1986 - B.Tech - Electrical Engineering Vice President @ Xros/Nortal Networks, Sunnyvale, USA
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.
