Surinder Amrit S. Bedi, MSISE, remembers going to the Ohio University Airport at night, pondering design concepts that would pave the way for the next generation of aviation facilities. It was part of an assignment from Professor Emeritus Dr. Helmut Zwahlen, MS ’68, who challenged his students to translate their research into next-generation products and technologies.
“He was a top-notch professor—one of several who taught me how to think like an innovator,” Bedi says. “I learned the art of engineering excellence. … And I took that with me wherever I went.”
Bedi went far.
For 25-plus years, he’s been a driving force of innovation and excellence in Silicon Valley, advancing the technology and business transformations that permeate our present-day lives and becoming a global leader in a field vital to how we power our future.
“The world continues to change tremendously, and every step of the way, it’s all about innovation and excellence,” Bedi says, recalling the two years he spent studying industrial and systems engineering at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology—and the career he’s built since graduating.
Originally from Bombay, India, Bedi arrived at OHIO as the computer age was meeting the consumer market. With a mechanical engineering degree from Bangalore University, he set his sights on integrating technical resourcefulness with the business acumen and leadership skills that would allow technology to better serve humanity.
“I was eager to learn. I wanted to see the world, to experience different cultures and new perspectives,” he remembers. “I learned new approaches to solve complex problems, the value of discipline and hard work, and what it takes to drive product excellence and innovations. It allowed me to be an out-of-the-box thinker. Ohio University was my gateway to the U.S.”
After graduation, Bedi landed in California’s Silicon Valley, studying managing technology and strategic innovation at Stanford University and working for multinational corporations like National Semiconductor, Hewlett Packard (which merged with Digital Equipment Corporation) and Applied Materials, powerhouses in the semiconductor field that serves as the foundation of the computer industry. His work earned him 12 U.S. patents—many of which were approved in Asia and Europe—as well as international leadership awards and a career leap from principal engineer to global executive.
His work also caught the eye of the region’s renewable technologies industry. In 2007, Bedi was recruited to serve as corporate vice president at solar energy company SunPower Corp.
“Transition from semiconductors to renewables was not simple, but I really care about the environment and wanted to do something that makes the world better,” he explains. “Renewable energy is the future.”
Motivated by climate change research and witnessing its effects in California and across the globe, Bedi spent the next 12 years on a quest to bring solar power to the world.
As an executive at SunPower and later at Sunpreme Inc., he collaborated with colleagues to develop smarter system products, manufacturing improvements and integrations that have made solar energy affordable, reliable and more efficient. Bedi and engineers pioneered the first smart bifacial solar product—breakthrough technology that received the 2018 North American New Product Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan, a global research firm.
But it wasn’t enough just to create breakthrough solar products.
Bedi served as a director on the board of SolarTech, tackling and reducing barriers to wider adoption of solar renewables technology in the U.S. and establishing strong working relationships with manufacturers, systems integrators and utilities.
“I went around the world influencing industries and governments to use clean and renewable sources of energy, especially solar photovoltaic,” he says.
Bedi’s business travels resulted in solar installations at large-scale energy users that include schools, utilities, shopping centers and hospitals. His advocacy, backed by innovative and smart technologies, earned him and his team at SunPower the Philippines’ highest award for performance excellence and best practices.
Today, Bedi is back in the semiconductor industry where his career began, serving as an executive leader while coaching students pursuing their MBAs. He advises students to develop an innovation mindset driven by energy, passion, integrity, continuous learning and a commitment to excellence—qualities that will inspire others and open the world to them like they have for him.
“It all goes back to Ohio University, those professors and my early years working with pioneering companies,” he says. “Those experiences helped me to innovate, to bring people together and to solve complex problems—all to make this world better.”
Featured image: Surinder Amrit S. Bedi, MSISE, visits the rooftop solar system Sunpreme Inc. installed at Gurdwara Sahib in Fremont, California, when Bedi was an executive vice president at the company. Bedi resides in the San Francisco Bay area with wife Navneet and children GurRaj and Namrata. Photo by Peter McCollough, BSVC ’08
