Award for Public Service in the Field of Telecommunications Winner Biographies

Sasi P. Meethal (2011)

"For sustained contributions to low cost communications solutions for the masses and humanitarian needs."

Sasi Pilacheri Meethal is working as Associated Director in Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), an application-oriented R&D center of Government of India in electronics and IT. He has served in various committees including Executive Committee of International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS) (2010 onwards), E-Governance Sectional Committee of Bureau of Indian Standards (2011), Board of studies in Engineering of University of Kerala (2011), Governing Body and Executive Committee of Kerala State IT Mission, (2009-2010), Review Chair for IT Policy of Government of Kerala (2006) and Committee for formulating IT plan for Kerala for 11th Five year plan (2006).

He is a senior member of IEEE and member of IEEE Communications Society. He held various positions including Chair of Communications society Kerala chapter (2011,2008,2007), Vice Chair of R10 HTC (Humanitarian Technology Challenges) (2011) and Chair of IEEE Kerala section (2010, 2009).

Some of his major contributions to public services in telecommunications include:

Architected a wireless connectivity for rehabilitation activities along the 120 kms of coastline of Nagapattinam, India, which was devastated by Tsunami in December 2004. He was also directly involved in the implementation and monitoring of the network.
Architected a wireless connectivity in Malappuram district of India, providing blanket coverage for an area of 3500 sq kms, for Akshaya project of Government of Kerala. The main objective of the project is to provide computer literacy to 6.5 million people of the state. Akshaya project was later adapted as a model by Government of India in the CSC (Common Service Centre) scheme for setting up 100,000 such centres.
Was the communications expert selected by IEEE HTC (Humanitarian Technology Challenge) for architecting a communications solution for Ko Lipe islands of Thailand. He surveyed the island along with a delegation of National Telecommunications Commission and recommended the optimal connectivity scheme.
Designed and implemented a low cost mobile telemedicine system for the rural population of Cherthala, India using a low cost communication system, by teaming multiple lines of CDMA 2000 1x (WLL) offered by the telecom operator.
Architected Kerala State Wide Area Network, for connecting all the Government offices in the state of Kerala, which provided coverage of the whole state with wired and wireless access.
Architected “FRIENDS”, the integrated utility payment system for Government of Kerala, which has been adjudged as the best citizen-friendly IT initiative of Kerala so far.
Developed a base station which supports both TETRA and WiMAX users. Also developed a terminal, which supports both TETRA and WiMAX features.
Instrumental in the formation of Comsoc Kerala chapter, while he was the Secretary of IEEE Kerala section

Played major role in organizing various International and National conferences in the area of Communications.

David Falconer (2009)

"For outstanding public service in advancing the theory and practice of wired and wireless data communication and mentoring a generation of communication engineers."

David Falconer (Life Fellow) is Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Systems & Computer Engineering at Carleton University, which he joined in 1980. He received the B.A.Sc. degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Toronto in 1962 and the S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from M.I.T. in 1963 and 1967 respectively. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, he was with Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, New Jersey from 1967 to 1980. During 1976-77 he was a visiting professor at Linköping University in Sweden. He was Founding Director of Carleton’s Broadband Communications and Wireless Systems (BCWS) Centre from 2000 to 2004.

His research career has mainly focused on adaptive signal processing for wired and wireless modems, and currently, next-generation broadband wireless communications systems. He and his over 70 Carleton masters and doctoral graduates have made significant contributions to advanced wireless systems through participation in the Telecommunications Research Institute of Ontario (TRIO), the Canadian Institute for Telecommunications Research ( CITR), the IEEE 802.16 wireless MAN standards group and in the European Union WINNER Project. He was the elected Chair of Working Group 4 of the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF) in 2004 and 2005.

Dr. Falconer received awards for papers published in IEEE Communications Transactions and IEEE Vehicular Technology Transactions in 1983, 1986 and 1992. From 1981 to 1987 he was Editor for Digital Communications of the IEEE Transactions on Communications. He was Vice Technical Chair of the IEEE VTC Conference in 1998, Honorary Conference Chair of the CNSR Conference in 2007, and Executive Chair of the IEEE WCNC Conference in 2008. He received the 2008 Canadian Award for Telecommunications Research and a 2008 Recognition Award from the IEEE Technical Committee on Wireless Communications and the IEEE Canada 2009 Fessenden Award (Telecommunications). In 2009 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Edinburgh.

Sam Pitroda (2007)

"For exceptional contributions in developing indigenous systems and telecommunications infrastructure in India."

Mr. Sam Pitroda is an internationally respected development thinker, telecom inventor and entrepreneur who has spent 40 years in Information and Communications Technology and related human and national developments. His experiences include working in the private and public sectors and working with governments around the world. A reputation built from many years of work, Sam Pitroda brings enormous professional weight and credibility to his projects and operations.

Credited with having laid the foundation for and ushered India’s technology and telecommunications revolution in the 1980s, Mr. Pitroda has been a leading campaigner to help bridge the digital divide. During his tenure as Advisor to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s Mr. Pitroda headed six technology missions related to telecommunications, water, literacy, immunization, dairy and oil seeds. And, he was also the founder and first chairman of India’s Telecom Commission.

Currently, Mr. Pitroda is chairman of India’s National Knowledge Commission which reports directly to the Prime Minister. The commission’s mandate is to offer a series of recommendations to the government on access, concepts, creation, application and services related to knowledge to help build excellence in the education system to meet the challenges of the 21st century and increase India's competitive advantage.
He owns close to 100 patents. He is widely regarded as one of the earliest pioneers of handheld computing because of his invention of the Electronic Diary in 1975. He was also among the pioneers in digital telephone switching technology in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The decade of 1990 saw Mr. Pitroda explore the world of mobile phone based transaction technology and telecom developments in emerging markets.

Mr. Pitroda is also founder of the US based company, C-SAM, Inc. C-SAM provides a robust software platform for conducting secure payment and non-payment transactions in the physical and virtual world using a mobile device. C-SAM is committed to the vision of a digital wallet which is tightly integrated with value added services and applications and resides on a consumer’s mobile device.

David D. Clark (2006)

"For outstanding service to governmental bodies in helping them understand the Internet and its applications for the betterment of society."

David Clark is a Senior Research Scientist at the M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science, where he has worked since 1973, when he received his PhD there. Since the mid 70s, Dr. Clark has been leading the development of the Internet; from 1981-1989 he acted as Chief Protocol Architect in this development, and chaired the Internet Activities Board. Recent activities include extensions to the Internet to support real-time traffic, explicit allocation of service, pricing and related economic issues, and policy issues surrounding the Internet, such as local loop deployment. New activities focus on the architecture of the Internet in the post-PC era. He has also worked on computer and communications security. Dr. Clark is chairman of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council, and has contributed to a number of studies on the societal and policy impact of computer communications.