Introduction
Dr. Venkat Padmanabhan is the Deputy Managing Director at Microsoft Research India, where he founded and led the Mobility, Networks, and Systems group. He previously worked at Microsoft Research - Redmond for over eight years. Dr. Padmanabhan obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley and his Undergraduate Degree from IIT Delhi. His research interests are primarily in mobile and networked systems. He is an INAE Fellow, IEEE Fellow, and ACM Fellow, and has received numerous awards, including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology.
In this episode, Venkat shared insights from his educational experiences at IIT Delhi and UC Berkeley, and his extensive reading habits during his formative years. Venkat introduces us to the 'HyWay' project, emphasized the importance of 'Principles of Design' in tackling challenges, and described three guiding principles of the HyWay design. He also explained his approach to structuring his day, translating and communicating complex ideas, and detailed his involvement in the 'Network Brain' and 'HAMS' projects. Lastly, Venkat spoke on the impact of research and the untapped potential of research translation in India, culminating in a rapid-fire question round.
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Selected Links
People Mentioned
Ideas & Other References Mentioned
90’s Internet Boom (The Dot-Com Bubble)
Microsoft Research Lab - India
Capacity Planning and Provisioning (Compute and Network)
Time Stamps
00:00 - 00:15 - Theme Music
00:16 - 04:07 - Venkat’s Experience at IIT Delhi and UC Berkeley
04:08 - 05:55 - Venkat’s Reading Diet as a Youngster
05:56 - 09:08 - The Approach to Research at UC Berkeley
09:09 - 12:10 - Post-PhD Career Choices
12:11 - 16:02 - What is a ‘Good Problem?’ and the Origins of ‘HyWay.’
16:03 - 21:34 - Focusing on ‘Principles of Design’ for Problem-Solving
21:35 - 27:47 - The Three Design Principles Guiding HyWay
27:48 - 31:49 - Modelling ‘Murmurations’ on HyWay
31:50 - 34:30 - How Venkat’s Day is Structured?
34:31 - 38:24 - Venkat’s Process to ‘Translate & Communicate’ Ideas
38:25 - 45:30 - The Networked Brain Project
45:31 - 51:48 - HAMS Project
51:49 - 54:14 - Venkat’s Definition of ‘Impact’
54:15 - 01:00:23 - The Missing Translation Potential of Research in India
01:00:24 - 01:05:58 - Rapid Fire Round
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