Chandu Visweswariah, PhD 

Dr. Chandu Visweswariah is the Founding President and former Chief Executive Officer of Utopus Insights, a software company in the renewable energy space. Prior to co-founding Utopus Insights, Chandu led a worldwide Smarter Energy and Environmental Science team at IBM Research. 

In 2013, he was named a Fellow, the highest technical honor conferred by IBM. He was one of only 92 IBM Fellows among an employee population that exceeded 400,000. Prior to this position, Chandu was an IBM Distinguished Engineer, responsible for leading a team that developed innovative chip design techniques. 

Throughout his career, Chandu has developed prescient technical visions and innovations, like his seminal work on statistical timing and circuit optimization. In 2017, Chandu transitioned from a researcher to an entrepreneur. He was responsible for spinning Utopus Insights out of IBM Research, and in 2018, he led the acquisition of the start-up by Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, a mere 11 months after launch.

Chandu holds a PhD in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1989). He is an IEEE Fellow (1995) and was a visiting faculty member at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands (2002). Among Chandu’s recognitions are the “Great Minds, Great Ideas” project (EE Times 2005), "Innovator of the Year" (EDN Magazine 2006), Member of the IBM Academy of Technology (2009), IBM Master Inventor (2011), IBM Corporate Awards (2003, 2012), ACM/IEEE A. Richard Newton Technical Impact Award (2016), IBM 25th Invention Plateau Award (2016), Distinguished Alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (2016), and numerous Best Paper awards. He has a book, over 100 publications and 106 granted patents to his name.

Chandu is a co-founder of Croton100, a community-based environmental not-for-profit. He lives a low-carbon lifestyle in a zero-carbon home.