Google's latest star was IIT Kharagpur topper

Sundar Pichai is on everyone's lips now, but the name Sundar Pichai doesn't ring a bell with many of the professors at IIT Kharagpur where he studied. That is because, he wasn't born 'Sundar Pichai'. They know him as P Sundarajan, an unassuming student from Chennai who joined the metallurgical department at IIT Kharagpur in 1989.

The professors feel proud that the boy from Nehru Hall, Pichai's hostel in IIT Kharagpur, has come such a long way and today heads some of Google's biggest products, including Chrome and Android. This practically puts the Chennai-born on top of Google's most innovative efforts. Many technology observers believe that Pichai's moving to lead Android, announced earlier this week, signals Google's intent to merge Chrome OS and Android and create a unifying computing experience.

"Teaching students for 44 years and hearing news of their success is what makes it worth and is my main source of satisfaction," said Sanat Kumar Roy, 69, who taught Pichai. "He was very well mannered and soft spoken. He was the topper in the metallurgical batch from the first year itself," said Prof Roy, who taught at IIT Kharagpur for 44 years before retiring.


Pichai passed out of IIT Kharagpur in 1993, topping not only his metallurgical batch but also winning the Institute Silver Medal for excellence in academics. It was the flexibility of the IIT system that allowed him to pursue his interest in electronics while being a student of metallurgy. "He was doing work in the field of electronics at a time when no separate course on electronics existed in our curriculum. His thesis dealt with implanting molecules of other elements in silicon wafers to alter its properties. It was very clear from the beginning that he was enthused about electronics and materials," said Prof Roy.

IIT Kharagpur's metallurgical department has produced a number of prominent personalities including Praveen Chaudhari, who headed IBM's research division for long before becoming director of Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US, and Arun Sarin, who was the CEO of Vodafone for many years.

From IIT, Pichai moved to Stanford for postgraduate studies. "After studying there, he joined Applied Materials which gave him a good opportunity to nurture his ideas in the fields of electronics and associated materials," said Prof Roy. He also has an MBA from the Wharton School, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.