"India trains the engineer and America files the patents. We export the inventor and we import the chip," said a post on X (formerly Twitter) highlighting one of the many impacts of brain drain. In mention was Gurtej Sandhu, an Indian-origin man raised in Amritsar, trained at
IIT Delhi but known as the 7th most prolific inventor in 'American history'.
From tech CEOs to space scientists, there are numerous Indian-origin people who have contributed to America's success. One such person is Gurtej Sandhu, and here's how he did it.
Who is Gurtej Sandhu?
Currently, a senior fellow and vice-president at Micron Technology, he has spearheaded groundbreaking advancements in microelectronics. Gurtej is the son of Professor SS Sandhu, the pioneering head of GNDU's chemistry department. He was born in London but spent most of his childhood in India.
In terms of education, he completed his B.Tech. in electrical engineering from IIT Delhi and then pursued MSc honours in physics from GNDU around 1980. Later, he went to the US to pursue a PhD in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990. His contributions to the field of microelectronics have led him to win prestigious accolades including the IEEE Andrew S Grove Award in 2018 for his advancements in semiconductor scaling.
He is greatly experienced in the area of microelectronics and with expertise in thin film processes and materials, VLSI, and semiconductor device fabrication, he has made record-breaking advancements in the field.
Dr Sandhu has worked on atomic layer deposition, oxygen-free titanium coating and pitch-doubling techniques which have been remarkable and able to sustain Moore's Law. His work made the creation of smaller, faster and more efficient chips possible which are the technology behind modern tech devices like smartphones, cameras and cloud storage systems.
Over more than three decades, he has remained closely involved in the evolution of semiconductor manufacturing, particularly in silicon CMOS processes that enable DRAM and NAND memory scaling.
He has spent 35 years at Micron Technology, where he currently works. Based in Boise, Idaho, he leads the company's end-to-end Si-to-Package R&D technology roadmaps. His responsibilities include identifying technology gaps, aligning cross-functional teams and directing engineering resources to develop scalable memory solutions.
In 2025, he became the seventh most prolific inventor in the world with 1,382 patents, surpassing Thomas Edison's record. Moreover, he holds about 2,200 global patents. GNDU vice-chancellor Karamjeet Singh called it “a moment of unparalleled pride” for the university and the country. “Gurtej’s journey from our campus to global acclaim shows how dedication and curiosity can reshape the world. His success is an inspiration for our students and faculty alike,” he said.
The brain drain question
The above-mentioned post talking about the loss of inventors and creators like Dr Sandhu due to brain drain highlighted how numerous Indians move out for opportunities and end up creating records outside the country.
Numerous netizens agreed that India needs to update its resources and retain the talent rather than allowing it to move abroad. "My cousin also left india because of reservation politics,didn't get iit by few marks and now developing brain chips and will never return to India," wrote one user.
"Inventors and Inventions are made under a context, a place and an environment. India should simply offer these. And there will be billion such," added another.
"We create such an environment wherein only sycophants survive.
There is no mechanism whatsoever to support the brilliant minds. Only politicians and babus thrive," one commented.
"This is bound to happen because India doesn't value the talent! India values only vote bank politics and give freebies! Where will the infrastructure and environment come? Talented folks go outside India because foreign companies/country value their talent and not caste!" claimed another.
According to
The Geostrata, India loses between $35 to $50 billion yearly due to the great migration, solidifying how brain drain is impacting not only the country's youth but also its growth.
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