Shri Nilesh M. Desai is the top rank holder and gold-medallist in Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics & Communication) of 1986 batch. He is an expert in digital electronics, embedded system & microprocessor based designs, VLSI FPGA & ASIC design & verification, Software Quality Assurance activities etc. In his 39 years of dedicated and illustrious career at SAC/ISRO, he has contributed extensively in design and development of ISRO’s Microwave Radars (for RISAT, Oceansat, NISAR, Chandrayaan), realization of advanced and synergetic applications involving earth observation; navigation and communication technologies for societal benefits and national development. He is guiding activities related to remote sensing data processing, NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) Receivers & Applications, SatCom terminals & ground segments for Mobile, Broadband & High Throughput communication satellites and advanced technologies like Quantum Frontiers and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning.

He has made considerable efforts in popularizing and proliferating usage and applications of indigenous navigation technologies like NavIC & GAGAN for commercial, governmental and strategic users. He has also mentored the design of world class courses on Satellite Communication (SatCom) and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), under the aegis of United Nations Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (UN-CSSTEAP).

He has represented ISRO/India at various international fora including delegations at International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite System (ICG) meetings & conferences. He is the recipient of many individual and team Awards, including ISRO Individual Merit Award-2010 and ISRO Team Award for RISAT-1 Payload-2012, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Space programme-2023, Lifetime Achievement Award-2023 and Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Ratna Award-2023. He is also conferred with the honorary degree of Science (Honoris causa) and Doctor of Philosophy for his contributions to space sector. He is an active and contributing life member of many professional Societies like Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), Indian Society of Geomatics (ISG), Astronautical Society of India (ASI) and Indian Society of Systems for Science and Engineering (ISSE). During 2020-22, he has served as National President of ISRS and Presently, he is serving as the Vice President of ISSE-Ahmadabad Chapter.