Indian-born computer scientist, Hari Balakrishnan, has been awarded the prestigious Marconi Prize for 2023, considered among the world’s topmost honors in the field of information and communication technology. The prize is announced annually by the Marconi Society and named after Italian wireless pioneer Guglielmo Marconi. 

Balakrishnan, the Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been cited for his fundamental discoveries in wired and wireless networking, mobile sensing, and distributed systems. His research has made millions of people safer and has made the internet and wireless communications more efficient and robust.

Balakrishnan is an alumnus of the Kendriya Vidyalaya at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, and obtained his Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree in computer science from IIT Madras in 1993. He later earned his doctorate in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, and began his scientific career at MIT in 1998. 

Balakrishnan developed techniques that have found their way into a number of commercial products and network standards. He has made substantial contributions to network congestion control, overlay, and peer-to-peer networks, robust routing, and Internet architecture.

Upon receiving the Marconi Prize, Balakrishnan expressed his desire for a safer, more durable, and more sustainable world and said that he is inspired by how people use applications and the network. The ceremony for the Marconi Prize will be held in Washington, DC, on 27 October.

Balakrishnan's passion for making the world safer, more resilient, and more sustainable is evident in his work, and his dedication to the field is an inspiration to young researchers. The Marconi Prize is a well-deserved recognition of Balakrishnan's hard work and achievements.