S. K. Sikka | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1941-11-22)22 November 1941 |
| Died | 21 June 2023(2023-06-21) (aged 82) |
| Occupation(s) | Nuclear Condensed Matter physicist Crystallographer |
| Known for | Indian Nuclear Weapons Programme |
| Awards | Padma Shri H. K. Firodia award MRSI-ISCS Superconductivity and Materials Science Annual Prize M. M. Chugani Award of Indian Physics Association for applied physics Homi Jehangir Bhabha Medal of INSA Homi Bhabha Lifetime Achievement Award of Indian Nuclear Society Meghnad Saha Medal of National Academy Sciences DAE Lifetime Achievement Awards |
Satinder Kumar Sikka (22 November 1941 – 21 June 2023) was an Indiannuclearcondensed matterphysicist,crystallographer[1] and a former Scientific Secretary to thePrincipal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.[2][3] He was known to have played a crucial role, along withRaja Ramanna,Rajagopala Chidambaram andBasanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri, in the design and development of ahydrogen bomb by India,[4] which was tested at thePokhran Test Range in May 1998, under the code name,Operation Shakthi.[5] He was also involved in theSmiling Buddha tests, conducted in 1974.[6] He was awarded the fourth highest civilian award of thePadma Shri, by the Government of India, in 1999.[7]
Satinder Kumar Sikka was born inJhang Maghiana ( now in Pakistan )in undivided India on 22 November 1942,[8] three months after theQuit India Movement was launched.[6] He graduated (BSc) from thePunjab University in 1960 after which he started his career by joining theBhabha Atomic Research Centre Training School.[9] While at BARC, he did research underRajagopala Chidambaram, the renowned nuclear physicist who would later become his associate in the Pokhran tests, and secured a doctoral degree (PhD) fromMumbai University in 1970. His research during this period were centered around the topics ofneutron diffraction,X-ray crystallography, and high pressure andshock wave physics.[9] He served BARC till 2002, holding several key positions such as that of the Director of Atomic andCondensed Matter Physics Group. In 2002, he was appointed as the Scientific Secretary toPrincipal Scientific Adviser to theUnion Government and he continued his association with the office, even after his superannuation, first as a Scientific consultant to the Principal Scientific Adviser and then, as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C).[10] He was theHomi Bhabha Chair Professor at theBhabha Atomic Research Centre from 2010 to 2013. He died on 21 June 2023.
Sikka's early research onneutron diffraction and his studies of thePhase problem employinganomalous and direct scattering methods have been accepted by theInternational Union of Crystallography and has been incorporated in their teaching aids.[9] In 1969, he was included in the team of scientists for theIndian Nuclear Weapons Programme and was a member of theSmiling Buddha team which successfully tested the first Indian nuclear bomb on 18 May 1974.[9] He continued his involvement with the team and was the head of the thermonuclear device development team of thePokhran-II test of 1998.[11] It is reported thatRajagopala Chidambaram, his mentor at BARC, entrusted the responsibility of the development of thethermonuclear test device to Sikka,[12] after consultation with the thenPrime Minister of India,P. V. Narasimha Rao.[13] Sikka, receiving the instructions, set up a laboratory with facilities for static pressure generation employing diamond anvil cells and shock waves generation with gas guns, the first such laboratory in India.[9] The research here assisted in the development of computer codes fordesign, simulation and yield estimates of nuclear explosives[9] and, aided by these work, he is known to have developed a freshly designed deviceusing a boosted fission bomb primary, to be used on a ballistic missile.[13] His research has been documented by way of over 150 articles,[9] published in national and international peer reviewed journals.[14][15]
Sikka served as a member of the Executive Committee of theInternational Association for Advancement of Research and Technology under High Pressure from 1997 to 2000 and as a consultant to theCommission on High Pressure ofInternational Union of Crystallography from 2002 to 2006.[9] He has chaired theINSA committees for theInternational Union of Crystallography andCommittee on Data for Science and Technology and has served as a member of the Asia Pacific Academy of Materials and the editorial board ofHigh Pressure Research journal.[9]
Sikka holds the honorific title of theDistinguished Scientist of theBhabha Atomic Research Centre.[9] TheIndian National Science Academy elected him as their Fellow in 1988.[9] Two years later, theIndian Academy of Sciences followed suit and elected him as a Fellow.[8] In 1998, he was awarded theH. K. Firodia award for Excellence in Science and Technology,[16] one year before he received the fourth highest Indian civilian award of thePadma Shri.[7] He was selected for theMRSI-ISCS Superconductivity and Materials Science Annual Prize in 2001 and the Indian Physics Association awarded him theM. M. Chugani Award for Excellence in Applied Physics in 2002,[9] before theNational Academy of Sciences, India elected him as their Fellow in 2003.[17] Indian National Science Academy honoured him withHomi Jehangir Bhabha Medal for Experimental Physics in 2005. Indian Nuclear Society gave him the Homi Bhabha Lifetime Achievement Award of in 2007.[9] The National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad gave him Meghnadh Saha Medal in 2010. TheDepartment of Atomic Energy awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.[18]
