Dr Vijay Bhatkar
The scientist who led C-DAC in Pune to build PARAM 8000, India's first indigenous supercomputer, in 1991.
Quick facts
- Known for:
- PARAM supercomputer, C-DAC
- Pune link:
- C-DAC, Pune University campus
Life and work
Dr Vijay Bhatkar was the founding executive director of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), set up in Pune in 1988. India had been refused supercomputers from abroad, and his team built PARAM 8000, India's first indigenous supercomputer, in 1991.
He later chaired the Board of Governors of IIT Delhi and was Chancellor of Nalanda University. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2000 and the Padma Bhushan in 2015.
Pune link
C-DAC is still headquartered in Pune, on the Savitribai Phule Pune University campus, and has trained thousands of computer engineers.
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Sources: Written by PuneDiary. Facts checked 29 October 2026.