On the morning of May 11, 1998, India shook the earth beneath the Thar Desert — and, with it, global assumptions about the nation’s technological capabilities.Operation Shakti — the Pokhran-II nuclear tests conducted under the scientific leadership of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam — signalled India’s arrival among the world’s leading technological powers.The day also witnessed the successful test flight of the indigenous Hansa-3 aircraft and the commissioning of the Trishul missile system. In recognition of these milestones, the Government of India declared May 11 as National Technology Day.Twenty-eight years later, as the country marks the occasion under the theme “Harnessing science and technology for a Viksit Bharat”, technology experts at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, are reflecting on Punjab’s place in India’s technological journey.In this context, two Punjabis merit particular recognition — one whose work transformed global telecommunications, and another who is helping shape the future of semiconductor technology.Dr Narinder Singh Kapany, widely acknowledged as the father of fibre optics, was born in Moga. His pioneering research in the 1950s demonstrated that light could travel through glass fibres with minimal loss, laying the foundation for modern fibre-optic communication — the technology that underpins today’s internet and global telecommunications networks.“Without fibre optics, there is no broadband; without broadband, there is no digital economy. Every message that travels across the globe at the speed of light carries Dr Kapany’s genius within it,” said Ravinder Kumar, Professor at GNDU’s Department of Electronics Technology.“He was named by Fortune magazine among the greatest unsung business geniuses of the 20th century. Dr Kapany earned international respect at a time when very few Indian scientists had visibility in advanced Western technology research,” Kumar added.The new generation of Punjabi scientists is represented by Gurtej Singh Sandhu, principal scientist at Micron Technology in Idaho, who holds more than 1,380 US patents and over 2,200 patents globally — placing him among the most prolific inventors in modern history.“His foundational work in semiconductor memory architecture and thin-film processing has shaped the chips used in virtually every smartphone, laptop and data centre worldwide,” Kumar said.Sandhu is a member of the university’s panel of academic mentors, guiding students in semiconductor technology.The Government of India’s Bharat 6G Mission aims to position the country as a global rule-maker in telecommunications standards by 2030 — contributing to international standards, owning patents and exporting technology rather than merely importing it. This transition from consumer to creator is perhaps the clearest measure of India’s growing technological confidence.“The government’s IndiaAI Mission, backed by an allocation of Rs 10,000 crore, seeks to build sovereign AI infrastructure through computing power, curated multilingual datasets and domestic model development,” said Kuldeep Singh, Associate Professor at GNDU’s Department of Electronics Technology.“Semiconductors are the nervous system of the modern economy, yet India manufactures none at significant scale. The India Semiconductor Mission is therefore a necessary beginning,” he said, adding that sustained public investment and political will were now essential to building a robust manufacturing ecosystem.“The National Quantum Mission, approved with an outlay of Rs 6,003 crore over eight years, holds significant promise. Green hydrogen, cybersecurity and private space technology represent further strategic sectors that require accelerated investment and focus,” Singh added.GNDU is not merely observing India’s emerging technology missions, but participating directly in these. Under the Government of India’s 5G initiative, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has established a 5G Use Case Lab at GNDU, making it part of a select group of institutions in the country to receive the facility.The laboratory enables students and researchers to develop, test and demonstrate real-world applications of 5G technology in areas such as smart agriculture, remote healthcare and industrial automation.Recently, the government sanctioned a grant of Rs 1 crore under the National Quantum Mission for the university to establish dedicated quantum research infrastructure.The investment will allow GNDU’s faculty and students to engage with quantum computing and quantum communication, developing expertise that is scarce today but likely to become indispensable tomorrow.Together, these initiatives reflect a deliberate national strategy to decentralise advanced research beyond metropolitan centres. For the young people of Punjab and neighbouring regions, these laboratories are more than facilities filled with equipment — these are gateways to the future.