Kalam graduated from Madras Institute of Technology with a degree in aeronautical engineering and joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation in 1958. (DRDO). He joined the Indian Space Research Organisation in 1969 as project director of the SLV-III, the first satellite launch vehicle designed and manufactured in India. After rejoining DRDO in 1982, Kalam oversaw a programme that resulted in a number of successful missiles, earning him the moniker "Missile Man." Among those triumphs was Agni, India’s first intermediate-range ballistic missile, which integrated components of the SLV-III and was launched in 1989.
From 1992 to 1997, Kalam was the defence minister's scientific adviser, and from 1999 to 2001, he was the government's chief scientific adviser with the title of cabinet minister. Although the tests raised worldwide alarm, Kalam's important participation in the country's 1998 nuclear weapons testing cemented India's status as a nuclear power and positioned him as a national hero. In 1998, Kalam proposed Technology Vision 2020, a national plan he described as a road map for improving India's agricultural production, stressing technology as an engine for economic progress, and expanding access to health care and education In under 20 years, India has progressed from a developing to a developed society. Increasing agricultural production, prioritising technology as an engine for economic growth, and expanding access to health care and education were among the goals included in the plan.
Kalam was nominated by India's ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to succeed incumbent President Kocheril Raman Narayanan in 2002. Despite being Muslim, Kalam was nominated by the Hindu nationalist (Hindutva) NDA, and his status and popularity were such that the Indian National Congress, the main opposition party, also advocated his candidacy. Kalam comfortably won the election, and in July 2002, he was sworn in as India's 11th president, a purely ceremonial position. In 2007, he finished his tenure and was succeeded by Pratibha Patil, the country's first female president.
Following his return to civilian life, Kalam remained devoted to utilising science and technology to help India become a developed country, lecturing at a number of universities. He fainted while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong on July 27, 2015, and was pronounced dead shortly after from cardiac arrest.
Kalam wrote many novels, Wings of Fire, an autobiography (1999). Two of the country's highest honours, the Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the Bharat Ratna (2001), were among his many accolades (1997).