Google CEO Sundar Pichai's interest in electronics had started from IIT

KOLKATA: Google's new CEO Sundar Pichai's tryst with the world of technology started with a thesis on electronic materials from IIT-Kharagpur two decades ago, while pursuing a B.Tech in metallurgical and materials engineering.

"He was a very brilliant student. While doing a B.Tech in metallurgical and materials engineering, he said he will do his thesis on electronic materials in the third year. It is at that point of time he developed his fundamental background in technology, which he is why he has excelled now," Professor Sanat Kumar Roy told.

Roy had taught Pichai during his days in IIT-Kharagpur from where he passed out in 1993.

Roy said Pichai's thesis had proved where his interest and passion lay. He had not only topped the class, but also won the B C Roy silver medal for excellence in academics.

"The most striking part in his career is, he has achieved this position at a relatively younger age of 43," the 71-year-old professor said.As the news of Pichai's elevation in a re-organised Google broke, the Kharagpur campus went bustling with fresh energy.

He has already been awarded the distinguished alumni award from his alma mater and was expected to come to Kharagpur to receive the honour during his next India visit.

In a message, IIT Kharagpur director P P Chakrabarti said "Congratulations Sundar! You are an inspiration for IIT-KGP students and the whole IIT-KGP family is proud of you. Wish you the very best!"

Pichai's batchmate Phani Bhushan, who now runs a business in Mumbai, remembered his 1993 classmate as a "studious chap".

"He was very studious and was not very extrovert. But, we were surprised when he married Anjali, another batchmate of ours at IIT," Bhushan said.

After his B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur, Pichai did his M.S. in Engineering and Materials Science from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School and joined Google in 2004 as its vice president of product management, where he led the team working on Google's Chrome browser and operating system.

Arun Sarin, who was the CEO of Vodafone for many years, was another distinguished alumni of the premier technology institute's metallurgical department.