The Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University), Chandigarh organised an exclusive event, for Celebrating the Successful return of Astronaut Sunita Williams to Earth.
An Expert Lecture on "Overview of Commercial Training, Survival Training & Deep Space Mission" was delivered by Sh. Jitendra Singh a distinguished Flight Test Engineer, Commercial Astronaut Candidate-India 2025 on 20th March, 2025.
He was the Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker for the session, which was graced by Prof. Rakesh Kumar (Head, Aerospace Engineering Department), along with Er. Manish Gupta, Dr. Deepak Lekhi, Dr. T.K. Jindal, and students of the institute.
Prof. Rakesh Kumar warmly welcomed Shri Jitendra Singh to the portals of PEC. The session took off with Shri Jitendra Singh captivating the audience with his personal stories and professional insights.
As a Commercial Astronaut Candidate, he provided in-depth knowledge about commercial training and showcased various aircraft along with their technical aspects. He elaborated on rovers, capsules, and space shuttles used by NASA and ISRO.
During his discussion on survival training, he emphasized the physical and psychological resilience required to endure extreme conditions. He highlighted the importance of teamwork in space missions and introduced the concept of Mental Viscosity a state when the brain refuses to think.
The audience was fascinated as he shared insights on analogue missions and displayed deep space images while discussing deep space explorations. He also traced his journey from PEC to DRDO and ultimately to becoming a Flight Test Engineer.
Notably, he is India's first candidate in the inaugural cohort of the Spaceflight Institute. As part of an international six-member crew, he successfully completed Track 1 of Phase-1 training, covering ground subjects such as psychology, isolation, communication, space exploration, and intensive survival training.
A special highlight of the event was a message from Jean Francois Clervoy, an ESA/NASA Astronaut, who was an instructor and coach of our beloved Kalpana Chawla, is also training Sh. Jitendra Singh. He said, he has been very kind to send this special message for PEC.
He had recorded this on a boat on the polar circle, making it a truly special gesture for PEC. communication, space exploration & intensive survival training. The key attraction of the session was this session was planned within a couple of hours in which the alumni Sh. Jitendra Singh just travelled his way to chandigarh for PEC.
This also talks about fostering alumni corporations in PEC, in which his batchmate President PECOSA Er. Manish Gupta is actively playing his role in strengthening this bond. He also expressed his gratitude towards Dr. Rakesh Kumar, HoD, for identifying alumni to increase the capacity of Aerospace engineers in the country through these expert lectures.
He shared his gratitude toward "Director Prof. Rajesh Kumar Bhatia in absentia, who is leading the institute from the front and hosted Mr. Jitendra Singh, at the alma-mater as the second astronaut candidate from the college."
He also shared his deepest gratitude to "PEC for imparting not only academic knowledge but for all around development which led to this extraordinary journey to space." His son is also a fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force and had graduated from the NDA.
His inspirational address gave attendees a clearer understanding of the deep space mission, commercial and survival training roles. With buzzing curiosity students asked plenty of questions, which was answered by the Speaker very patiently.
Shri Jitendra Singh was welcomed and honoured at the end of interaction by Prof. Rakesh Kumar, along with Er. Manish Gupta, His teacher Dr. Surinder Kumar Jarial and all the other dignitaries by presenting a memento as a token of gratitude and appreciation for his enlightening lecture and contributions to the field of aerospace engineering.
The event was a resounding success, leaving the audience inspired and more passionate about their future in aerospace engineering. Lastly, the vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Deepak Lekhi.