Thiru Vikram

Last updated

Thiru
Vikram
Naidu
Thiru Vikram headshot.jpg
Official portrait, 2018
CEO of Buffalo Automation
Personal details
Born
S. Thiru Vikram

(1995-07-25) 25 July 1995 (age 30)
Udumalaipettai
Relatives D. Selvaraj (Grandfather)
Residence Amherst, New York
Education
Occupation
AwardsDistinguished Alumnus (University at Buffalo)
Military service
AllegianceFlag of the United States.svg United States
Branch/service
Years of service
  • 2016–2024
Rank Army-USA-OR-04b.svg Specialist
Unit

Thiru Vikram (Thiru Vikram Suresh; born July 25, 1995) [1] is an inventor, engineer and entrepreneur who is the CEO of Buffalo Automation, a now defunct private company headquartered in Buffalo, New York, that provides autonomous navigation technology for commercial ships and recreational boats. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and career

Vikram attended the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu, India. [5] Vikram was a Head Boy [6] [7] and a member of the Robotics Club at Lovedale. [8]

He studied computer science and electrical engineering at the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where he founded Buffalo Automation with fellow students. [9] [10] [11] The company was founded to design and build an artificial intelligence system called AutoMate that enables ships and boats to self-navigate. [12] [13] In 2016, Vikram left the University at Buffalo to focus on the company full-time. [14] [15] [16] However, in 2021, Vikram was recognized as a distinguished alumnus by the University at Buffalo despite having dropped out. [17] [18]

Although naturalized in 2016 as an American, Vikram is originally from Tamil Nadu and descended from the Kamma section [19] of the erstwhile Poligars of South India, [6] [20] [21] belonging to the few remaining households that still speak Old Telugu due to their split from the Andhras many centuries ago, [22] when they left Kammanadu to lead the Nayaka armies of the Vijayanagara Empire [23] and, subsequently, settle in their present family seats in modern-day Tiruppur district. [24] [25] [26] [27]

Vikram served in the US Army Reserve as a combat engineer under the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest program. [28] [20] [7] [29]

Awards and recognitions

Vikram was awarded first place in the 2018 Entrepreneurs' Organization Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards Western NY Competition. [30] [31] In 2022, Vikram was featured as one of the United States’ 18 Top CEOs in the Assistive Technology Startup Space and among the Top 44 in Navigation by Boardroom Media. [32] [33]

Inventions

Vikram is listed as an inventor in a few patents, including:

  1. A sensor system for maritime vessels. [34]
  2. A deep learning intelligent sensing system integration. [35]
  3. Training a deep learning system for maritime applications. [36]
  4. A deep learning intelligent sensing system for port operations. [37]
  5. A lane and object detection systems and methods. [38]

