>PearBOT II at 21:28, 9 April 2021

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{{short description|Indian-born Silicon Valley entrepreneur}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
'''Bala S. Manian''' is an [[India]]n-born [[Silicon Valley]] entrepreneur who has started a string of medical technology companies such as ReaMetrix, Digital Optics and Quantum Dot Corporation.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news | author = Andrew Pollack | title = INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; Medical Firms Join the Trend To Outsourcing | date = February 24, 2005 |work=New York Times | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E5D6163DF937A15751C0A9639C8B63&pagewanted=all | access-date =February 12, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Edwards2006" /> Some of the resulting technologies have also had applications in the film industry, earning Manian an [[Academy Award]] certificate for technical achievement.<ref name=nytimes />

==Early life==
Bala Manian was born in [[Chennai]] (formerly [[Madras]]) India in 1944.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} He lost an eye in a childhood accident at age three<ref name=NYP /> and has seven siblings. His elder brother [[N. Vaghul]] has been chairman of [[ICICI Bank]]. Manian earned a BSc in [[physics]] from [[Loyola College, Chennai|Loyola College, Madras]] and a postgraduate level diploma in instrumentation from the [[Madras Institute of Technology|Madras Institute of Technology at Madras]] before earning a Masters in optics at the [[University of Rochester]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/People/Awards/Institutional/DEA/DEA_2000/manian |title=Manian – Our People – Purdue Engineering |publisher=Engineering.purdue.edu |access-date=May 19, 2012}}</ref> He then earned a PhD from [[Purdue]] in 1971, conducting research in the Applied Optics Laboratory of the College of Engineering. From 1971 until 1974, Manian held a position as a senior research associate and assistant professor at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics.

==Career==
As a consultant for various companies, he helped develop the first compact "under the counter" [[Barcode reader|barcode laser scanner]] for supermarkets, several laser scanner-based stereo mapping instruments at the [[Defense Mapping Agency]] and image quality control instrumentation for [[photo reconnaissance]] systems. He also consulted on [[computer vision]] for on-line [[quality control]] at several companies including [[Ford]], [[IBM]], [[Corning Incorporated|Corning]], [[Kodak]], and the [[Union Pacific Railroad]].

Manian then founded various other companies Digital Optics Corporation,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.jaws.com/eppic/Speaker_Bios/short_biography.htm |title=Short Biography |publisher=Jaws.com |access-date=May 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319193646/http://www.jaws.com/eppic/Speaker_Bios/short_biography.htm |archive-date=March 19, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref> an optical instrumentation and systems development company, which developed the first three-color laser, film reader/writer system. These techniques allowed filmmakers to insert or merge special effects into movies using computerized digital imaging.<ref name="Edwards2006">{{cite book|author=Steven Alan Edwards|title=The nanotech pioneers: where are they taking us?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=11uwl5E9j_8C&pg=PA87|access-date=February 13, 2011|year=2006|publisher=Wiley-VCH|isbn=978-3-527-31290-0|page=87}}</ref><ref name = NYP /> Working with [[David DiFrancesco]] and Tom Noggle, he created a technology that was transferred in 1983 to [[Industrial Light and Magic]],.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> It has been used in the production of numerous movies including "[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]" and "[[Return of the Jedi]]."<ref name="Edwards2006" /> In February 1999, Manian was awarded an [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] Technical Award for this advance in technology.<ref name = NYP>{{cite news | author = Lauren Barack | date = February 21, 1999 | title = Laser whiz wins Oscar; but don't save inventor Bala Manian a seat at the awards |work=New York Post | url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/access/68476142.html?dids=68476142:68476142&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+21,+1999&author=LAUREN+BARACK&pub=New+York+Post&desc=LASER+WHIZ+WINS+OSCAR+;+BUT+DON'T+SAVE+INVENTOR+BALA+MANIAN+A+SEAT+AT+THE+AWARDS&pqatl=google }}</ref> The same technology was then further developed to write the [[CAT scan]] and [[MRI]] images used in [[medical diagnosis]] directly onto film. This required a special film developed by [[Kodak]] for optimum results. Manian sold Digital Optics in 1984 for $7.5 million<ref name = NYP /> to the Matrix Corporation.

Manian remained as [[Chief Technical Officer]] for Digital Optics through 1985 and thenacted as an investor and independent consultant to several [[venture capital]] firms before becoming the founder and Chief Technical Officer for two startups, [[Molecular Dynamics]] and Lumisys, a company dealing in laser-based [[x-ray]] film digitizers.

He then founded [[Biometric Imaging]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/> and became the Chief Technical Officer. The company has developed technology that allows doctors to examine the [[blood cells]] of seriously ill patients and determine the nature and extent of their disease. It also gives [[pharmaceutical]] companies the ability to perform cell function analyses in the discovery and development of pharmaceutical drugs. Manian co-founded the company [[Surromed]] and [[Quantum Dot Corporation]] in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmu.edu/cttec/News/inventors-spotlight/Marcel%20Bruchez.html |title=Marcel Bruchez Bio |publisher=[[Carnegie Mellon University]] |access-date=July 6, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610204727/http://www.cmu.edu/cttec/News/inventors-spotlight/Marcel%20Bruchez.html |archive-date=June 10, 2010 |df=mdy }}</ref> Quantum Dot Corporation (QDC) developed and sold novel solutions to accelerate the discovery and development of functionally validated novel drug targets at the cellular level. QDC's products and services employ quantum dot (Qdot) particles. Bala Manian founded ReaMetrix in May 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reametrix.com/?page_id=121 |title=Management « ReaMetrix |publisher=Reametrix.com |access-date=May 19, 2012}}</ref> and serves as a science and business advisor for a number of entrepreneurial companies (Galileo Labs, Biocon India, ICICI Knowledge Park and APIDC -VC). Currently, he is also an advisor to the startup TeliportMe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/07/29/360-teliportme-brings-its-killer-panorama-app-to-android-oh-and-it-works-on-over-200-phones/ |title= 360: TeliportMe Brings Its Killer Panorama App To Android (Oh, And It Works On Over 200 Phones) }}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Pixar Photoscience Team]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*[http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/01/02/stories/2003010201230200.htm The Hindu The Knowledge Industrialist]
*[http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/ECN/DEA/2000/Manian.whtml Purdue 2000 Distinguished Almnus]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060512092543/http://www.biospectrumindia.com/content/biotalk/10601172.asp Import the science, but implement it in the local context]

==External links==
*[http://www.reametrix.com Reametrix]
*[http://www.biocon.com Biocon]
*[http://www.manian.org Manian.org]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manian, Bala S.}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:University of Rochester alumni]]
[[Category:Purdue University College of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American businesspeople of Indian descent]]

Bala S. Manian - Revision history

>PearBOT II at 21:28, 9 April 2021