Praveen
Chaudhari studied his Engineering from the Indian
Institute of Technology, 1961. He then did his further
studies completing his M.S. and Sc.D. from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1963 and 1966,
respectively. His first job stint was at IBM's Research
Division in 1996 at the headquarters in Watson Research
Center in Yorktown, New York.
Chaudhari
had a productive 36-year career with IBM as a scientist
and senior manager of research. He was appointed
Director, in 1981, and Vice-President of Science, in
1982. He was responsible for IBM's science programs not
only at Watson, but also at the Almaden Research Center,
in California, and at the Zurich Research Laboratory, in
Switzerland.
Under
Chaudhari’s guidance, IBM scientists received Nobel
Prizes in physics for two consecutive years, in 1986 for
developing the scanning tunneling microscope, and then
in 1987 for discovering high-temperature
superconductivity in a new class of materials. During
those later years, Chaudhari restarted his own research,
working as both manager and hands-on scientist. In 1991,
he returned full-time to research.
Chaudhari
has worked on the structure and properties of amorphous
solids, mechanical properties of thin films, defects in
solids, quantum transport in disordered systems,
superconductivity, liquid crystal alignment on
substrates, and on the magnetic monopole experiment. To
his credit he has published over hundred and fifty
technical papers and hold over twenty patents.
Chaudhari
received many honors for his ability and capability. The
awards he received include
S.No |
Award |
1 |
The
Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Inc., Morris N. Liebmann
Memorial Award (1992) for “the discovery
of amorphous magnetic films in
magneto-optic data storage systems;” |
2 |
The
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harry C. Gatos Distinguished Lecture and
Prize (1994) in the field of electronic
materials research |
3 |
National
Medal of Technology (1995) for “the
discovery and development of a new class
of materials, the amorphous magnetic
materials, that are the basis of erasable,
read-write, optical storage technology,
now the foundation of the worldwide
magnetic-optic disk industry.” |
4 |
He
is also the recipient of the American
Physical Society’s George E. Pake Award
(1987) for his personal contributions to
science and science management |
5 |
Excellence
Award of the US Pan Asian American Chamber
of Commerce |
|
Apart
from being conferred with so many awards, Chaudhari is
also associated with a number of institutions which
include
S.No |
Institution |
1 |
Fellow
of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences |
2 |
Fellow
of the American Physical Society, a member
of the National Academy of Engineering |
3 |
In
2003, was elected a member of the National
Academy of Sciences |
4 |
The
Physics Policy Committee of the American
Physical Society |
5 |
The
Governing Board of the New York Academy of
Sciences |
6 |
The
National Science Foundation Advisory
Committee to the Mathematical and Physical
Sciences (chairman) |
7 |
The
Scientific Advisory Council of the
International Center for Theoretical
Physics (chairman) in Trieste, Italy |
8 |
Co-chaired
the National Research Council Study on
Materials Science and Engineering |
|
In 1988,
Chaudhari reported on science and technology to Late.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India; in 1993, at the
request of the Indian Minister for Sciences and
Technology
|
