Space high. The dreams of 26-year-old Domma Veerala Venkaiah, who wanted a job at ISRO, were that high. The first graduate from a family of farmers, the NIT-Tiruchy alum has finally gotten into the department of instrumentation and design at ISRO and will now research about space at the prestigious space organisation. Domma, an M Tech student of electronics and communication engineering from NIT-Trichy, has secured the ninth rank in the all-India level test conducted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after a failed attempt earlier. Two years of unfailing grit also went into the mix.
Domma, a resident of Janapadu village in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, is the first graduate in his family. His father Venkatarayappa (50), is a farmer who has two acres of land. “In my native place, it is a common myth that only those who belong to the minority community can get through government jobs as they can exercise the quota privilege. Now, when I go to my village, people look at me and feel that hard work sometimes can also get one through government jobs,” he reflects.
His interest in science and a desire to serve the country brought him to NIT-T and now to ISRO. “My mission is to serve the country and die as a government employee,” said the gritty lad, who studied in a Telugu-medium government school in Andhra Pradesh till Class 10. Domma did not like any of the corporates jobs despite a few offers during his UG days. He also took the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre exams and cleared it but did not make it in the interview. “After my term at NIT I realized one thing for sure and that is Microwave engineering is the sole subject, which would fetch me employment and I would not touch any other job apart from this stream,” he recalls fondly. His love for the subject meant his options were narrowed to select government organisations including ISRO, DRDO and HAL. As only government-run organisations are authorized to work in the field of microwaves.
Domma was among the 280 shortlisted for the final interview for 49 vacancies. His dream job was to become a space scientist. Domma says, “I prepared for the interview focusing more on microwave engineering, microwave integrated circuits, planar transmission lines and computational electromagnetics. I realised that in my earlier interview I was not verbose about the specifications the interviewers sought on the several concepts I told them, and they thought that I just verbally vomited my education. Thanks to NIT-Tiruchy, today I am not only aware of the topic, but also a confident public speaker too.”
Reach Out: venkaiahnaidudomma@gmail.com