Change of guard at IBM Research Lab

New Delhi: IBM named Dr Daniel M Dias as the director of the IBM India Research Lab on Monday.

Dias will be responsible for leading the research units in India, at Delhi and Bangalore, with a focus on innovation, developing and managing the lab's research agenda.

He succeeds Dr Ponani Gopalakrishnan, who has completed his assignment in India. Dias will be based in New Delhi.

Located in Delhi and Bangalore, IBM India Research Lab (IRL) is engaged in advanced technologies and collaborative innovation initiatives with customers, academic institutions and other partners while deepening the understanding of social, cultural, economic and technological drivers around the world.

IRL is an integral part of IBM Research division, the world's largest information technology research organisation. The research also aims to bridge the digital divide, leading e-governance projects, catalyzing industry-academia knowledge synergy and spearheading the National Innovation Initiative to address needs that are specific to India.

One such project is the National Health Data Network (NHDN), which is striving to establish standards-driven, secure and cost-sensitive infrastructure to coordinate healthcare information.

On his appointment, IBM India Research Lab (IRL) Director Dias said, "IRL is the youngest of IBM's eight labs worldwide and at the forefront of driving innovation through research. IRL's objective will include consolidating partnerships with industry and academia worldwide, to offer innovative solutions to industry, and this global footprint will help IRL attract the best talent."

Dias, further added, "I am excited at the opportunity of working with some of the world's best researchers at IRL and one of my key objectives will be to strengthen India's technology infrastructure with significant initiatives in Services and Sciences, Information Management, Interaction and Collaboration Technologies, Distributed Computing, High Performance Computing, Software Engineering, Analytics and Optimization, Telecom and industry solutions research".

Dias previously led the internet infrastructure and computing utilities team at IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center. Earlier in his career, he led the distributed systems and middleware department, and the parallel commercial systems group, both at IBM's Thomas J Watson Research Center.

Dias has received numerous awards for his contribution to research, including IBM Outstanding Innovation and Technical Achievement Award.

Dias brings over three decades of research experience, which have resulted in numerous academic papers and patents, as well as his extensive management and innovation experience to his new role.

An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay where he earned his under graduate degree in electrical engineering, Dias received his masters and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from Rice University, Houston, Texas.