Premji receives Faraday Medal

Wipro chairman Azim Premji on Friday became the first Indian to receive the prestigious Faraday Medal from Institution of Electrical Engineers, the largest professional engineering society in Europe.

He was awarded the medal in recognition of his outstanding business leadership and contribution to elementary education in India.

The medal was presented to him by Sir Robin Saxby, chairman of the UK-based ARM Technologies, a recipient of this award in 2002, on the first day of the international conference on embedded systems and software, being organised by IEE, in Banglaore.

"The medal is actually a recognition of the untiring contribution made by the software engineers at Wipro and the Indian software community in general towards global technology," Premji said in his acceptance speech.

The Faraday Medal in bronze was established in 1922 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first ordinary meeting of the Society of Telegraph Engineers (now IEE).

It is awarded once a year, either for notable scientific or industrial achievements in electrical engineering or for conspicuous service rendered to the advancement of electrical science, without restrictions as regards nationality, country of residence or membership of the IEE.

Recalling about Michael Faraday, after whom this medal is named, Premji said to his mind, three qualities (as demonstrated by Faraday during his days) - eagerness to learn, insatiable curiosity and deep sense of humility – will keep the spirit of discovery and innovation alive.