Vasant Gowrikar – Father of Indian Mansoon Model.
Gowariker, ‘Father of the Indian Monsoon Model’, dies at 81
Born in 1933 at Kolhapur, Gowariker did his Masters and later obtained his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham, UK.
Vasant Gowrikar
Noted scientist and space veteran Vasat Gowrikar, who made valuable contribution to the fields of space research, weather and population was chiefly known as Father of Indian Mansoon Model.
He worked for a few years with the UK Atomic Energy Authority before joining the space centre at Thumba (Kerala) in 1967 as Head of Propellant Engineering Division and later Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
He received a number of awards, including Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. Mourning Gowariker’s death, noted astrophysicist Jayant Naralikar described him as a “gifted scientist and nice human being”. “He was the vice-chancellor of Pune University when I was heading Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)