Arun Netravali Named President of Bell Labs; Multimedia Expert Becomes Ninth Leader of Lucent's Renowned R&D Organization - Company Operations

Cambridge Telcom Report, Nov 1, 1999

Arun Netravali, Lucent Technologies' Executive Vice President of Research, has been named president of Bell Labs, Lucent's research and development unit. He will report to Lucent's Chairman, Rich McGinn.

Netravali succeeds Dan Stanzione, who has been named a special advisor to Lucent Chairman and CEO Rich McGinn.

Netravali becomes the ninth leader of Bell Labs, which next year will celebrate its 75th anniversary. The organization has 25,000 employees located in 20 countries, and, with a budget of almost $4 billion, is the largest R&D organization in the world dedicated to communications.

One of the world's most innovative R&D entities, Bell Labs has generated some 30,000 inventions since its founding in 1925. The organization has played a pivotal role in inventing and advancing key communications technologies for most of the 20th century, including communications satellites, cellular telephony, digital networking, fiber-optic communications, and modems.

Bell Labs scientists and engineers have won 6 Nobel prizes, 16 National Medals of Science and Technology, and countless other international distinctions.

"As the innovation engine behind Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs is empowering today's communications revolution -- a revolution that is replacing old paradigms with new technologies," said McGinn. "Arun has the technical depth and vision to make sure Bell Labs stays in the vanguard of that revolution."

McGinn noted that in Netravali's previous role as head of the Bell Labs research organization, he more closely aligned that organization with Lucent's business units, bringing to the fore major technology breakthroughs including a major software breakthrough -- the first software-based network switch for both data and voice networks; a major broadband breakthrough -- the world's first long-distance transmission of a terabit (a trillion bits) of information per second over a single strand of optical fiber; and a major semiconductor breakthrough -- the world's smallest working transistor.

"These are the sort of research breakthroughs that will help Lucent maintain its leadership position in the communications industry in the coming millennium," said McGinn.

"Dan Stanzione's impact on Bell Labs, -- and on Lucent -- will be long lasting," McGinn said. "The pace of innovation across our R&D community has increased dramatically under his leadership, decreasing our time to market by more than 50 percent in just the last three years. He has done so by fostering a team sport concept of innovation, forging stronger R&D partnerships with Lucent's businesses, and maintaining the technical excellence of Bell Labs.

Netravali, 53, has been with Bell Labs for 27 years and has been Executive Vice President of Research for the past four years. Widely recognized for his technology management expertise, he also is one of the world's leading experts in the burgeoning field of multimedia communications. He co-authored the textbook considered today's bible on video compression: "Digital Pictures - Representation and Compression." He also has co-authored texts on visual communications systems and digital video (MPEG-2).

Netravali holds more than 60 patents and has authored some 140 papers in the areas of computer networks, human interfaces to machines, picture processing, and digital television.

Netravali has been honored with membership in the Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi scientific honor societies, and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He also has been named a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has received numerous awards, including the Alexander Graham Bell Medal of IEEE (1991), Engineer of the Year Award from the Association of Engineers from India (1992), the Thomas A. Edison Patent Award (1996), and Japan's Computers and Communications Prize (1997). Last year Lucent Technologies received an Emmy Award for his work on high-definition television. He holds degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, Rice University in Texas and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Switzerland.

"The prospect of leading one of the world's premier R&D organizations is both electrifying and a bit daunting, particularly at a time when the demand for new communications technology is at its zenith," Netravali said. "Bell Labs is a powerhouse of innovation. The collective brain power here is awe-inspiring. It will be an honor to support the scientists and engineers here, many of whom are recognized gurus in their fields."

Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. For more information on Lucent, visit the company's web site at http://www.lucent.com.