Biography:
Dr. Kumar N. Sivarajan is a distinguished figure in electrical communication engineering, widely known for his pioneering contributions to optical networking. He has played a key role in advancing the architecture and design of large-scale optical networks, particularly in routing and wavelength assignment.

Personal Life & Education:
Dr. Sivarajan earned his B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering (Electronics) from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in 1987. He then pursued his graduate studies at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he obtained his M.S. (1988) and Ph.D.(1990) degrees in Electrical Engineering.

Career Highlights:
Over the course of his career, Dr. Sivarajan has held several prestigious positions:
• Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore – Served as a faculty member in the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering.
• Research/ Scientific staff member/ Postdoctoral fellow, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, New York – Conducted advanced research in optical networking.
• Tejas Networks (founded in 2000) – Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), leading the development of next-generation optical transmission systems.

He is also the co-author of the widely used textbook "Optical Networks: A Practical Perspective" (Morgan Kaufmann Publishers) .

Research Area:
• Routing and Wavelength Assignment
•Ccommunication networks: all-optical, mobile/ cellular and ATM(high-speed packet-switched) networks with emphasis on performance analysis
• Netwrok architecture and design and network algoritms
• Optical Network Design

Awards and recognitions/ Positions held:
• IEEE Charles LeGeyt Fortescue Fellowship
• Swarnajayanthi Fellowship, Government of India
• Techno-Visionary Award, Indian Semiconductor Association (2010)
• Fellow, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE)
• Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc)