Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
PORTRAIT OF INNOVATION: SUBHENDU GUHA
MARTHA DAVIDSON
It was both a fascination with science and a concern for societal problems
that led Subhendu Guha to new discoveries about the properties of amor-
phous silicon and the consequent invention of flexible solar shingles, a
state-of-the-art technology for converting sunlight to electricity. Yet if
asked about the secret of his creativity, Guha would probably say the key
was reading. “Reading,” he says, “is extremely important, because that
helps you in making decisions. As you read more and more, you will ask
questions. And you will try to solve those questions. And you get the
biggest thrill when you realize you have thought of something new, and
it works.”
Guha, a physicist who is executive vice president of United Solar Sys-
tems Corporation in Troy, Michigan, began his life and his career in Cal-
cutta, a major city in eastern India known for its rich literary tradition. As
a child, he was as captivated by literature as he was by science or technol-
ogy. He read everything he could get his hands on, from poetry to text-
books, but he was particularly drawn to the work of Rabindranath Tagore,
the great Bengali writer, composer, and artist, winner of the 1913 Nobel
Prize for literature.
“The writing, music, and painting of Tagore had and still have the most
profound effect on me,” Guha explains. “While I cannot readily see any
direct connection between my literary interests and my scientific work, . . .
I feel that creativity is universal. Reading, listening, or seeing creative
expressions in any form must have a subtle way of triggering your own
creativity in an area which you enjoy the most.” Looking back, he realizes
that it was through reading that he broadened his own horizons sufficiently
to make informed choices in his path of study.
