Indian American Dr Arun N Netravali won this year’s $100000 Marconi Prize. Netravali is a HDTV tech pioneer and the former President of Bell Labs.
The Marconi Prize is awarded to recognize scientists who pursue advances in communication and information technology for the social, economic, and cultural development of all humanity.
Netravali from Mumbai, is an IIT Bombay alumnus. He arrived in the USA in 1967 to attend Rice University as a graduate student. He conducted seminal research in digital compression, signal processing and other fields.
The Marconi Society was established by Gioia Marconi Braga, daughter of Nobel Laureate Guglielmo Marconi who invented radio, in 1974. It promotes awareness of key technology and policy issues in telecommunications and the internet, and recognizes significant individual achievements through the Marconi Prize and Young Scholar Awards.
Past winners of Marconi Prize includes Dr. Robert Kahn, Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Dr. Robert Metcalfe etc.