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Citations: 2000 Distinguished Alumnus Awards Recipients

Dr.Rajiv Ramaswami:

Dr. Rajiv Ramaswami’s dedication to technology innovation and commercialisation sets him apart as a leader in the emerging new global economy.

An expert in Telecommunications Engineering and Architecture, Dr. Ramaswami, received his B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1986 from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He subsequently obtained his Master’s degree in 1988 and his Ph.D degree in 1990 from the University of California at Berkeley, in the USA.

From January 1989 to January 1997 Dr. Ramaswami was with the IBM T. J. Watson Research Centre, where he led a group that developed one of the earliest commercially available WDM systems. From 1997 through 1999, Dr. Ramaswami was Director of the Optical Networking Group at Tellabs, where he led the development and marketing of the Tellabs metro optical networking products. The group was seeded by Tellabs acquiring the IBM Research optical networking team.

Dr. Ramaswami is currently Vice President for System Architecture at Xros, a division of Nortel Networks. He leads a group doing product planning and system engineering for Xros’s products and also leads a cross-portfolio of Nortel group developing next generation all-optical networks. Dr.Ramaswami joined Xros in its early days in 1999 as a silicon valley startup, and was instrumental in setting the product direction and architecture for the company. Xros was acquired by Nortel Networks for $ 3.25 Billion in June 2000, setting a record for valuation of an early-stage company with just 70 employees.

Dr.Ramaswami has published extensively on optical networking and has about 25 patents. He has worked on all aspects of optical networks, from early research to product development to network deployment, as an engineer, leader, and entrepreneur. He presently serves on the Advisory Boards of several startup companies and ventures capital funds. Dr.Ramaswami is a Fellow of the IEEE and a recipient of the IEEE W.R.Bennett and W.R.G. Baker Prize Paper Awards and an Outstanding Innovation Award from IBM. He is also the co-author of a book “Optical Networks – A Practical Perspective”.

IIT-Madras is happy to bestow the Distinguished Alumnus Award on Dr.Rajiv Ramaswami.

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Subramonian Shankar:

Sri Subramonian Shankar belongs to that small class of techno-entrepreneurs who have made a significant impact on contemporary society. Born in Chennai (Madras) Sri Shankar obtained his B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1971. After working for three years in the R&D labs of Tata Electric Company, Sri Shankar proceeded to Canada where he obtained his Master’s degree in Electric Engineering from the University of New Brunswick in 1976.

Between 1976 and 1985, Sri Shankar worked alternately for organizations in the US and India until he founded American Megatrends Inc. in 1985. There can be very few individuals who use Personal Computers who are not aware of this company. In 1989 this organization was cited in Fast Tech 50 (fastest one year growth). In 1990, Sri Shankar was honoured as Georgia’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the year and as Business and Technology Alliance High Tech Entrepreneur of the year.

In 1991 Sri Shankar was honoured by the Who’s Who among Leading American Executives. In the same year, American Megatrends was ranked as the world’s number one BIOS manufacturer. In 1992 American Magatrends founded a subsidiary in Hong Kong and in 1993 in the UK along with Vitel Technologies – a contract manufacturing facility. In 1994 Sri Shankar founded AMI Germany and AMI India which is located in Chennai. AMI Taiwan followed in 1995 and AMI Korea in 1998.

Sri Shankar is married and has two children. Currently he is the President and CEO of American Magatrends Inc. and Vitel Technologies. The Indian Institute of Technology Madras is proud to honour Sri Subramonian Shankar with the Distinguished Alumnus award in recognition of his many achievements in technology and business.

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M.S Srinivasan:

Sri Srinivasan blends that rare combination of technical expertise with administrative ability.

Sri M.S. Srinivasan graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras with a B.Tech. in Civil Engineering in 1970. He subsequently received his Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University, U.S. in 1987. He underwent training at the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie from June 1971 to May 1973 and has also been a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for the last thirty years.

In a distinguished public administrative career spanning 27 years, Sri Srinivasan has travelled from his posting as a Sub-collector of Tuticorin Division of Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu. During this period he has served as the General Manager of the Pallavan Transport Corporation, as Managing Director of Kattabomman Transport Corporation, as Project Co-ordinator of the Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition Project, as Collector of the Dharmapuri and Ramanathapuram districts, as the Project Director for the Tamil Nadu Health Project, as the Marketing Director in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for the Government of India, as the Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited, as the Managing Director of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited and as the Secretary of the Government of Tamil Nadu Industries Department. Since June 2000 he has been with the Government of India in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. During this wide-ranging career, Sri Srinivasan has influenced the course of uncountable numbers of lives with his steadfast dedication and tireless energy. Among these numerous contributions, Sri Srinivasan led a health care program that focused pregnant and lactating mothers, and children in the age group of 6 to 36 months in 9000 villages, covering over 40% of the population of Tamil Nadu. While Industries Secretary of the Government of Tamil Nadu he played a significant role in the emergence of Tamil Nadu as a software city through his initiative during the development of the TIDEL Park at Chennai.

IIT-Madras is happy to bestow the Distinguished Alumnus Award on Shri. M.S. Srinivasan.

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Dr.Sankaran Sundaresan:

Dr. Sankaran Sundaresan is currently Professor of Chemical Engineering at Princeton University, New Jersey, USA. He received his B.Tech. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 1976. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Houston in 1978 and 1980 respectively.

Dr. Sundaresan’s contributions constitute an impressive body of work which spans the spectrum of chemical reaction engineering. He has made fundamental contributions in the areas of Hydrodynamics of Multiphase Reactors, Oxidation Catalysis and Reactor Dynamics. His work is remarkable for its unique combination of formal elegance and practical utility.

Dr. Sundaresan has published over 100 papers in reputed journals and has four patents to his credit. He has won several awards and honors including the Richard H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 1999.

Dr. Sundaresan has been an outstanding teacher and is known for an unfailing dedication to illuminating complex subjects for students. Dr. Sundaresan has served as a consultant to several corporations and research institutions in the USA.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer on him this award.

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