Meet Somnath Mali, who went from studying in a Maharashtra village to becoming a scientist at ISRO

Somnath Mali from Sarkoli village in Pandharpur – a district in Maharashtra – overcame many challenges to become a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). According to The Quint, he will be joining the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala as a senior scientist.

He told India Today, “Recently I got a job as a senior scientist in ISRO. I have completed BTech in mechanical engineering, and pursuing mechanical design from IIT, Delhi. I applied to ISRO in 2016 but I was not able to clear the written exams then. In 2019, on the basis of my MTech degree, I applied for this ISRO job. I got selected on June 2, 2021 as a senior scientist.”

Somnath hails from an underprivileged family and has had to overcome a number of challenges to reach where he is today. His father and brother worked various odd jobs to help fund his studies.

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He did primary education at a local Zila Parishad school, followed by a fully funded secondary school in his village. He took admission at the KBP college in Class XI, and used to travel all the way to Pandharpur to study. He worked hard and secured the 916th rank in the GATE exam, and was selected to study the course of mechanical design at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Somnath, who once didn’t know that he could pursue a career as a scientist, was given an opportunity to build an aircraft at IIT, Delhi, through which he discovered his passion. He firmly believes that education and awareness of opportunities are key to alleviating poverty in villages.

(Written by Vrinda Garg)

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