Dr. Arun Netravali

Born On: May 26, 1946
Born In: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Career: Electrical Engineer

Arun Netravali, the man behind groundbreaking technological breakthroughs in digital technology like digital video research and high definition television, is an Indo-American technological whiz who revolutionized and redefined the way people perceive visual communications today. The former honcho of Bell Labs and chief scientist of Lucent Technologies, Netravali had pioneered several research and development works and had made significant contributions in the technology domain that has earned him a coveted status among his peers. However, that is not all to this technological stalwart. Behind his sharp techie brain, there lies a keen businessman and a leader who have inspired millions of minds with his pioneering feats. And even today, at the age of 65, this man continues to look forward to making many more such groundbreaking technologies to help transform human lives. An electrical engineer by profession, the long list of Netravali's breakthroughs in realms of digital technological advancement remains undefied. If you would like to know more about this Indian scientist of international acclaim, then trail down this biography below.

Early Life
Arun Netravali was born in Mumbai in the year 1946. After finishing school, he went on to graduate from IIT Mumbai. Later on, he moved to the U.S. to complete his M.S. and PhD from Rice University of Houston, Texas. Besides, Netravali holds the distinction of an honorary doctorate, conferred to him by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Career
Netravali worked in NASA in his initial years before making a big leap with Bell Laboratories. He also taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University and Rutgers University for some time. He has authored over 170 technical research papers and co-authored "Digital Pictures: Representation and Compression and Digital Video: An introduction to MPEG-2 and Visual Communications Systems" with Barry G. Haskell. Considering his humungous contribution in the field of technology, Netravali was made the ninth president of one of the best high-tech labs of the world -the Bell Laboratories, in the year 1991. During this time, he was working as the Chief Scientist for Lucent Technologies where he created some of the most important technologies and claimed patent for 70 of them. It is said that under the leadership of Netravali the number of innovations in Lucent Technologies accelerated dramatically, fetching phenomenal profits for the company. Dr. Arun Netravali is also a member of Tau Beta Phi and Sigma Xi-and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and AAAS-and a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering. Currently, Netravali is the managing partner of Omni Capital and directs various companies including Agere systems, Level 3 Communications and LSI Logic.

Personal Life
Dr. Netravali is married to Dr. Chitra Netravali and has two children named Ilka and Ravi. His daughter, Ilka is an MD PhD student at Harvard Medical School and Ravi is an undergraduate student at the Columbia University.

Contributions
In the year 1990, Netravali was elected as the leader of the research and development program for the HDTV or the high definition television. Today, most TV stations use a video encoder based on his work for their HDTV broadcasts. It was because of his contributions to digital technology that television was transformed from analog to digital.

Awards and Accolades

Timeline
1946: Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra
1967: Graduated from IIT Mumbai and pursued higher education in Houston University of Texas
1990: Led the research and development program for HDTV
1991: Became the president of the Bell Laboratories
2000: Received the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies in India) Medal
2001: Honored with Padma Bhushan by the Indian Government
2002: Received a medal of honor from President George Bush
2004: Became the managing partner of Omni Capital
2007: Join the Board of Members of LSI Logic