Shiva Ayyadurai
Encyclopedia
V. A. Shiva Ayyadurai (born December 2, 1963 in Tamilnadu, India) is an American inventor, scientist
, and Faculty Lecturer in Department of Biological Engineering
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
.
in 2007.
in Comparative Media Studies at MIT. In 2009, V.A. Shiva was selected by the Office of the Prime Minister of India
as the first Outstanding Scientist Technologist of Indian Origin to lead a new agency for innovation to incubate and launch start-up companies from potential technologies developed in the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR). V.A. Shiva subsequently authored a critical and controversial report of how CSIR’s governance hampers innovation and freedom of CSIR’s nearly 4,000 scientists. The publication of this report exposed corruption at CSIR forcing V.A. Shiva’s firing and having to leave India for whistle blowing. Following his dismissal from CSIR, Nature asked V.A. Shiva to write commentary on his experience at CSIR.
V.A. Shiva is the founder EchoMail, Inc. These patents were the basis of the EchoMail platform, a system for automatically categorizing and managing inbound EMAIL; this system was implemented to make the reading and response of customer service emails faster for companies such as Nike
.
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, online as early as 1996.
The experience with these two online communities led to V.A. Shiva authoring two books. His first book titled “Arts and the Internet” was published in 1996 by the Allworth Press, New York. His second book is titled “The Internet Publicity Guide” was published on 1997, also by Allworth Press, New York.
system at the medical school of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Email had been previously sent on other networks such as AUTODIN, PLATO and ARPANet
. This was the first database
-driven system that translated all elements of an inter-office memorandum/mail, then in paper form, consisting of “From:”, ”To:”, “Cc:”, “Bcc:”, “Subject:”, “Body:” and Attachments elements along with features of Inbox, Outbox and Folders, to an electronic mail format. In 1981, this system was recognized by the Westinghouse Science Talent Search receiving an Honors Award. Later, in 1982, the US Copyright Office issued him the first copyright for “EMAIL”.
, Indian's oldest system of Traditional Medicines, and modern Systems Biology
. During 2008 to 2009, V.A. Shiva traveled to India exploring Siddha, Ayurveda
, Yoga
, Traditional Chinese Medicine
, Herbs etc. This work became the basis for his educational work with Traditional Medicine Society at MIT, where he gave a twelve-part lecture series in Fall 2010 covering such varying topics as Siddha, Traditional Chinese Medicine, personalized medicine, herbs, Yoga, lines of energy, body type and the process of drug discovery. In April 2011, he was invited to present a featured presentation titled "Systems Medicine - Where East Meets West: The Future of Personalized Health" at the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo, one of the largest drug discovery conferences in the world.
put a call for the development of scientific visualization
, V.A. Shiva began some of the earliest research in scientific visualization at MIT's Media Laboratory, developing new tools and methods for visualizing large-scale multi-dimensional visual for wave propagation
. This pioneering work led to him being elected as the chairman of the Scientific Visualization Organizing Committee for the first conference in Biomedical Scientific Visualization by the IEEE, which was held in Seattle in 1989 and subsequently in Philadelphia in 1990. Working with Robert Langer and Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic in 1989, he built one of the early tools for flow visualization
. During 2003 to 2007, he worked with a collaborative team of animators globally to create a systems biology visualization of viral infection. He has developed a new course in Systems Visualization
for the Comparative Media Studies (CMS) department at MIT, which he currently teaches at MIT (for graduates and undergraduates).
in June 2011, he presented a platform paper titled "Biomimetics of Media and Communication", which provided a framework for exploring the design of complex organizations using emerging principles from systems biology.
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
, and Faculty Lecturer in Department of Biological Engineering
Biological engineering
Biological engineering, biotechnological engineering or bioengineering is the application of concepts and methods of biology to solve problems in life sciences, using engineering's own analytical and synthetic methodologies and also its traditional...
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Early Years & Education
He graduated with four degrees from MIT, with a Ph.D. in biological engineeringBiological engineering
Biological engineering, biotechnological engineering or bioengineering is the application of concepts and methods of biology to solve problems in life sciences, using engineering's own analytical and synthetic methodologies and also its traditional...
in 2007.
Systems Biology
He is the inventor of CytoSolve, a computational system for scalable integration of molecular pathway models.Career
V.A. Shiva teaches Systems VisualizationSystems visualization
-Overview:Systems Visualization is a new field of visualization which integrates the four disciplines of narrative story telling, visual metaphors & visual design, complex systems theory, and knowledge & data representation through the use of ontologies. Systems visualization is notably...
in Comparative Media Studies at MIT. In 2009, V.A. Shiva was selected by the Office of the Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
as the first Outstanding Scientist Technologist of Indian Origin to lead a new agency for innovation to incubate and launch start-up companies from potential technologies developed in the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
CSIR India
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research established in 1942, is an autonomous body and India's largest Research and Development organization, with 39 laboratories and 50 field stations or extension centers spread across the nation, with a collective staff of over 17,000...
(CSIR). V.A. Shiva subsequently authored a critical and controversial report of how CSIR’s governance hampers innovation and freedom of CSIR’s nearly 4,000 scientists. The publication of this report exposed corruption at CSIR forcing V.A. Shiva’s firing and having to leave India for whistle blowing. Following his dismissal from CSIR, Nature asked V.A. Shiva to write commentary on his experience at CSIR.
