THE GURU WHO SPEARHEADS THE FUTURE OF MOBILES

RAMJEE PRASAD: The Indian born Professor Ramjee Prasad lives in a time that we will first experience in 4-6 years. He heads the scientific centre at Aalborg University where the 4th generation of mobile technology is currently being shaped

Ask who is the guru of 4th generation worldwide wireless telecommunication, and up comes the name of Ramjee Prasad. Indian by birth, he has for the last 6 years held the post of Professor at Aalborg University in Denmark. He heads CTIF, the Center for TeleInFrastructure, and is unquestionably the man who is driving the world forward to the goal of putting every conceivable form of wireless communication into one handheld device.

“Technologically speaking we are currently in 2010,” says Prof. Prasad. And in 2012, our technology will be on the market –that is in six years. And in six years, if everything goes to plan, we will be several years further into the future, technologically speaking. Because naturally, technological development does not stop with the 4th generation, although it is close to the ultimate,” says Prof. Prasad.

International awards

When Ramjee Prasad was born in northern India 60 years ago, no one could foresee that, together with his wife and three children, his path would take him to a relatively small north European university, which nonetheless has achieved international status as one of the leading telecommunication centres in the world. Professor Prasad himself is the recipient of several international awards. Recently he received the “Telenore 2005 Nordic Research Award.” His latest book is on “4G Roadmap and Engineering Communication Technologies.”

“Aalborg University has gained its status as the place where the mobile phone was born in an amazing collaboration with a number of commercial companies which placed their development activities in Aalborg,” he says. “Together with the academic environment, they fertilised each other, and Aalborg quite simply became the maternity clinic for the first two generations of mobile phones. We jumped over the 3rd generation and have gone directly to the 4th, where all wireless technologies that can be linked together will be joined in a single unit.”

Attractive country

CTIF is a research centre employing over 130 staff from 27 different countries, organized in 10 groups conducting research at the highest international level to enhance the technological development in modern wireless communication. CTIF has strong relations with industry, and is jointly conducting research and developing new types of networks, devices and services.

When Prof. Prasad travelled from India to Europe, he first settled in The Netherlands, where his children grew up. When they had grown up, the time came to move on. He favoured moving to Aalborg, and since his wife likewise considered Denmark a most attractive country for the family, the choice was made.

“We have never regretted that,” says Ramjee Prasad. “The research environment here in Aalborg regarding wireless research is simply world class. It is the crème de la crème for innovation and cerebration. We are not so good at branding ourselves, but that is just another challenge to deal with.”