BANGALORE: India-born scientist Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj and mathematics scholar Himanshu Asnani at Standford University in the Silicon Valley have been awarded prizes by the Marconi Society in Washington.

Paulraj, 69, was honoured with the prestigious Marconi Prize for his pioneering work on developing wireless technology to transmit and receive data at high speed.

Asnani, 27, received the Society's Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for contributing to point-to-point and multi-terminal channel coding and source coding problems.

Named after radio inventor and Nobel laureate Guglielmo Marconi(1874-1937), Marconi Society awards annually individuals whose work and influence emulate the principle of creativity in service to humanity.

Marconi's daughter Gioia Marconi Braga had set up the society in 1974 through an endowment.

Paulraj, donated his cash prize of $100,000 (60 lakh) to the Society's young scholar programme.

Asnani was also presented with a cash prize of $4,000 (2.4 lakh).

India-born American scientist and Hitachi America professor of engineering, emeritus at Stanford Thomas Kailath presented the awards to the achievers.

"It has been a privilege to have known Paulraj as a student, a research fellow and a warm colleague for many years," Pune-born Kailath said at the award ceremony.

After receiving the award, Paulraj said the society was playing a key role through recognition and scholarships to enhance social, economic and cultural values.

"As it's an honour to be named a fellow of Marconi Society, I will do best to be worthy of it. This is the highest recognition in the ICT (information and communications technology), which is significant for India's growth," Paulraj told from Washington.

Overwhelmed by the honour at a young age, Asnani credited his parents and teachers for their love and guidance during his career pursuit.

"I dedicate this award to my mentor and spiritual guide Srila Prabhupada, founder of Iskon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and whose teachings had a great impact in my life," Asnani told.

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Source: IANS