Meet Padma Shri Shubha V Iyengar, the scientist behind India's aviation safety tech
India Today
Dr Shubha V, a veteran scientist from CSIR-NAL, won the Padma Shri in 2026 for creating Drishti, India's first indigenous runway visibility-measuring system. Installed at major airports since 2011, Drishti provides critical visibility data to pilots and controllers, strengthening aviation safety and reducing reliance on costly foreign instruments.
On January 28, 2026, India woke up to the tragic news of the death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a plane crash while attempting to land at Baramati airport.
Initial reports pointed to poor visibility near the runway as a factor under investigation by aviation authorities, highlighting once again how crucial visibility systems are to safe flight operations.Amid this national shock, the story of Dr Shubha V Iyenger, a 2026 Padma Shri awardee and aerospace scientist, feels especially relevant. Her decades-long work in developing an indigenous runway visibility-measuring system could play a key role in reducing such accidents in the future.
For years, many airports in India relied on imported instruments to measure runway visibility — vital data that tells pilots how far ahead they can see during landings and take-offs.
This parameter, known as Runway Visual Range (RVR), is a key safety metric in aviation, especially in poor weather conditions.Dr Shubha V Iyenger, a scientist formerly with the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) in Bengaluru, led the development of Drishti, India’s first indigenously designed runway visibility-measuring system.
It’s a system built to calculate how far ahead a pilot can see, and it works in all kinds of tough weather, from dense fog to rain and dust storms.The innovation was first deployed over a decade ago and has since been installed at major airports
Drishti isn’t a brand-new invention from 2026 — it’s been operational for more than a decade. Field installations for trials date back to 2011 at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. It was subsequently expanded to Kolkata and Lucknow, and has since been installed at major airports nationwide.
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