Bhubaneswar: Odia scientist Dr Digendranath Swain received the prestigious Vigyan Yuva- Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award from President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar-2024 award ceremony held at Gantantra Mandap, Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.

Dr. Swain, EXMD/STR, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram, is an expert in experimental solid mechanics of launch vehicle structures.

He has made outstanding contributions in supporting structural qualification tests using DIC and other experimental techniques.

His expertise also includes digital image correlation system, digital shearography system, non-destructive testing using optical techniques, etc.

In the first edition of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, 33 awards were presented to distinguished scientists in four categories - Vigyan Ratna, Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Yuva, and Vigyan Team.

The Vigyan Ratna Award, honouring scientists for their lifetime contributions to Science and Technology, was presented to Prof. Govindarajan Padmanabhan, a pioneer in molecular biology and biotechnology research in India.

The Vigyan Shri Awards, recognizing distinguished contributions in the same fields, were awarded to 13 scientists for their groundbreaking research in various domains.

The Vigyan Yuva-SSB Award, celebrating exceptional contributions by young scientists, was given to 18 individuals for their significant work, ranging from studying the warming of the Indian Ocean and its effects to developing indigenous 5G base stations and conducting precision tests of quantum mechanics.

Additionally, the Vigyan Team Award, which honours teams of three or more scientists for groundbreaking research, was awarded to the Chandrayaan-3 team for successfully landing the Chandrayaan-3 lander near the moon's south pole.