Arun N. Netravali is an Indian-American engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 who is a pioneer of digital technology including HDTV. He conducted seminal research in digital compression, signal processing and other fields. Netravali has been President of Bell Laboratories and Chief Scientist for Lucent Technologies

Lucent Technologies

Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., originally Lucent Technologies, Inc. is a French-owned technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs...

.

Early life

Arun Netravali was born in Bombay (now Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

). He received his undergraduate degree from the IIT Bombay, India, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Rice University

Rice University

William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...

 in Houston, Texas all in electrical engineering.

Career

Arun Netravali taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

, Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, and Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

. He has authored more than 170 technical papers and co-authored the books Digital Pictures: Representation and Compression, Visual Communications Systems, and Digital Video: An Introduction to MPEG-2.

He holds more than 80 patents relating to computer networks, human interfaces to machines, picture processing, and digital television.

Netravali is currently the managing partner of OmniCapital, a venture capital

Venture capital

Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...

 company, and is a director of various companies including Agere Systems

Agere Systems

Agere Systems Inc. was an integrated circuit components company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Spun out of Lucent Technologies in 2002, Agere was merged into LSI Corporation in 2007....

.

Awards and honors

Netravali has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including

• the IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal
  IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal
  The IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal is presented "for outstanding achievements in signal processing" theory, technology or commerce. The recipients of this award will receive a gold medal, together with a replica in bronze, a certificate and a honorarium.The award was established in...
  
   in 2001 (together with Thomas S. Huang)
• the IEEE Frederik Philips Award
  IEEE Frederik Philips Award
  The IEEE Frederik Philips Award is a Technical Field Award that was established by the IEEE in 1971. The award is presented for outstanding accomplishments in the management of research and development resulting in effective innovation in the electrical and electronics industry.This award may be...
  
   in 2001
• the U.S. National Medal of Technology
  National Medal of Technology
  The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...
  
  
• the Padma Bhushan
  Padma Bhushan
  The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
  
   from the Government of India
• the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
  IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
  The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal is an award honoring "exceptional contributions to the advancement of communications sciences and engineering" in the field of telecommunications...
  
   in 1991 (together with C. Chapin Cutler
  C. Chapin Cutler
  Cassius Chapin Cutler was an American electrical engineer at Bell Labs. His notable achievements include the invention of the corrugated waveguide and differential pulse-code modulation .-Biography:...
  
   and John O. Limb
  John O. Limb
  John O. Limb is an American engineer, known for fundamental contributions to the development of digital video communications and holder of a series of patents related to computer communications....
  
  )
• elected to member of the National Academy of Engineering
  National Academy of Engineering
  The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
  
   in 1989
• elected to IEEE Fellow
  IEEE Fellow
  An IEEE member is elevated to the grade of IEEE Fellow for "unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest"...
  
   in 1985
• the IEEE Donald G. Fink Prize Paper Award in 1982 (together with John O. Limb
  John O. Limb
  John O. Limb is an American engineer, known for fundamental contributions to the development of digital video communications and holder of a series of patents related to computer communications....
  
  )

Selected writing

• Arun N. Netravali and Barry G. Haskell, Digital Pictures: Representation, Compression and Standards (Applications of Communications Theory), Springer (second edition, 1995), ISBN 0-306-44917-X

Personal

Arun Netravali is married to Dr. Chitra Netravali. They have two children: Ilka and Ravi. Ilka is an MD-PhD student at Harvard Medical School and Ravi is an undergraduate at Columbia University.

External links

• Laureate profile at The Spirit of American Innovation