Date:05/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/05/stories/2008110559130300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Tragic end to bright career

Marri Ramu

Arpana was among the top 20 in Microchip worldwide contest

-PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

Pall of gloom: A relative of Arpana Jinaga in a pensive mood at her residence in the city on Tuesday.

HYDERABAD: Achieve a Ph. D. from a coveted American university and disseminate knowledge by embracing teaching profession- that was the cherished ambition of Arpana Jinaga, Hyderabadi software engineer who was found murdered in Redmond city of America.

Securing a doctorate from American university would not have been difficult for the brilliant software engineer having an outstanding academic record.

A gold medallist in engineering from VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Technology, she pursued M.S. programme in Embedded Systems and wanted to complete Ph.D. though she joined EMC Corporation as a software engineer temporarily. She had many distinctions to her credit.

Chip designing

Even before completing her engineering, Ms. Arpana proved her competency in the complex field of chip designing. She was among the top 20 in a world-wide contest of Digital Signal Controller Design organised by America-based Microchip Technologies Inc. in 2005.

Unlike other students who take pains to plan vacations, Ms. Arpana joined Nalanda Telematics and Informatics during her summer vacation as an internee. Information about the contest aroused her interest.

By working more than 18 hours a day for the next few weeks, she designed a chip that helped figure her name among the top 20.

She was the only Asian to win that contest. The young girl was also a poet and had posted her poems on her blog.

“She looked up to her father B.C. Jinaga, who taught thousands of students, as her role model. She wanted to emulate him by achieving excellence in her subject,” Sri Hari, her family friend, recalled.

The sad news came as a jolt to Mr. Jinaga’s family, relatives and friends, who were hoping that she would surpass her father’s illustrious academic record and win laurels for the family.

Mr. Jinaga originally hailed from Karnataka but settled in Hyderabad.