EMAIL Management
V.A. Shiva holds three United States Patents in the field of email management by the United States Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO). USPTO patent number 6,718,368 is for “System and method for content-sensitive automatic reply message generation for text-based asynchronous communications”. USPTO patent number 6,718,367 is for “Filter for modeling system and method for handling and routing of text-based asynchronous communications”. USPTO patent number 6,668,281 is for “Relationship management system and method using asynchronous electronic messaging”.V.A. Shiva is the founder EchoMail, Inc. These patents were the basis of the EchoMail platform, a system for automatically categorizing and managing inbound EMAIL; this system was implemented to make the reading and response of customer service emails faster for companies such as Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
.
Early On-Line Communities
In 1996, V.A. Shiva, then CEO of Millennium Productions developed Arts-Online.Com and Harvard-Square.Com two of the Internet’s early online cyber communities. Arts-Online.com is an online portal for artists to sell their products. Harvard-square.com brought all the businesses of the famous Harvard SquareHarvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, online as early as 1996.
The experience with these two online communities led to V.A. Shiva authoring two books. His first book titled “Arts and the Internet” was published in 1996 by the Allworth Press, New York. His second book is titled “The Internet Publicity Guide” was published on 1997, also by Allworth Press, New York.
Social Activism
While a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, V.A. Shiva led and participated in demonstration for social causes. In 1985, he participated in a demonstration against South Africa under apartheid. In 2008, during his doctoral degree convocation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ayyadurai demonstrated against the Iraq War.Inventing EMAIL
Prior to becoming a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while a high school student at Livingston high school, New Jersey, he implemented an emailEmail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
system at the medical school of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Email had been previously sent on other networks such as AUTODIN, PLATO and ARPANet
ARPANET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
. This was the first database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
-driven system that translated all elements of an inter-office memorandum/mail, then in paper form, consisting of “From:”, ”To:”, “Cc:”, “Bcc:”, “Subject:”, “Body:” and Attachments elements along with features of Inbox, Outbox and Folders, to an electronic mail format. In 1981, this system was recognized by the Westinghouse Science Talent Search receiving an Honors Award. Later, in 1982, the US Copyright Office issued him the first copyright for “EMAIL”.
Traditional Medicines
V.A. Shiva was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship in 2007 to return to India and perform research on the linkages between SiddhaSiddha
A Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara , have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies into a different kind of body dominated by...
, Indian's oldest system of Traditional Medicines, and modern Systems Biology
Systems biology
Systems biology is a term used to describe a number of trends in bioscience research, and a movement which draws on those trends. Proponents describe systems biology as a biology-based inter-disciplinary study field that focuses on complex interactions in biological systems, claiming that it uses...
. During 2008 to 2009, V.A. Shiva traveled to India exploring Siddha, Ayurveda
Ayurveda
Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, words , meaning "longevity", and , meaning "knowledge" or "science". The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India,...
, Yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
, Herbs etc. This work became the basis for his educational work with Traditional Medicine Society at MIT, where he gave a twelve-part lecture series in Fall 2010 covering such varying topics as Siddha, Traditional Chinese Medicine, personalized medicine, herbs, Yoga, lines of energy, body type and the process of drug discovery. In April 2011, he was invited to present a featured presentation titled "Systems Medicine - Where East Meets West: The Future of Personalized Health" at the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo, one of the largest drug discovery conferences in the world.
Systems Visualization
Since 1987, when the NSFNational Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
put a call for the development of scientific visualization
Scientific visualization
Scientific visualization is an interdisciplinary branch of science according to Friendly "primarily concerned with the visualization of three-dimensional phenomena , where the emphasis is on realistic renderings of volumes, surfaces, illumination sources, and so forth, perhaps...
, V.A. Shiva began some of the earliest research in scientific visualization at MIT's Media Laboratory, developing new tools and methods for visualizing large-scale multi-dimensional visual for wave propagation
Wave propagation
Wave propagation is any of the ways in which waves travel.With respect to the direction of the oscillation relative to the propagation direction, we can distinguish between longitudinal wave and transverse waves....
. This pioneering work led to him being elected as the chairman of the Scientific Visualization Organizing Committee for the first conference in Biomedical Scientific Visualization by the IEEE, which was held in Seattle in 1989 and subsequently in Philadelphia in 1990. Working with Robert Langer and Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic in 1989, he built one of the early tools for flow visualization
Flow visualization
Flow visualization in fluid dynamics is used to make the flow patterns visible, in order to get a qualitative or quantitative information on them.- Overview :...
. During 2003 to 2007, he worked with a collaborative team of animators globally to create a systems biology visualization of viral infection. He has developed a new course in Systems Visualization
Systems visualization
-Overview:Systems Visualization is a new field of visualization which integrates the four disciplines of narrative story telling, visual metaphors & visual design, complex systems theory, and knowledge & data representation through the use of ontologies. Systems visualization is notably...
for the Comparative Media Studies (CMS) department at MIT, which he currently teaches at MIT (for graduates and undergraduates).
Media And Organizational Biomimetics
Media and Organizational Biomimetics explores how biological models, spanning molecule to cell to whole organisms, can provide insights into the media and communication interactions across human, social, business, governmental and cultural organizations. This approach spans a trans-disciplinary methodology, integrating approaches from communication arts, complex systems biology, and real-world systems. V.A. Shiva's development of Media and Organizational Biomimetics grew out of his interests in two dynamic fields: media and systems biology, and his recognition that few, if any, principles exist for understanding the design of media and communications infrastructures for large-scale complex organizations. At the 12th International Symposium on Service Excellence in Management at Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in June 2011, he presented a platform paper titled "Biomimetics of Media and Communication", which provided a framework for exploring the design of complex organizations using emerging principles from systems biology.
Awards
- 2007 Fulbright Award
- 1996 Lemelson-MIT Student Award Finalist
- 1982 Westinghouse Science Honors Award