Dr. Madhukar Vishwanath Pitke

Short-term emergencies have shown the limitations of using cell phones to coordinate with each other. Even if the towers are operational, they can’t handle the added traffic of millions of people trying to get a hold of loved ones – or help.

Biography:

Dr. Madhukar Vishwanath Pitke has contributed to the development of computer electronics and telecommunications technology for over 40 years. He pioneered the development of a switching system for a mobile network that was forerunner to the current ad-hoc networks. As founder director of the Center for Development of Telematics - CDoT (1984) he guided the development of technology for central office switching systems in the late 80s. Over 50 million lines that were delivered that formed a significant portion of the Indian network around 2000. He directed the development of a large parallel processor using a unique SAMD architecture for weather research.

He has been keenly interested in education and training and has helped in setting up several educational and research institutes. This includes the Dept of Computer Science of the University of Mumbai. With support from UN agencies and the late Prof Abdus Salam (Nobel Laureate) at ICTP Trieste, he organized several workshops and projects during 1987-95 for training scientists and engineers in advanced communications technology around the world. He has been a speaker at numerous events organized by IEEE, ITU and other leading organizations. He has numerous publications and presentations in several leading professional journals and conferences. He worked in visiting capacity at the University of Pisa, the Max Planck Institute in Munich and the Carnegie Mellon University at Pittsburgh. He was an Adjunct Professor at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bangalore.

He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers and is closely associated with the Bombay Center of IEEE. His current activities include development of low cost wireless ICT solutions and assisting young entrepreneurs.

Email:

Address:Mumbai, Delhi, India