References

  1. ↑ "UB elevator pitch competition winners take big ideas to small screens". www.buffalo.edu. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  2. ↑ Bratek, Kim (November 16, 2018). "43North — Founder Friday: Thiru Vikram, Buffalo Automation". 43North. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Forget Robo-Cars and Hit the Water on an Autonomous Boat". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  4. ↑ Lindeman, Tracey (April 19, 2018). "Autonomous Boats Will Be On the Market Sooner Than Self-Driving Cars". Vice. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Lawrence School Robotics Club gearing up for challenge". The Hindu. February 16, 2012. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Country needs honest people: AVM Rai". The Hindu. April 5, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Thiru Vikram: Pioneering Autonomous Navigation Technology". NRI Today. December 23, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Robotic Club of Lovedale wins championship". The Hindu. February 10, 2011. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  9. ↑ Caya, Chris (October 16, 2017). "Are self-navigating boats on the horizon?". news.wbfo.org. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Launch NY, Z80 back self-piloting ship startup". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Robotics startup wins Panasci competition". The Buffalo News. April 14, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Streamlining process of detecting fevers". www.buffalo.edu. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  13. ↑ Telford, William (April 16, 2020). "Robot water taxis to be trialled by US tech giants in Plymouth". PlymouthLive. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  14. ↑ Lehman, Joel (April 27, 2018). "The journey to funding: Buffalo Automation's story". UpstartNY. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Thiru Vikram-led Startup Wins University of Buffalo Entrepreneur Competition | Global Indian | indiawest.com". June 25, 2016. Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  16. ↑ Miner, Dan (April 14, 2016). "Self-navigating ship startup wins prestigious Panasci prize". Buffalo Business Journal. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  17. ↑ "CSE Alumni and Friends Award Recipients". engineering.buffalo.edu. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  18. ↑ "CSE Distinguished Alumni". engineering.buffalo.edu. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  19. ↑ "E-Services of Land Records TamilNadu Government". eservices.tn.gov.in. Settlement Deed Doc.No. 4882/2000. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  20. 1 2 “Buffalo TechCast (Vol. 64): The World's First Self-Piloted Ship,” Buffalo Business First (American City Business Journals), March 1, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  21. ↑ Dalel Benbabaali, "Caste Dominance and Territory in South India: Understanding Kammas’ Socio-spatial Mobility," Modern Asian Studies, vol. 52, no. 6 (November 2018), pp. 1938–1976, Cambridge University Press, doi:10.1017/S0026749X16000755.
  22. ↑ Edgar Thurston and K. Rangachari, Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Vol. III – Kamma, Government Press, Madras (1909), pp. 94–105 (entry for “Kamma”), available via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.47747/page/n94/mode/2up?q=kamma (retrieved 2025-08-29).
  23. ↑ B. S. Baliga, Madras District Gazetteers: Coimbatore, Director of Stationery and Printing, Government of Madras (1966), pp. 64–65 (Palayam system under Viswanatha Nayaka), available via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.08433/page/64/mode/1up (accessed 2025-08-29).
  24. ↑ "Thambu Nagar, Bodipatti Pin Code: Thambu Nagar, Bodipatti, Udamalpet Ho, Pollachi, Coimbatore Post Office Code & Address with Map". codepin.in. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Genganikenpalayam(po), Pongalur (via) Tirupur ( Dist) Pin Code: Genganikenpalayam(po), Pongalur (via) Tirupur ( Dist), Palladam, Tirupur, Coimbatore Post Office Code & Address with Map". codepin.in. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  26. ↑ "St Marys Church Udumalpet | Coimbatore DIOCESE". coimbatorediocese.org. Archived from the original on June 14, 2025. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  27. ↑ Damodaran, H. (2008). "Kongunad Naidus and Gounders." In: India’s New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 138–161. doi:10.1057/9780230594128_5. Available via Springer: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230594128_5 (accessed 2025-08-29).
  28. ↑ "Europe's first commercial robotaxi service is a yellow ferry that takes you to a Dutch golf course". AI Business. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  29. ↑ "Access to Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF)for the General Public". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  30. ↑ "Global Student Entrepreneur Awards!". Buffalo Tech Jobs. November 9, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  31. ↑ Organization, Entrepreneurs’. "Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Names New York University (NYU) PhD Candidate National Winner in Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA)". www.prweb.com. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  32. ↑ "Meet United States's 18 Top CEO's in the Assistive Technology Startup Space – CEO". August 4, 2022. Archived from the original on August 4, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  33. ↑ "Meet United States's 44 Top CEO's in the Navigation Space – CEO". November 21, 2022. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  34. ↑ US10683067B2,SURESH, Thiru Vikram; ZHITELZEYF, Alexander& KHAKHARIA, Mohit Arvindet al.,"Sensor system for maritime vessels",issued June 16, 2020
  35. ↑ US10782691B2,SURESH, Thiru Vikram&KHAKHARIA, Mohit Arvind,"Deep learning and intelligent sensing system integration",issued September 22, 2020
  36. ↑ US10936907B2,SURESH, Thiru Vikram&KHAKHARIA, Mohit Arvind,"Training a deep learning system for maritime applications",issued March 2, 2021
  37. ↑ US10895802B1,SURESH, Thiru Vikram; KHAKHARIA, Mohit Arvind& LEE, Miguel Ojielong CHANGet al.,"Deep learning and intelligent sensing systems for port operations",issued January 19, 2021
  38. ↑ WO2020047302A1,KHAKHARIA, Mohit Arvind; SURESH, Thiru Vikram& MCDONOUGH, Trevor R.et al.,"Lane and object detection systems and methods",issued March 5, 2020
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