Samarendra Kumar Mitra

Samarendra Kumar Mitra
সমরেন্দ্র কুমার মিত্র
Born(1916-03-14)14 March 1916
Died26 September 1998 (aged 82)
Kolkata
Alma mater
Known forDesigned, developed and constructed India's first indigenous computer (an electronic analog computer) in ISI in 1953
AwardsCunningham Memorial Prize in Chemistry
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
Computer science
Institutions
Doctoral advisorMeghnad Saha
Other academic advisorsS. N. Bose
Notes
Mitra was recognized as the father of computers in India by the Calcutta Mathematical Society[citation needed]

Samarendra Kumar Mitra (14 March 1916 – 26 September 1998) was an Indian scientist and mathematician. He designed, developed and constructed, in 1953-54, India's first computer (an electronic analog computer) at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Calcutta (presently Kolkata). He began his career as a research physicist at the Palit Laboratory of Physics, Rajabazar Science College (University of Calcutta). In 1950, he joined the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Calcutta, an Institute of National importance, where he worked in various capacities such as professor, research professor and director.[citation needed]

Mitra was the founder and first head of the Computing Machines and Electronics Division at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Calcutta.

In 1953-54, India's first indigenous electronic analogue computer for solving linear equations with 10 variables and related problems was designed and developed by Samarendra Kumar Mitra and was built under his direct personal supervision and guidance by Ashish Kumar Maity in the Computing Machines and Electronics Laboratory at the[1] (ISI), Calcutta. This computer was used in computation of numerical solutions of simultaneous linear equations using a modified version of Gauss–Seidel iteration.

Mitra demonstrating India's first indigenous computer, an electronic analogue computer, to the Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, at the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta
Commemoration plaque at the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California, USA

Subsequently, in 1963, the ISI, Calcutta began design and development of the first second-generation indigenous digital computer of India in joint collaboration with Jadavpur University (JU), Calcutta.

This collaboration was primarily led by Mitra, as he was the Head of the Computing Machines and Electronics Laboratory, ISI. He designed, developed, and constructed a general purpose High Speed Electronic Digital Computer, namely called the ISIJU computer (Indian Statistical InstituteJadavpur University Computer). Under the leadership of Mitra, the first second-generation indigenous digital computer of India was produced, namely the transistor-driven machine ISIJU-1, which became operational in 1964.

India's first indigenous digital computer, ISIJU-I

The Computer and Communication Sciences Division of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) was started under Samarendra Kumar Mitra and has produced many eminent scientists. The first annual convention of the Computer Society of India (CSI) was hosted by ISI in 1965.[citation needed] Mitra was a self-taught scholar with wide-ranging interests in varied fields such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, poultry science, Sanskrit language, philosophy, religion and literature.

  1. ^ Indian Statistical Institute