Punjab needs to build on interface of agriculture & AI, says Gurtej Sandhu

“Innovation is not something, to be scared of, or complied with reluctance. Punjabis are leading the world in technology and innovation, but Punjab is not. Log jehde kehnde ne ki Punjabi piche reh gye, Punjabi ni, Punjab piche reh gya. (People say that Punjabis have lagged behind, it’s Punjabis and not Punjab, that has lagged behind.” These words by globally recognised innovator and tech-genius Dr Gurtej Singh Sandhu is enough to understand the need for a transition towards technology in Punjab’s context. But Dr Sandhu, who has made remarkable history by securing 1,382 US patents, thereby surpassing Thomas Edison’s record and becoming the world’s seventh most prolific inventor, also spells out what matters and how we can take this leap.

“Ecosystem matters. The work I have been doing individually would not have been possible if I did not have the kind of resources, support or infrastructure. Similarly, in Punjab, the potential and future for AI has never never been brighter,

but we need to engage

at the grassroots level, hold hand and create

a conducive ecosystem,” he said.

Dr Gurtej was hosted by Guru Nanak Dev University, his alma mater, for a special lecture as part of the series of programmes being organised on the occasion of 350th Shaheedi Diwas of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. The university’s Alumni Association organised a lecture as Dr Gurtej Singh Sandhu, who is corporate vice-president, Micron Technology, Inc, USA, spoke on the subject, “Future of Memory Chip Technology and Innovation” at Guru Nanak Bhawan.

Discussing the potential of Artificial Intelligence, integrated circuit and semiconductor device technology for science and engineering programmes in the university and its affiliated colleges, vice-chancellor Prof Karamjeet Singh mentioned that Dr Sandhu is the world’s top inventor in the field of integrated circuit (IC) technology, who has to his credit close to 1,300 patents and is a role model for budding technologists and scientists, who work in the field of chip designing, microelectronics and semiconductor devices.

Dr Gurtej Singh Sandhu delivered a stimulating talk on design and fabrication of IC, commonly known as chips, for application as memory devices in the modern age which has seen exponential growth in data storage capacity, data processing and computational capabilities.

Dr Gurtej Singh Sandhu is currently principal fellow and corporate vice-president at Micron Technology Incorporation, USA. But he credits his alma mater and his formative years as building blocks to his future success. “The time I spent here, in Amritsar, I look back with tremendous gratitude. My father (Prof SS Sandhu, who was the founding Head of the Chemistry Department at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) told me not to pursue Chemistry, because he wanted me to find my own vision, my purpose.” And he did and how.

Dr Sandhu received a degree in Physics at GNDU, Amritsar, and later studied electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and a PhD in Physics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1990. As a Fellow of IEEE and recognised as one of the top inventors in the world, he received the IEEE Andrew S Grove Award in 2018 for outstanding contributions to silicon CMOS process technology.

As a major figure in the semiconductor industry, a top inventor whose work enables the memory technologies most today rely on, and one of the most-prolific inventors in the world by patent count, Dr Gurtej said that microelectronics, semiconductor device fabrication and IC memory chip technology is currently a thrust area of Government of India and immense opportunities exist in the field of memory chip design and device fabrication.

“The old guard needs to understand that technology and innovation integrated with agriculture and other areas is the future. We need to break this culture of relying on conventions,” he said. His outline for strategies for innovation in Punjab includes government policy overhaul, pushing startup ecosystem and building agriculture-industry interface.