SCIENCE

With advancements in computing technologies, computers have penetrated into almost all application areas. They are gradually becoming part of the daily activities of common people. Having realized the usefulness of information technology (IT), people in all professions are exploring innovative ways of using this technology in their profession for further advancement of their professional areas. New ways of using IT in different professions puts more stringent demands on technology developers.

Keeping this current scenario in mind, and to motivate the next generation of technology professionals, eminent scientist Dr. Pradeep K. Sinha, who is also a researcher, inventor, and internationally acclaimed author, addressed students at several prominent educational institutions across Bhubaneshwar, today and yesterday. These institutions include Silicon Institute of Technology, Lakshya, Orissa Engineering College, and Gandhi Institute of Advanced Technology. Dr.CR Sinha is currently the Senior Director, High Performance Computing (HPC) at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) where he has led national programs in areas of high performance computing, grid computing, and health informatics. His talks are part of a national initiative to accelerate and promote high-end research in solving grand challenge problems using high peformance computing.

In his address, he focused on emerging usage of information technology, and emerging requirements and trends to meet new users' demands. It dealt with these aspects for areas such as utility computing, multilingual computing, medical informatics, e-governance, geoinformatics, and science & engineering. It also focused on emerging trends in horizontal technologies such as multimedia computing, information security, and information management, which cut across all application areas.

Speaking on his interaction with the students, Dr. Sinha said, "It has always been a pleasure for me to interact with young minds, and I am highly enthused by the feedback received from the students. Odisha has a great potential for R&D with its strong academic culture and current pace of development. Already, the IT industry has started recognizing the state as an emerging IT hub, and I am confident that this will lead to several positive outcomes both for the citizens and the state. The students of Odisha have a lot to look forward to, and at the same time, they will also be contributing to this development which will add further vibrancy to the state."

With more than twenty-five years of professional experience, Dr. Pradeep K Sinha has significantly contributed to the advancement of science & technology and technical education. He holds two international patents and has authored a number of technical papers and three books. His book titled "Distributed Operating Systems: Concepts and Design" is used as a textbook in several universities worldwide. The Japanese language edition of the book has also been brought out for use in Japanese Universities by SciTech Press, Inc., Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Sinha's other two books titled "Foundations of Computing" and "Computer Fundamentals" are widely used all over India in many colleges and universities.

Shri Abhishek Das, senior scientist, C-DAC said "We would like to ensure enhancement of excellence and to make quality education available to all. It has been a hardcore fact that India has emerged as the most preferred destination and outsourcing hub for various IT software development services, ITES (BPO, call centre, eCRM, back office operations, R&D), biotechnology, ERP, data warehousing, knowledge management and other IT related customer care services. While striving for its own growth and excellence, C-DAC is committed to sharing its skills, expertise and experience with the research and academic institutions across India & World. We see considerable potential in this field, which remains untapped so far. We aim to intensify the information exchange and excellent opportunities for researchers, technologists, industrialists, engineers and scientists in this part of the country".

Highly motivated by Dr. Sinha's address at Lakshya, Odisha, India, Shri Priyabrata Kar, Chairman, Lakshya, Bhubaneswar added that it "is always a pleasure and honour to welcome an eminent scholar and scientist like Dr.Sinha to interact with our students. There is no doubt that the knowledge and passion that he brings to the classroom cannot be matched by any textbook experience. This interaction has certainly added a new perspective and dimension to our current pedagogy. We look forward to further interactions with Dr. Sinha on a more a regular note as well other experts from C-DAC. Dr. Sinha addressing the first post graduate diploma in advanced computing (DAC) batch at Lakshya, Odisha, India provided a forum for discussing the development, implementation, use and application of emerging technologies. This will make the students industry ready after the advanced computing training"