Hyderabad|India|September'2010: Dr. S M Ahmed, an ex-student of the University of Hyderabad and currently the Principal Scientific Officer, Central Instruments Laboratory at the University of Hyderabad gave a popular talk on “Chace to Moon” at DST Auditorium on 2 September 2010 on the University campus.

In his talk, Dr. Ahmed narrated the importance of PSLV’s, Terrain mapping camera, Moon Impact probe (MIP) and other sophisticated instruments in successful launching of Chandrayaan-I and added that the pictures obtained from Moon Impact Probe were the clearest compared to the earlier expeditions and described CHACE evolution and role played by CHACE in changing the mindset of the outcome of APOLLO, a NASA mission of Moon expedition which had claimed absence of water on the moon.

Dr. Ahmed opined that though water was found on the Moon, there is scope to further the research to find ionic particles which could break the ice on the composition of moon.

Dr. Seyed E Hasnain, Vice Chancellor presided over the talk and said that there is a gap between the mindset of Academicians and Researchers of Indian scientific organizations which, if filled, could result in path breaking research outcome.

Dr. Ahmed, called upon the students to take Science as a top rated option while opting their career and give their best.

Dr. Ahmed had a two-year stint at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA as Research Associate during 1994-96 and spent one year (2001-2002) at the Swiss Federal Institute (EPFL), Switzerland. He joined ISRO’s most ambitious Chandrayaan project in 2005 and developed a quadrupole based mass spectrometer which worked successfully in the Moon Impact Probe mission.