Dr Arogyaswami Paulraj (IITD), emeritus professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, has been awarded the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Alexander Graham Bell Medal—the organization’s most prestigious honor. Dr Paulraj has been bestowed with this top technical award for his pioneering contributions to the application of multi-antenna technology to wireless communications systems.

He is a pioneer in MIMO—Multiple In Multiple Out, a wireless technology that dramatically increases the performance of broadband wireless systems. MIMO is now the core technology in latest WiFi and WIMAX systems.

Dr Paulraj, who completed his PhD from IITD (1973), joined the Indian Navy at age 15 through the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and served the Navy for 30 years. He served in India till 1991 where he is known for pioneering the development of military sonars. Dr Paulraj also served as the founding director for three major labs in India—CAIR (Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics), CDAC (Center for Development of Advanced Computing), and CRL (Central Research Labs of Bharat Electronics).