Dr. Ramesh Hariharan
Award Year: 2015 | Degree Year: 1990
Dr. Ramesh Hariharan received his Bachelor of Technology degree in Computer Science & Engineering from IIT Delhi in 1990 and his Ph.D. degree from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, USA in 1994. He did a post-doctoral stint at the Max Planck Institute in Germany and then joined as faculty in the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1995.
Dr. Hariharan is presently the Chief Technology Officer of Strand Life Sciences, and an Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Strand Life Sciences is among the very first examples of a university start-up in India and was co-founded by Dr. Hariharan and his three faculty colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
Dr. Hariharan’s research explores faster and better algorithms for problems related to pattern matching and graph structures. He solved a number of fundamental problems, which include a remarkable result that a large graph can be converted to a much smaller one in linear time while approximately preserving a key property – namely cut sizes.
Dr. Hariharan is the founder of two entrepreneurial ventures in the year 2000-Simputer Trust, a non-profit organization, and Strand Life Sciences.
The Simputer Trust built a hand-held Linux-based computing device on a shoestring budget in just a year. This was well before mobile phones had made their mark in India. The Simputer transformed into the first commercial Linux hand-held in the world. It was also the first commercial hand-held to have a built in accelerometer and the first device to have integrated handwriting annotation. Strand Life Sciences is, very likely, the first example of an academic spin-off in India where a major research institute holds equity in a company. Strand’s data analytics platforms are used by 2000 laboratories worldwide to derive insights into biological systems. Thousands of patients have their genomes sequenced by Strand every year towards diagnosing their conditions and tailoring treatment.
The Simputer was awarded the first Dewang Mehta award for Information Technology by the Ministry of IT in 2002. Dr. Hariharan is the author of the book called Genomic Imperfections that describes the intricacies of applying genome sequencing in medicine.
In honouring Dr. Ramesh Hariharan, IIT Delhi recognizes the outstanding contributions made by him in Corporate Business Development. Through his achievements, Dr. Ramesh Hariharan has brought glory to the Institute.
