Famous As Scientist
Born On 26 May 1946
Born In Mumbai, India
Nationality Indian
Arun Netravali is an Indian born American technology stalwart who revolutionized the face of visual communications with his groundbreaking inventions. The head honcho of Bell Laboratories, Netravali has quite a slew of laurels to his name. Hailed as a pioneer in the realms of digital technology, his research and development works towards high definition television is truly commendable and has established him as a technological whiz of sorts. He believes in the mantra that in order to bring about a change and bring in a new invention, one has to be backed by both academics and venture capitalist. Over the years, he has obtained a number of patent rights to a number of technologies in the field of computer systems, parts of human-machine interface, digital imaging and digital television. Apart from his inventions, he is also appreciated for his business acumen and leadership qualities. What's more, this technological virtuoso has authored nearly 170 papers, and co-authored several books.
Early Life
Arun Netravali was born on May 26, 1946 in Bombay, present day Mumbai. He graduated from Indian Institute of Technology and later went on to do his masters and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Career
Netravali is one of those few scientists who has not only made a significant difference in the technological world with his groundbreaking innovations, but has also paved way for newer technologies and ideas. Over the years, he has undertaken several research and development programs to redefine and improvise the existing technology and has also managed to study consumer related issues. His partnership with Bell Labs has not only resulted in a dramatic change in the technical world, but has influenced the company's market value as well. Being the Vice President of research department, he focused on areas like communication, computing and physical sciences. His contributions towards Bell Labs have been immense. Many business analysts state that his contribution has been vital to the organization for bringing Bell Labs to a leading position in the market. He has been the primary person responsible for the creation of picture synthesis, processing, compression of picture and image sequences. This has altered television viewing from analog to digital broadcasting, cable TV, DBS, HDTV, and facilitated a range of new collection of products and services that has revolutionized the face of multimedia. He has been the managing director and a member of the board for various organizations. Arun has also been a professor in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, City College, New York, Columbia University and Rutgers University.
Achievements and Awards
Arun has published hundreds of essays on various technical aspects that interested him. He has also been the co-author for three books - 'Digital Picture Representation and Compression', 'Visual Communications Systems' and 'Digital Video: An Introduction to MPEG-2'. Over the years, he has been honored with several prestigious awards. He has been the recipient of Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1991), an EMMY for the HDTV Grand Alliance (1994), the Computers & Communications Prize, (1997), the Frederik Philips Award from the IEEE (2000), the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies in India) Medal (2000), and the Kilby Medal from the IEEE (2001). He has also received the Padam Bhushan from the Indian government as a token of recognition for his gargantuan contributions in digital telecommunication.
Personal Life
Arun Netravali is married to Dr. Chitra and the couple has two children - a daughter named Ilka and a son Ravi. Ilka has done her Ph.D. from Harvard Medical College while his son is a student at Columbia University.
Time Line
1946: Arun Netravali was born on May 26 in Mumbai.
1991: Alexander Graham Bell Medal was awarded to him.
2000: NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies in India) Medal.
2001: Arun was honored with a Padma Bhushan by the Indian Government.
2002-2003: Served as the Chief Scientist for Lucent Technologies Inc
2004: Became the Managing Partner of OmniCapital Group LLC.
2007: Join the Board of Members of LSI Logic.
