Insights
Behind the Breakthrough: Dr. David Paranchych
April 1, 2015
- Buzz
- Behind the Breakthrough: Dr. David Paran...
This week on Behind the Breakthrough, we’re profiling Dr. David Paranchych, Engineering Director at IV and expert in the field of cellular wireless communication. His background in electrical and computer engineering helped him invent an improvement for a power control algorithm in early CDMA cellular networks. Later, Dr. Paranchych was a representative to the standards committee that ultimately created LTE – a staple of the modern wireless landscape.
Dr. Paranchych’s many years of experience provide him with valuable insight on the newest trends and opportunities in communications technology.
Here are some of his reflections:
On the value of education for invention:
“The idea of inventing and patenting new ideas always interested me, but it wasn’t until graduate school when everything clicked. To complete my PhD, I needed to develop a new idea in my field. To start, I looked at the existing literature of the concepts and ideas that interested me; you have to know the prevailing ideas to create a new one. That kind of training naturally brought me to the inventing world.”
On the challenges of invention:
“Creating a new idea is always a challenge. Numerous smart people have already invented incredible things, so it’s easy for new inventors to be intimidated by the unknown unknowns of their field. So a new invention or idea often happens only once the inventor understands his or her area deeply. It’s not easy, but it’s not insurmountable either.”
“The good news is you don’t have to do everything on your own. Teamwork offers the opportunity to bounce new ideas off of others. Plus, teamwork can bring people with entirely different backgrounds together to invent something exceptional. For example, one person might have expertise in wireless communication and another in cloud computing. Put them together, and what can’t they do?”
On the impact of role models:
“My father is an engineer and my uncle was a biochemistry professor. Without their guidance, I don’t know that I would have pursued a career in science and engineering. Everything came together during my second year of college when my professor asked me to work on a telecommunications project. I doubt I would be in this field without that initial introduction and mentoring. It goes to show that people who take you under your wing can make all the difference.”
Follow our Behind the Breakthrough series by subscribing to our IV Insights blog, and check out more quotes from inventors and scientists on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
