A man of substance has to be practical and a realist, yet he must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist because it's here, where the real force lies. And Dr. Suhas Patil, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Cirrus Logic is one such force and a motivator in the world of information technology. Considered one of the pillars of Silicon Valley, Patil grew up in Jamshedpur before achieving this new tag. And all along it has been a journey of successive milestones for Patil. Born in 1944, Patil's father repaired radios as a part-time job, and the young Patil worked with Mechano sets and learned English so that he may read Popular Science magazine.

A B.Tech with honours in Electronics and Electrical Communications from IIT, Kharagpur, Patil acquired his MS in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts and received doctor of science degree in electrical engineering from the same prestigious institute in 1970. Patil spent the initial 10 years of his working life in academics before entering into business. He worked as an assistant professor of Electrical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and assistant director of Project MAC (Multi Access Computer), the largest Computer Science Laboratory in US. The companies that wanted to hire Patil apparently wanted him to clone existing models, not undertake original work or research. Disenchanted, he came back to join the University of Utah, where he expected to continue research.

After five years there, Patil's research reached a stage where "somebody had to adopt it and take it further". And that somebody turned out to be General Instrument Corporation, which had also funded some of his earlier research. With the funding, Patil completed work on a software that automated VLSI (very large scale integration) design. The technology permitted even those not trained in silicon technologies to design integrated circuits in six months, a revolutionary step forward in the 1980s. In 1981, he started Patil Systems in Salt Lake City to develop software for automated integrated circuit design.

In 1984, he and Michael Hackworth, the company's president and CEO renamed the company Cirrus Logic with its base in Fremont. The company has grown into a major semiconductor company developing, manufacturing and marketing integrated circuits for personal computers, communications and consumer electronics. Apart from his job, Patil is involved in a host of other activities primarily helping young entrepreneurs. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), under his leadership has become an effective and respected organization guiding and mentoring, young entrepreneurs. A member of the Board of Overseers of Computer Museum, Patil's mantra in life is simple: remain calm even at the worst of the situations. That's the hallmark of this visionary.