Two Indian-American innovation pioneers — Arogyaswami Paulraj for his MIMO wireless technology and Sumita Mitra for her nanocomposite dental materials — have been inducted into the prestigious National Inventors Hall of Fame this year. Paulraj and Mitra along with 13 other innovation pioneers would be formally felicitated during the innovation industry’s most highly anticipated event — “The Greatest Celebration of American Innovation” – on May 2-3 organised in partnership with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
National Inventors Hall of Fame, releasing its list of 2018 inductees, said Paulraj’s wireless technology has revolutionised broadband wireless Internet access for billions of people worldwide. MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) improves both transmission data rates and expands network coverage. It is the essential foundation for all current (Wi-Fi and 4G mobile) and future broadband wireless communications.
“It is a wonderful honour. I feel enormously humbled to be counted among the inventors who have made the modern world possible,” Paulraj said. Last month, he assumed a chairmanship of the Department of Telecom’s Steering Committee “to deliberate and finalise Vision, Mission, Goals and Roadmaps for 5G India 2020.”