Ritwik Chatterjee

Patent Engineer

Ritwik is a typical small town, Generation Y, American male, born in Calcutta. His family moved from India to Ohio when Ritwik was just three years old, so his dad, a scientist, could work for the U.S. Air Force and for companies like Eastman Kodak.

With 1980s America in his head and engineering in his veins, Ritwik grew from a sassy kid, using his intelligence to buck his parents' system -- he once taped his drum practicing sessions and replayed them to avoid endless repetitive hours of practice -- to a young man who achieved big goals, quickly and creatively.

His first engineering degree came from Purdue, where he finished a cooperative education program with Intel, completing in four years a program that normally takes five.

From Purdue he entered MIT, receiving his Masters and Ph.D. His field is electrical engineering, much of his experience in the semiconductor industry, where he was on a very fast track in research management, a challenging and fascinating world.

But his world shifted axes with the birth of a daughter. And suddenly, aiming for the shiniest apple didn't seem nearly as important as designing a life that would let him spend time with her.

And that's what brought Ritwik to West Michigan. Turning down an offer to go lead a research team in the semiconductor industry, Ritwik is choosing a life that will make great use of his research skills and training, but still give him time to watch his daughter grow up.

Today Ritwik's idea of fun is researching prior art and writing solid patent language sure to protect an inventor's ideas.