India

The man on a mission… to Mars
As a boy growing up in India, Gadhadar Reddy wanted to go to Mars. As a man studying in the UK, Gadhadar is working hard to make that dream a reality.  

Ever since I was a child, my goal was to land up in Mars.

Childhood dreams are all too often tempered by the realities of adult life. However, in some cases, the opposite happens and childhood dreams only burn brighter and become more vivid with the passage of time. This is what happened to Gadhadar Reddy, whose long-held dream of setting foot on Mars has been at the heart of every academic, professional, and entrepreneurial decision he’s made.

Gadhadar completed a master’s in Nanotechnology and, with the help of Dr Robert Kelley Bradley, started his company in 2011. The company’s name, NoPo Nanotechnologies is an abbreviation of ‘not possible’, because no one believed an Indian company could produce carbon nanotubes – the high strength, low weight, and radiation resistant material that could potentially be used to make lighter and cheaper spacecrafts.

Gadhadar describes the challenges his company went through during years of continuous research and development to get to where they are today.

Currently studying the Chevening Research Science and Innovation Leadership Fellowship (CRISP) at Oxford University, Gadhadar is hoping his nanotubes will be going to Mars very soon, and that humans will follow thereafter. Although it’s a big challenge, Gadhadar is more than Reddy.

Coming soon…

An exclusive in-depth interview with Gadhadar as part of our ‘Lead In…‘ podcast series.