By George Joseph
he National Academy of
Inventors (NAI) has
awarded the distinction
of Fellow to 175 aca-
demic inventors,
Election as an NAI Fellow is a
high honor bestowed on academ-
ic innovators and inventors who
have made a tangible impact on
quality of life, economic develop-
ment and the welfare of society.
The Fellows will be inducted
on April 6, 2017, as part of the
Sixth Annual Conference of the
National Academy of Inventors at
the John F. Kennedy Presidential
Library & Museum in Boston,
Massachusetts. Fellows will be
presented with a special trophy,
medal and rosette pin.
Academic inventors and innovators elected to the rank of NAI
Fellow were nominated by their
peers for outstanding contributions to innovation in areas such
as patents and licensing, innovative discovery and technology,
significant impact on society and
support and enhancement of
innovation.
Somasundaran, a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada, is a pio-
neer in academic and research
areas in several fields.
A member of the faculty of
Columbia University School of
Engineering and Applied Science
since 1970, Somasundaran was
named the first LaVon
Duddleson Krumb Professor in
1983.
He was one of the youngest
members to be elected in 1985 to
the National Academy of
Engineering, the highest possible
distinction then in engineering in
the US.
He was the chairman of the
Henry Krumb School from 1988
Science and Mining from 1992 to
1997 and is currently director of
the National Science Foundation
I/UCR Center for Advanced
Studies in Novel Surfactants and
Langmuir Center for Colloids and
Interfaces.
He was awarded the Padma
Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, in 2010 and received
the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in
1990.
“Looking back, I feel amazed
and humbled. Coming from a
middle class Indian family in a
remote village from which
nobody had even gone to a college at that time, I could not even
have dreamed that I would reach
this far,” Somasundaran said.
“I believe that constant sup-
port and inspiration from my
parents and teachers combined
with hard work and a good dol-
lop of luck got me where I am
today. My father, a freedom
fighter, taught me that with dedi-
cated effort one can climb any
mountain one chose. He also
taught me the nishkam karma
tenet. I hope I have managed to
pass on the best of what I have
learned from my elders to my
own students.”
“Though I am still deeply
interested in my own field and its
application for solving some of
the knotty problems facing us
today, I no longer have any spe-
cific achievements for myself in
mind, though I would cherish the
sight of my students conquering
all the top mountains in their
own careers.”
He came to the U.S. as a grad-
uate student at the University of
California, Berkeley on a scholar-
ship.
“Initially I stayed because
there were not that many opportunities or freedom in those days
in India to follow your dreams in
research in academia or industry.
When I stayed on, it was never
meant it to be permanent. But
the initial couple of years became
five, then five more, and soon
careers were too well established
to change and families were too
well rooted here to transplant.”
He thinks that his work on
molecular self-assembly that is
basic to life processes and train-
ing top rate cadres of students
who have gone on to become
leaders in academia and industry
could probably be considered his
greatest contributions.
“I must confess, though, that I
owe a great deal to the lessons
taught by nature. Whenever pos-
sible I try to mimic nature, as
'nature does it best' in many
areas such as nano processes and
even climate and environmental
control.”
Ponisseril Somasundaran to be Inducted as
Fellow of National Academy of Inventors
Pioneering researcher is one of 175 to receive the distinction
By Ritu Jha
he developer of a low-cost
drip irrigation system and
foot-powered water pump
that can help poor farmers in
India was one of several hon-
orees at the recent 16th annual
gala hosted by Applied Materials
in San Jose, California.
IDE-India (International
Development Enterprises) was
honored in the Tech Awards 2016
- Sobrato Organization Economic
Development Category.
A signature program of the
Tech Museum of Innovation, the
awards honor individuals, comp-nies and nonprofits from around
the world for their work applying
technology to benefit humanity.
The technology can be a creative
use of something that already
exists – or can be a wholly new
invention.
Each laureate receives a
$50,000 unrestricted cash prize.
"It helps build credibility to
the organization and the credibility of the work we do,” Amitabha
Sadanghi, IDE-India
(International Development
Enterprises ) chief executive.
IDE-India won a Tech Awards
prize in 2004 for its innovative
drip irrigation technology and in
2010 for a Treadle Pump.
Sadanghi said IDE-India has
several projects but this particular award is for the water pump
which currently reaches 1. 5 million households and 7. 4 million
people in India, leading to cumulative additional net income generation exceeding $1.4 billion.
“We help poor farmers in
India,” Sadanghi said. He said
farmers who have money can
afford bank loan but it’s hard for
small poor farmers.
He said the award money will
help in the development of a
solar pump. “I hope to make it
more productive and stop the
migration of people from villages,” he said.
When asked about how the
farmers pay if poor, Sadanghi
said they take loans from family
and friends.
They need $30 credit and pay
post-harvest there are other
schemes by the government but
doesn’t reach the poor consumers and government schemes
are for big farmers.
Shveta Bakshi, executive vice
president for programs and
donor relations, IDE-India, said
the farmers own less than a hector of land and the key constraint
for these farmers are accessing
water for year round agriculture
because they are dependent on
monsoon.
They are engaged in agriculture just once a year mainly in
monsoon and the rest of the
months they migrant to make
basic money for living.
They work as laborers.
By using the paddle pump
these farmers have shifted from
one-season crop cultivation to
three-season crop cultivation.
And as a result, generate more
than $400 as net additional
income annually.
“We just don’t sell the pump
and done, we stay with the farmers after that,” said Bakshi and
added they encourage them to
cultivate vegetables and grow
high-value cash crop and so
every three months the farmers
generate money and so they get
into the cycle of irrigating, harvesting and generating money as
well.
Developer of Irrigation System in India Receives Cash Award, Honors
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