Anand and Vijay Raghunathan are distinguished professors in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, where their groundbreaking work in hardware and software design shapes the future of technology. Immigrating to the United States from India, the brothers have become leading figures in the development of computers that make our modern world possible. Their journey underscores the critical importance of the U.S. remaining welcoming to talent from around the world.
Anand Raghunathan is a distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and directs the Integrated Systems Laboratory at the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His group's research spans various topics in VLSI and computer engineering, including system-on-chip design, domain-specific architecture, computing with nanoscale post-CMOS devices, and heterogeneous parallel computing. He is the Associate Director of the SRC/DARPA Center for Brain-inspired Computing and Co-Director of the Center for a Secure Microelectronics Ecosystem.
Vijay Raghunathan, also a distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, serves as the Director of the Semiconductor Degrees Program at Purdue University. His work focuses on designing low-power, reliable, and secure hardware and software architectures for embedded systems, IoT wireless sensors, and wearable and implantable electronics. His research extends into micro-scale energy harvesting and emerging memory technologies. In 2023, he was named Vice President for Global Partnerships and Programs.
What inspired you to pursue a career in research, and how did you get interested in your current field of study?
Anand:
Graduate studies was something I pursued without much thought - most of my classmates were doing it and so had most of the students senior to me at IIT Madras. However, I truly developed an interest and passion for research at Princeton.
Vijay:
I was always interested in STEM (in no small part due to having an elder brother who also followed a stellar path in STEM education)... this really grew during my undergraduate years when I realized that what fired me up were the research opportunities I got, compared to the more routine academic classes. I also had a set of undergraduate peers who, to this day, represent some of the smartest people I've ever come across. As an undergraduate, I was fortunate enough to be part of a research project that led to my first academic publication, which ended up winning the best student paper award at the top conference in the field in the country. I was hooked and have been, ever since.
Can you describe the research projects you are currently working on and how they contribute to your field?
Anand:
My research broadly addresses the challenge of making Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems more efficient through synergistic advances from algorithms to hardware. Some of the directions my group explores are the design of specialized AI hardware, computing systems that are inspired by the information processing principles of biological brains, in-memory computing, and the use of new semiconductor device technologies. Growth in the energy consumption of computing and electronics has accelerated in recent years due to the demands of AI. I hope that my research will help to stem this unsustainable trend.
Vijay:
My research involves the design of embedded computing systems. The way I explain that to beginners is that we are surrounded by a sea of computers in the every day world around us that don't look like computers. For example, everything from toothbrushes to biomedical implants (pacemakers, etc.) to home appliances to automobiles to public infrastructure all have many little computers embedded into them that help us sense, infer, and control aspects of the physical world. My research deals with designing these computing systems in ways that make them smaller, higher performance, consume lower power, and more reliable and secure. It involves a lot of hardware design, software design, algorithms and machine learning, and real-world applications. This trend of putting computing intelligence ("smarts") into physical spaces and objects around us is only going to accelerate and we want these systems to be the best they can be to improve human convenience, productivity, and well-being.
How did the U.S. immigration system help or hinder your efforts to establish your career here?
Anand:
The immigration system - particularly the EB-1A - was instrumental in giving me a sense of stability early on so that I could focus my energy on advancing the fields I worked in and building a career contributing to the semiconductor and computing industry.
Vijay:
I was fortunate to be welcomed to this country and spend my first 5 years here engaged in the pursuit of knowledge (with almost no other things to worry about) at a truly pre-eminent university - UCLA. I have stayed on and pursued a truly rewarding career so far in advancing that pursuit. For this, I have the US immigration system to thank. It is this ability to attract the best global talent from the world through the immigration system that keeps the US ahead in the global race for innovation. There were some frustrating challenges (e.g., with long delays in the country-specific permanent resident process), which I think will really need to be addressed to continue nurturing talent pipelines, but overall, this has been an amazing ride.
What advice would you give to other immigrants who are pursuing careers in research or academia in the United States?
Anand:
US universities offer unmatched flexibility to pursue your passion whether it is basic science or applied innovation, as well as the safety net to take on ambitious moonshots. Be sure to take advantage of this flexibility.
Vijay:
Curiosity for knowledge and discovery is fundamental to humanity. There is nothing quite like the academic and research ecosystem in the United States to satisfy that curiosity. Many other countries have versions of it, but are not really there yet to match the decades of investments made in the USA on higher education and R&D. The ecosystem, resources, and amount of freedom to innovate are quite unlike what is found anywhere else. So, take a moment and appreciate the experience of immersion in that ecosystem.
Any final words?
Vijay:
I firmly believe that education and innovation fundamentally rewrite economic boundary conditions for millions of people around the world. I also believe that talent is universal, but opportunities are not. I am fortunate to have benefitted from access to the most exceptional education, innovation, and learning opportunities and institutions in not just one, but two countries. It is a privilege and a responsibility to try and give back my time and energy towards providing similar opportunities for the next generation.