Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany known for first invention of quality image transmission through fiber optics.
Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany served as great scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Mainly known for first invention of quality image transmission through fiber optics. An amazing contribution towards the laser, tele-communication, biomedical and solar energy industries.
Life:
Born in Moga (Punjab, India) and completed schooling from Dehradun (Uttarakhand, India) and graduation from Agra University (India). After that, he went to Imperial College of Science and Technology, London for advanced studies in optics. Finally, he got his doctorate from the University of London in 1955, and then, sprouted as a researcher.
In the early fifties, Dr. Kapany was first to demonstrated successfully that light can be transmitted through bent glass fibres at the Imperial College of Science in London.
Dr Kapany’s first entrepreneurial venture was way back in 1960 when he established the Optics Technology Incorporation and Kaptron Incorporation in 1973,headed as President and CEO until 1990.Also played key roles as Chief technologist, research director, board member &CEO of various companies. He earned over 100+ patents, and was a member of the National Inventors Council.
As an academician, Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany had supervised research activities in many topmost universities for several years. He was a Regents Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) and Santa Cruz (UCSC). For seven years he was a Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development (CIED) at UCSC. He was also a visiting scholar at Stanford University, in the Physics Department, and Consulting Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering.
He addressed to various national and international scientific societies as well. In 1960, he wrote an article on fibre optics in Scientific American has introduced the term “fibre optics”. As an author and lecturer, Dr. Kapany published over 100 scientific papers and four books on opto-electronics and entrepreneurship.
He was also a Sikh activist. In California on Dec 1967, Dr. Kapany and his wife Satinder Kaur established the Sikh Foundation with the mission to preserve Sikh legacy.
He got numerous honors including the “Pravasi Bharatiya Samman”, granted by the Government of India in 2004, and “The Excellence 2000 Award” from the USA Pan-Asian American Chamber of Commerce in 1998. In Nov 1999, Dr. Kapany was identified by Fortune Magazine as “Unsung Hero” of the 20th century who inspired the many across the world. He got “Fiat Lux Award” by the UC Santa Cruz Foundation in 2008.
