NEW YORK, May 15: Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sam Pitroda will deliver the commencement address to the graduating class of 2012 at New York University’s prestigious engineering and technology school this week where he will also be conferred with an honorary degree.
The Polytechnic Institute of New York University, also known as NYU-Poly, lauded “wireless pioneer” Pitroda’s achievements in addressing the infrastructure and technology challenges in India, particularly his efforts in making telecom accessible to the country’s 1.2 billion people.
Pitroda, who currently serves as Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information and Infrastructure and Innovations and is the Chairman of the National Innovation Council, will address about 1000 undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty members at the commencement ceremony to be held at NYU-Poly’s campus here on May 18.
“The Polytechnic Institute of NYU is pleased to be welcoming Sam Pitroda, largely known as the ‘father of telecommunications of India’ as this year’s honorary degree recipient and Commencement keynote speaker because of his lifelong accomplishments and achievements,” NYU-Poly President Jerry Hultin said in a statement today.
“These achievements are not only as a technologist and entrepreneur who holds over 100 patents, but also through his contributions as a leader and advocate whether in education or economic innovation, in partnership with the government of India,” Hultin said.
Founded in 1854, NYU-Poly is among America’s most prestigious and oldest private schools specialising in engineering, applied sciences, technology and research.
Last month a New York University and NYU-Poly led consortium of world class institutions, including IIT Mumbai, was selected to set up an applied sciences campus in Brooklyn.
Describing Pitroda as one of the “pioneers” of India’s wireless industry, NYU-Poly, a hotbed for wireless research, said its association with him for this year’s graduation ceremony is “serendipitous”.
“Pitroda is the embodiment of our principles of ‘i²e’ (invention, innovation and entrepreneurship) as evidenced by his educational attainment, his successful ventures and enterprises, and his innovative approach to presenting solutions to seemingly intractable and large-scale issues in the equitable development of India’s citizens in the world’s largest democracy,” Hultin added.
Pitroda also heads the Expert Committee on the use of ICT in railways and is the Chairman of the Smart Grid Task Force set up under the aegis of India’s Ministry of Power.
He has recently been appointed the founding Commissioner of the United Nations Broadband Commission for Digital Development. (PTI)
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