Indian American scientist honoured by President Obama
Washington: US President Barack Obama, presented the prestigious National Medal of Technology and Innovation to eminent Indian American Rangaswamy Srinivasan for his groundbreaking work with laser.
Rangaswamy received the award along with Samuel Blum and James Wynne, for the pioneering discovery of excimer laser ablative photodecomposition of human and animal tissue, laying the foundation for PRK and LASIK laser refractive surgical techniques, that have revolutionised vision enhancement.
Congratulating scientists and inventors Obama said if here is one idea that sets this country apart, one idea that makes it different from every other nation on Earth, it’s that here in America, success does not depend on where one is born or what his / her last name is.
“Success depends on the ideas that you can dream up, the possibilities that you envision, and the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears you’re willing to put in to make them real,” he said.
“It is a huge honor to receive this award for our research more than thirty years after its initial discovery. This achievement is a reflection of IBM’s culture of innovation, to think far into the future, and a result of enabling different disciplines to come together to tackle real-world challenges with a broad domain of expertise,” said Dr Wynne of IBM Research.
