Who was Arvind Mithal, the Computer Science Professor at MIT?

The engineering and computer science department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was mourning the loss of a beloved faculty member. Indian-origin computer scientist Arvind Mithal, known simply as Arvind, passed away on June 17, 2024. He held the distinguished Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Professorship in Computer Science and Engineering. Arvind was 77 years old. 

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Who was Arvind Mithal?

Arvind Mithal was an Indian computer scientist and educator who dedicated nearly five decades to MIT. He was known for his groundbreaking contributions to dataflow and parallel computing. Born on May 18, 1947, in India, Arvind developed a passion for computers during his undergraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. He got a Bachelor’s Degree in technology with a focus on electrical engineering in 1969. Arvind completed both his Master’s degree as well as Doctorate from the University Of Minnesota in 1972 and 1973 respectively. 

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Career

For a year, Arvind taught at IIT’s Kanpur campus, before joining MIT in 1978. Since then, Arvind has been recognized as a leading figure in the areas of dataflow architectures and parallel programming languages. In the late 1980s, He collaborated with and created Monsoon dataflow machines which played an important role in improving computational effectiveness by optimizing how data moves inside computer systems.

The scope of Arvind’s research went into formal verification of digital systems, high-level synthesis for hardware design, and memory models for parallel computing architectures. As a result, his work was influential in both the theoretical areas of computer science and applied fields like microprocessor design or semiconductor devices.

Arvind started his journey as an entrepreneur in 2000 when he founded Sandburst, Inc., a semiconductor company developing high-performance networking chips. During his time as the company’s president, Sandburst experienced great growth before being acquired by Broadcom in 2006.

At the same time, Arvind also helped start Bluespec, Inc. in 2003, which helped in the development of Bluespec SystemVerilog (BSV), a high-level hardware description language designed to automate the process of chip design.

In addition to his research and business work, Arvind also had a crucial part in forming the computer science curriculum at MIT. He was the head of the faculty for computer science and aided in reorganizing the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), which occurred after MIT Schwarzman College of Computing started functioning.

Arvind’s influence reached worldwide through his advisory roles for universities and governments in parallel programming and semiconductor design. 

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Awards and Legacy

Arvind’s work in computer science has been acknowledged through numerous awards and honors. He was chosen as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) along with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Also, he was a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2008. In 2012, he became a part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Despite his professional achievements, Arvind remained deeply committed to his family. He is survived by his wife, Gita Singh Mithal, their two sons, and grandchildren.

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