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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = M. R. Kurup
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Chengannur]], [[Kerala]], India
| death_date =
| death_place = India
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername = Madhavan Pillai Ramakrishna Kurup
| occupation = Rocket scientist
| yearsactive =
| known for = Solid [[rocket propulsion]] technology
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents = C. N. Madhavan Pillai3
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]
}}
'''Madhavan Pillai Ramakrishna Kurup''' was an Indian rocket scientist and the founder of the first solid rocket propellant plant in India at the [[Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre]].<ref name="MR Kurup Memorial Lecture">{{cite web | url=http://www.isnttvm.org/kurupMemorialLecture.php | title=MR Kurup Memorial Lecture | publisher=Indian Society for Non-Destructive Testing | date=2015 | access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> He is known to have contributed to the successful launching of the [[Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle]] (ASLV) as the director of the VSSC centre in [[Thiruvananthapuram]].<ref name="ASLV: The final countdown">{{cite web | url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/isro-scientists-prepare-for-second-aslv-flight/1/329540.html | title=ASLV: The final countdown | publisher=[[India Today]] | date=15 June 1988 | access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> The [[Government of India]] awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of [[Padma Shri]] in 1990.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=[[Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India]] |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6U68ulwpb?url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 November 2014 }}</ref>

==Biography==
Born in [[Chengannur]], in the south Indian state of [[Kerala]] to C. N. Madhavan Pillai, a lawyer,<ref name=" Our Great Prominent Personalities">{{cite web | url=http://www.chengannur.net/personalities.php | title=Our Great Prominent Personalities | publisher=Chengannur.net | date=2015 | access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> Kurup started his career by joining the [[Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre]] (VSSC) of the [[Indian Space Research Organisation]] (ISRO). He worked in VSSC in various capacities such as General Manager, Deputy Director and Chief Executive of Chemicals, Materials and Propulsion unit<ref name="MR Kurup Memorial Lecture" /> where he had the opportunity to work alongside [[A. P. J. Abdul Kalam]], the space scientist who would later become the [[President of India]].<ref name="My childhood memories of Kalam Uncle">{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/news/special/apj-abdul-kalam-my-childhood-memories-of-kalam-uncle/20150729.htm | title=My childhood memories of Kalam Uncle | publisher=[[Rediff]] | date=29 July 2015 | access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> During his tenure there, he established the first solid rocket propulsion plant in the country<ref name="MR Kurup Memorial Lecture" /> for propellants, propulsion and pyrotechnics.<ref name="Movers">{{cite web | url=https://tamilkirukkan.wordpress.com/tag/isro-became-a-government-body/ | title=Movers | publisher=Tamil Kirukkan | date=2015 | access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> He was a member of the team selected by [[Vikram Sarabhai]] to design the first Indian [[satellite launch vehicle]], which was composed of Kurup, [[Vasant Gowarikar]], [[A.E. Muthunayagam|A. E. Muthunayagam]] and [[Udupi Ramachandra Rao]] among others.<ref name="Movers" /> He was the Design Project Leader of the second stage<ref name="BHU Report">{{cite web | url=http://www.bhu.ac.in/kalam.pdf | title=BHU Report | publisher=Banaras Hindu University | date=2015 | access-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> and was closely associated with the project till the launch of the vehicle on 10 August 1979.<ref name="ISRO's spectacular leap in 25 years">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/08/15/stories/2004081500871300.htm | title=ISRO's spectacular leap in 25 years | date=15 August 2004 | work=[[The Hindu]] | access-date=27 September 2015}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Later, he moved to [[Satish Dhawan Space Centre]] in [[Sriharikota]] in [[Andhra Pradesh]],<ref name="ISRO's spectacular leap in 25 years" /> established a similar plant in the 1970s and superannuated from service as the director of the SHAR centre.<ref name="MR Kurup Memorial Lecture" />

The Government of India included him in the 1990 [[Indian honours system|Republic Day honours]] list for the civilian award of the [[Padma Shri]].<ref name="Padma Awards" /> The Indian Society for Non-Destructive Testing has instituted an annual lecture, ''M. R. Kurup Memorial Lecture'', in honour of Kurup.<ref name="MR Kurup Memorial Lecture" />

==See also==
* [[Satish Dhawan Space Centre]]
* [[Indian Space Research Organisation]]
* [[Vasant Gowarikar]]
* [[A.E. Muthunayagam]]
* [[Vikram Sarabhai]]
* [[Udupi Ramachandra Rao]]
{{portal|India|Science}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Science & Engineering}}
{{Padma Award winners of Kerala}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurup, M. R.}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:People from Alappuzha district]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Scientists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Indian space scientists]]
[[Category:Indian Space Research Organisation people]]
[[Category:Engineers from Kerala]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian engineers]]
[[Category:Indian chemical engineers]]

M. R. Kurup - Revision history

->GreenC bot at 18:34, 20 April 2021