Ipsita Biswas | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Receiving the Narishakti Puruskar | |
| Occupation | Terminal ballistics scientist |
| Employer(s) | Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TRBL), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Government of India |
| Known for | Contributions to India's armed forces, paramilitary forces and women's empowerment in defence research and development. |
Ipsita Biswas is an Indianterminal ballistics scientist. In 2019 she was conferred India's highest civilian award for women, theNari Shakti Puraskar, for her contributions toIndia's armed forces,paramilitary forces andwomen's empowerment in defenceresearch and development.
Biswas was born and brought up in Kolkata.[1] She completed her post-graduate degree inapplied mathematics fromJadavpur University in 1988.[1] Immediately after her post-graduation she applied for a job at theDefence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and was selected in 1988 itself. She joinedTerminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), a DRDO lab in 1998 and now leads three divisions in the laboratory.[1]
Her work includes evaluating life-saving devices, protective systems andfrangible bullets. In 2016, she led the TBRL team which developedless-lethal plastic bullets which have been used by Indian paramilitary forces forcrowd control in Jammu and Kashmir. These plastic bullets can be used in the existing weapons used by the security forces.[1]
In March 2019, she was conferred India's highest civilian award for women, the Narishakti Puruskar "2018", byPresident Ram Nath Kovind, for her contributions to the women's empowerment in defence R&D and for her work onbulletproof vests and other protective systems for India's security forces.[2][3] The award was conferred at thePresidential Palace. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was present.[4] She has also been conferred the 'Agni Award for Excellence in Self Reliance' and the 'High Energy Material Society of India (HEMSI) Team Award for Meritorious Service'. The bullets can be used inAK-47 rifles and they "reduce fatalities".[1]
Biswas and her team have also been involved with developingfrangible bullets which shatter if they hit a surface that is harder than the bullet. The application would allowsky marshals to use these bullets to shoot, or threaten to shoot, hijackers on board aircraft with the assurance that the aircraft itself would not suffer substantial damage.[1]Air India have been using sky marshals since 1999.[5]