i3 - March/April 2020 - 40

Policy

By Riya Anandwala

FAC E S O F I N N OVAT I O N

LG's
Nandhu Nandhakumar

fter nearly a decade in academic research and teaching in the area of computer vision and machine learning, Nandhu Nandhakumar transitioned to the tech
industry. Today, he is the SVP in the office of the CTO at LG
Electronics where he leads R&D projects in next-gen media
technologies, smart cities and robotics. In a conversation with
CTA, Nandhakumar discusses how his experience in academia
prepared him for success in a leadership role at LG, the
importance of standards for interoperability in tech and
shares advice for future leaders.

journey and current role with LG?

A I obtained my undergraduate degree
in India in electronics and communications engineering, a master's degree at the
University of Michigan in computer engineering and then a Ph.D. at the University
of Texas with a focus in computer vision,
AI and robotics. I began my career at the
University of Texas, then transitioned to
the University of Virginia where I established a research lab focused on computer
vision and robotics. I was recruited by LG
Electronics as part of their new R&D lab
focused on the next generation of multimedia devices, which was later spun out as a
separate business unit to become Triveni
Digital, where I served as the CTO and VP of
Engineering. After a brief diversion to work
with a startup in San Diego, I rejoined LG to
help restructure Triveni and stayed on with
LGE's CTO organization to focus on strategic projects and partnerships.
Today I lead a team on strategic technology projects related to display systems,
robotics for B2B applications and smart
cities with a focus on transportation. My
team's focus on display products includes
technology development, standards development, product specification, feature
definitions and the go-to-market strategies
to deploy those products.

technologies that were many years into the
future from consumer viability and more
defense-oriented and bring those aspects
into consumer electronics. In academia,
there is an emphasis on research funding,
making new discoveries and inventions, and
publishing the results. It's as if every professor
is running their own startup venture because
they're bringing in money, raising funds by
applying for grants, supervising R&D staff and
managing complex budgets. The challenges
and goals are similar, so those who have been
in academia can thrive in industry, especially

Q What advice would you give to people
pursuing leadership positions in tech?

A First and foremost, you must be an expert

A I have worked with CTA in various capaci-

in your field of technology. You also need to
develop good communication and public
speaking skills. It's also very important as
you're growing in your career to be proactive
about being involved in other parts of your
organization. Breadth of knowledge and
experience allows you to understand the bigger picture and context of how your product
or service will be used and what challenges
it will face. An understanding of the broader
relevance of a technology-driven issue will
help you communicate it to others more
effectively and get buy-in for the change or

ties for at least a decade. My involvement

action that you are seeking.

in an entrepreneurial setting.

Q Can you talk about your role with CTA's
technology and standards work?

LG's booth at
CES 2020.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Q Can you talk about your professional

with the Technology Council focuses on
identifying technology trends, defining
areas that need new standards, developing
messaging to consumers and industry, and
addressing emerging regulatory activities.
One key consideration is related to the
rate at which technology is changing and
its effect on interoperability, usability and
adoption. New products have to exist in an
ecosystem and talk to other products, they
cannot be islands. This is when interoperability becomes very important and CTA
plays a crucial role in creating standards
that allow for products to work in conjunction with each other.

Q What made you switch to the tech sector?
A It was an exciting challenge to take
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