Vijay Chandru

Vijay Chandru is an Emeritus Professor at the Indian Institute of Science. A fellow of the Indian academies of science and engineering, he has been involved in the invention of the Simputer, India’s early innovation in handheld computing that was developed at the university to address the digital divide in the late 1990s. The Simputer was described by a reviewer Bruce Sterling the NY Times in 2001 as “This is computing as it would have looked if Gandhi had invented it.” He also went on to work in computational biology towards addressing genetic disorders in South Asian populations. His work has been recognized by the University Grants Commission of India with the Hari Om medal for contributions to science and society. His work since retirement is with civil society foundations that are dedicated to health policy, open data for public good and healthcare access for underserved communities. His personal website is http://vijaychandru.in and his blogs are posted at http://historiansofthenow.org