronautics, he said that ISRO was looking to have doctors join their team. The long-term impact of spaceflight can impact the human body in multiple ways and with humans looking to venture deeper and longer into space, such constant synergy between the aerospace and medical domain was a necessity, he said.

He urged budding medical professionals to be well-versed in software and AI tools, as they would significantly impact the profession and cause disruptions in the way healthcare is provided. Sharing some future possibilities, he mentioned how wearable sensors could measure multiple health parameters and physical attributes, thereby helping a centralised computer network predict health hazards and share warnings asking the concerned individual to seek medical attention. "In future, it might be possible to have an embedded medicinal kit in the body. As and when detected and required, the necessary drug in the specific quantity can be delivered to the targeted site," he said.

Referring to the future requirements of the global space sector, he said that extreme deep space exploration is time-consuming and takes several years. "There is a need to keep humans alive for a long period of time, without ageing. It is possible to build rockets and spacecraft that can work for several decades and travel into deep space, but can we(as seen in science fiction films) pause human life and resume it when required? There are places that we cannot travel to in one lifetime, so such technologies are required. If a human colony has to sustain itself on another planet, the services of Doctors are most essential," he pointed out. 

Touching upon AI and Machine Learning, Somanath said that the treatment data and medical history derived from thousands of patients could be used to arrive at better and more effective means of treatment. It will be possible to track the evolution of illnesses, and how they affect people of certain genetics and from certain geographies. "AI and ML courses must be taught in medical universities," he concluded. 

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