Modern Indian Inventions
By Aarti Panchal
A freelance researcher in Indology, Associate at GHARS, an NGO in Australia
Foreword by Venkat
In this article Aarti brings out five modern inventions / innovations by Indians. Four of these (USB, Fibre Optics, Email and Pentium chip) are so much a part of our everyday life that one must not forget the people who made it possible. This comes in aptly, right after the celebration of the National Science Day in India on 28th Feb.
Aarti Panchal is a freelance researcher and loves to learn about India’s history, culture, and assessing the present by delving into perspectives of India’s past. She is an HR Professional and a Youtuber, Speaker and a classical dancer by passion.
Explore the modern Indian inventions for our inspiration to inculcate the spirit of creativity and innovation.
Modern Indian Inventions
Inventions around the world have made human life much easier. An invention is nothing but an idea which goes through rigorous study, research and applications by scientists to make our living easy. India has been a major contributor in the field of science, technology, health etc. be it Aryabhatta’s contribution of “zero” or 5000 year old science of ‘Ayurveda’. As India celebrated “National Science Day” on 28th Feb, 2022, lets have a glimpse of modern Indian inventions which have proved to be revolutionary in the field of science and technology.
1. USB: Universal Serial Bus
Data storage and transfer has brought a major breakthrough in the field of Information Technology. Who would have thought that sharing and transferring data so conveniently in minutes would have been possible? From exchanging files, charging, connecting to external devices has changed our lives for the better. The credit goes to the innovator Ajay V. Bhatt, an Indian-born American who is a computer architect from Gujarat.
2. Fiber Optics
Fiber optics has enabled the world to remain connected by information. It has enabled massive and voluminous data to be transferred from one centre to another located anywhere in the world in a lightning speed. The man behind this amazing invention is Narinder Singh Kapany, an Indian American physicist who is also known as the ‘Father of Fibre Optics’.
3. Email
We can’t imagine our life without personal and professional communications via emails. Frankly they have become an integral part of our social communication system. Not many know that email with features of inbox, outbox, sent, drafts was made by Shiva Ayyadurai, an Indian, in 1978 at the age of 14 when he developed it at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey for their internal communications.
4. Mangalyaan
ISRO created a history for launching MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) also known as Mangalyaan to enter Martian orbit in the first attempt. ISRO became the first Asian space organization and fourth in the world to successfully launch a mission to Mars. Interestingly it was also the cheapest launch and costed 1/10th of the cost of NASA’s MAVEN project.
5. The Intel Pentium Chip
Intel’s first Pentium chip was developed by Vinod Dham, also known as the “Father of Pentium”. Within 15 years of his joining Intel Co, the company’s annual revenue went from $663 million in 1979 to over $16.2 billion in 1995.
Indeed we cannot imagine our world without computers and technology. The advancement has been real and fast. Who would have imagined that earlier storage devices as big as rooms can now fit in a size as small as your finger tip!!
By Aarti Panchal