Education
IIT-JEE topper Pandurang Nayak started his career as a Research Scientist in 1992 in the Computational Sciences Division of the NASA Ames Research Center.
Updated : Jun 03, 2024, 10:49 AM IST
IIT-JEE topper Pandurang Nayak is an inspiration to many IIT aspirants who aim to achieve big in life. Pandurang Nayak made it to the news after he secured AIR in IIT-JEE exam in 1980, however that was just the beginning of a path breaking career for the young Indian. Although IIT graduates are believed to get an easy placement, it is worth noting that graduating from IIT is not an easy task. The race for an IIT certificate begins even before the admission. One has to get good AIR in IIT-JEE to get admission in a desired IIT. Scores of IIT aspirants work hard for the IIT-JEE exam but only one is able to secure AIR 1. Pandurang Nayak was one of them. He cleared IIT-JEE with AIR 1 in 1980 and went to IIT Bombay for his graduation in computer science and engineering.
After graduating from IIT Bombay, Pandurang Nayak moved to the US for his PhD degree in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1992. His PhD dissertation was an ACM Distinguished Dissertation. On completion of his education, IIT-JEE topper Pandurang Nayak started his career as a Research Scientist in 1992 in the Computational Sciences Division of the NASA Ames Research Center and Deputy Lead of the Remote Agent project – the first artificial intelligence system to be given primary control of a spacecraft. The Remote Agent developed by him has won the ‘NASA Software of the Year Award’ in 1999.
Later, he worked as the Chief Architect and then Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Stratify Inc. during 1999-2004. Nayak joined Google in 2004 and is a Member of Technical Staff. He is working on Google Search, using data, information retrieval techniques and machine learning to help deliver relevant, high-quality search results to billions of people around the world.