I have a dream of seeing India as the number one nation in the world in 2047 when she celebrates her centenary of independence,’’ says Dr Vijay Bhatkar, eminent scientist and architect of Param2 supercomputers, who is also credited with bringing Information Technology closer to the Indian people.
Whether it is initiatives such as GIST multilingual technology, the MKCL’s MS-CIT4 computer literacy programme or the recent Education to Home (ETH) venture, Bhatkar has led the development of several innovation-based products and systems.
Says the ‘Father of Indian Supercomputers’, “In 1987, almost 20 years ago, I had the opportunity of leading India’s national initiative in supercomputing through the creation of the Centre for the Development of Advanced Computing
(C-DAC), Pune. We designed and delivered Param 8000, India’s first Supercomputer in 1991 followed by Param 10000 in 1998. Today, India is designing Petascale supercomputers, next only to the USA and Japan. This is the crowning glory of India’s computing and IT capability bringing the ICT industry to the forefront. An industry that reached $100 billion in 2010, making India an IT superpower.”
Bhatkar, who is the founder of Multiver-sity — a new generation university whose education system is being built on the foundations of the Indian knowledge system enshrined in the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma-Sutra, the triad of Indian philosophy, says that the varsity will reach out to learners at their doorsteps. “The objective is to create and nurture the next generation of thinkers and philosophers, scientists and engineers, architects and doctors, economists and businessmen, managers and leaders, who will animate the emerging global society, understanding the ‘oneness’ in the multiplicity of this multi-splendoured world,” says the Padmashri winner named, by Data-quest magazine, amongst 25 pioneers who shaped India’s celebrated IT industry during the last 25 years.
An authority on supercomputing, artificial intelligence, distributed computer control, optimal control and education technology as well as in science and philosophy, Bhatkar is the moving force behind the ETH Research Lab. With the main theme being ‘Freedom to Learn’, ETH will allow aspiring learners to get
education from anywhere. The mission will span 10,000 schools in three years.
Bhatkar has also envisioned and created the International Institute of Information Technology (I2IT) that aspires to be India’s largest high-end education institute with PG education and research facilities for over 1,000 students. Says the veteran, “It is rare is to be born a human. Rarer still to be endowed with good health and wellness. If this becomes possible, still rarer is getting a good education and obtaining the ability to think. If one gets all these, then the rarest gift of all is dedicating one’s entire life to the enquiry and experiments of the synthesis of science and spirituality. To me this is liberation.”
The veteran’s contribution to non-local systems based on his doctoral research has been acclaimed and his books on distributed computer control and artificial intelligence are used as graduate level text books in American and Indian varsities.
The pioneer scientist has pinned a lot of hope on the youth of the country. Says he, “As Swami Vivekananda predicted — in the next few decades we will create wealth we have never seen before. Invest in this dream. Make it happen.”
Amen to that!