Washington, September 19 (ANI): A Maharashtrian entrepreneur in California will be honoured by the Indiana University Asian Alumni Association's Distinguished Asian Pacific American Alumni Award on September 26.
Anurag Mendhekar, founder of Blue Vector Systems, has been chosen for the award in recognition of his outstanding professional achievements and community service.
Robert B. Schnabel, dean of the Indiana University (IU) School of Informatics and Computing, will introduce Mendhekar during a dinner being held in conjunction with the inaugural Graduate Student Conference in Asian American Studies at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.
Mendhekar earned a master of science degree in 1994 and a doctorate in 1998, both in computer science, from IU.
He also has a bachelor's degree from the University of Mumbai, and a masters degree from the Indian Institute of Science.
Founding three successful companies, he has made a valuable contribution to the field of computer science.
His first start-up company, Online Anywhere, was the first firm to create the whole new market category of content transformation tools for Mobile and non-PC devices. The company was later acquired by Yahoo!, considering its success.
As a key executive of Yahoo! Everywhere, Mendhekar developed a global business around Yahoo!'s Mobile Internet services, achieving distribution through almost 40 different wireless carriers to serve millions of people around the globe.
Mendhekar began his career at Xerox's Palo Alto Research centre, where he was one of the inventors of Aspect Oriented Programming, a rapidly spreading paradigm of programming that forms the core of products produced by his current firm, Blue Vector Systems.
He has several scientific publications to his credit, and has been awarded six patents, with several more pending.
In 2008, he was named the "2008 Pro to Know" by Supply and Demand Chain Executive magazine.
Blue Vector was also recognized last year by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal with its Emerging Technology Award.
In 2001, when a friend and coworker needed a bone marrow transplant, Mendhekar organized several drives for bone marrow donors in Northern California.
His efforts were significant as the number of bone marrow donors available for the South Asian community makes up a tiny percentage of the 4.5 million donors registered on the National Bone Marrow Registry, often leaving those of South Asian origin with no potential matches.
"We are pleased to partner with the IU School of Informatics and the inaugural IU-Purdue Asian American Studies Conference for the recognition of our distinguished Asian alumni," said Sophia Travis, president of the IU Asian Alumni Association.
"Informatics, and the newly established Asian American studies programs, are both arenas that are dynamic for our academic environment and alumni relations in so many ways.
"The IU Asian Alumni Association board is forging these partnerships for both highlighting, and strengthening, the awareness of all that Asians and Asian-Americans contribute towards the progressive academic excellence of Indiana University. It's our hope that Anurag Mendhekar will be pleased to see how IU has grown by expanding the fields of technology studies in addition to focused East Asian and Asian-American studies in the liberal arts," Travis added.
Bobby Schnabel, dean of the School of Informatics, said: "All of us are pleased and proud that Anurag has been chosen to receive such an honor. Anurag has contributed significantly to the field of computer science-as a serial entrepreneur and founder of three successful companies, a multiple patent-holder, and as author of an extensive array of academic publications."
Schnabel added: "It is also important to note his extraordinary level of service outside of his profession-organizing multiple bone marrow drives is an impressive undertaking. Anurag is committed to academic and professional excellence, as well as service to community, which makes everyone at the School of Informatics and Computing proud to have him as an alumnus." (ANI)
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