Have you ever heard about Gurtej Sandhu, the man who has more patents than Thomas Edison?
Gurtej Sandhu, an IIT Delhi alumnus, holds over 1,380 U.S utility patents which makes him the seventh most prolific inventor in history, even ahead of Edison himself.
Sandhu works at Micron Technology where he’s been behind the innovations that power nearly every phone, laptop and data center on the planet.
His breakthroughs like atomic layer deposition and pitch-doubling sound like complex lab jargon but they’re the reason your devices keep getting faster and more powerful every year.
Born and educated in India, he graduated from IIT Delhi, then went on to make his mark in the U.S. semiconductor world. In 2018, he received the IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award, the semiconductor industry’s equivalent of a Nobel Prize.
And yet, beyond a few tech circles, hardly anyone knows his name. To be honest, I also did not know his name until morning but when I read about him I was quite amazed.
It’s a little sad that while we celebrate entrepreneurs, actors and athletes, we often overlook the minds quietly building the world’s future. From Punjab to IIT Delhi to leading the future of computing, Gurtej Sandhu’s story is a reminder that Indian brilliance has no borders.
Maybe it’s time we start talking more about people like him.