Sam Pitroda was born on May 4th, 1942 at Titlagarh, Odisha. After completing master’s degree in physics and electronics from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara, Pitroda moved to the US and obtained masters in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.
For the next two decades, Pitroda was fully involved in technology research. In 1974, he started a digital switching company called Wescom Switching. Thereafter, he made several inventions and won patents. In 1975, he invented the electronic diary, and became a pioneer of handheld computing. In 1983 he designed Compu-cards, a computer-themed card game. The following year Pitroda returned to India, and founded the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT).
Pitroda is also credited to have democratized the telecom industry in India, by introducing public call offices (PCO) throughout the country, thereby making calls accessible and affordable to all. Till date, Pitroda has won more than 100 patents in his name.
