India-born technologist conferred prestigious US recognition for academic innovation

Houston, Dec 19 (PTI) India-born technologist Sanjoy Paul has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), one of the highest professional honours for academic inventors in the US, the academy announced on December 11.

Paul, executive director of Rice Nexus and AI Houston and associate vice president for technology development at Rice University, is among 169 academics selected for the 2025 class of NAI Fellows.

The class includes Nobel laureates and recipients of the US National Medals of Science and Technology and collectively holds more than 5,300 US patents.

At Rice University, Paul heads Rice Nexus, the university’s flagship innovation hub based at the Ion in Houston, which supports faculty- and student-led startups and bridges academic research with commercial markets.

A Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Paul holds 95 patents and is recognised for contributions to artificial intelligence, machine learning, networking, the Internet of Things (IoT) and extended reality.

His work has helped transform industries including manufacturing, energy, health care and space technology, generating more than USD 750 million in enterprise value.

He has previously held senior research and leadership roles at Bell Labs, Wipro, Infosys and Accenture, leading global R&D initiatives in AI, robotics, 5G and digital twin technologies and playing key roles in launching multiple startups.

“The Rice Nexus was born from our commitment at Rice to spark bold ideas and empower entrepreneurs,” Paul said. “We saw a real need for a dynamic hub that could connect the university’s world-class talent with Houston’s rapidly growing innovation ecosystem.” Paul’s honours include the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award, the William R. Bennett Award from the IEEE Communications Society, the Infosys Excellence Award for Innovation and Thought Leadership, and MIT Technology Review’s Grand Challenges for India award.

The 2025 class of NAI Fellows will be honoured at the academy’s annual conference on June 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. PTI SHK SCY SCY