Biography Of Sam Pitroda – Free PDF Download

EARLY LIFE

• Satyan Pitroda was born in Titlagarh, Odisha, India to Gujarati parents. He had seven siblings and is third oldest among them.
• The family was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy. Consequently, Pitroda and his brother were sent to Gujarat to imbibe Gandhian philosophy.
• He completed his schooling from Vallabh Vidyanagar in Gujarat and completed his master’s degree in Physics and Electronics from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara.

 INVENTOR

• After completing his Masters in Physics he went to the United States in 1964 and obtained a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
• In 1966 he went to work for GTE in Chicago. He is regarded as one of the earliest pioneers of hand-held computing because of his invention of the Electronic Diary in 1975.
• He developed the 580 DSS switch, over nearly four years. It was released in 1978. Wescom was acquired by Rockwell International in 1980, where Pitroda became vice president.

 INVENTOR

• During his four decades as an engineer, Pitroda filed scores of patents in telecommunications. The latest set of patents related to mobile phone-based transaction technology, both financial and non-financial, via mobile phones.
• He spent nearly a decade with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as leader of an effort to build an Indian information industry.
• The task was to extend digital telecommunications to every corner of the country, including remote villages, like the one of his birth.

 INNOVATOR

• Pitroda launched the Center for the Development of Telematics (C-DOT), and served as Advisor to the Prime Minister on Technology Missions related to water, literacy, immunization, oil seeds, telecom, and dairy.
• He is also the founding Chairman of India’s Telecom Commission. Pitroda returned to India a second time in 2004 to focus on building knowledge institutions and infrastructure.
• Pitroda served as chairman of the National Knowledge Commission (2005–2009), a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister of IndiaPitroda also founded the National Innovation Council (2010), and served as the Advisor to the Prime Minister with rank of a cabinet minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, to help democratize information.

 POLITICS

• Pitroda holds around 100 technology patents, has been involved in several start-ups and lectures extensively. Pitroda has also started several businesses as a serial entrepreneur (Wescom Switching, Ionics, MTI, Market, WorldTel, C-SAM, etc.) in the US and Europe.
• He had previously become a naturalized US citizen, but renounced his US citizenship to take Indian citizenship again in order to work in the Indian Government.
• In 1987 during his tenure as advisor to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Pitroda headed six technology missions related to telecommunications, water, literacy, immunization, dairy and oil seeds. He founded and was first chairman, of India’s Telecom Commission.

POLITICS

• In the 1990s Pitroda returned to Chicago to resume his business interests. In May 1995, he became the first chairman of WorldTel initiative of the International Telecommunication Union.
• When the United Progressive Alliance government came to power following the 2004 General Elections, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited him to head the National Knowledge Commission of India.
• In 2017, he was appointed as Chairman of Alpha-En Corporation, a Lithium Metal Clean Technology companyIn 2017, Pitroda was appointed as Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress by President of Indian National Congress.

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