1987 - B.Tech - Electrical Engineering Chief Technology Officer @ Tejas Networks, Bangalore
Dr. Kumar Sivarajan obtained his B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1987, and went on to do his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA.
Dr. Kumar Sivarajan is one of the pioneers in the field of optical networking. He has made fundamental research contributions to the architecture of optical networks in a series of papers published in IEEE Transactions from 1990 onwards. Optical networking was just emerging at that time, and Kumar’s work comprehensively covered all aspects of optical network design including topology design, routing and wavelength assignment. His seminal paper on routing and wavelength assignment in all-optical networks also won the IEEE Communication Society Bennett Prize and IEEE WRG Baker Prize.
A Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and a winner of numerous prestigious awards for his research and academic work, Dr. Sivarajan is also the co-author of “Optical Networks: A Practical Perspective”, the most widely used textbook in the field. As the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Tejas Networks, Dr. Sivarajan guides the development of the next-generation of optical transmission products at Tejas. Tejas is India’s first optical networking start- up, and one of the very few telecom product companies in India. Prior to co-founding Tejas, Kumar served as a faculty member with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and with the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, New York.
In 2004, he was conferred the “Global Indus Technovator” award in InfoTech by The Indian Business club at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. He is also a recipient of the IEEE Charles LeGeyt Fortescue Fellowship and Swarnajayanthi Fellowship from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. In 2010, Kumar received the Techno-Visionary Award from the Indian Semiconductor Association.
In recognition of Dr. Kumar Sivarajan’s pioneering contributions and innovations in the field of optical networking, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer on him this award.
