Vijay Menon
| Vijay Menon | |
|---|---|
 Menon in Kyoto.jpg | |
| Born | San Jose, California, United States |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 📆 Years active | 2011–present |
| 👴 👵 Parent(s) | Jai Menon, Sathi Menon |
Vijay Vettath Menon (born January 11, 1993) is an American travel writer, author, and statistician best known for his debut work A Brown Man in Russia: Lessons Learned on the Trans-Siberian (2018) and an eponymously titled TED presentation at the 2015 Building Energy Conference.
He is the son of American computer engineer and inventor Jai Menon and the grandson of Indian Supreme Court Justice V. Balakrishna Eradi.
Early interests[edit]
Menon was born in San Jose, California to IBM Fellow Jai Menon and his wife Sathi. He attended Saratoga High School before going on to graduate from Duke University where he claimed a dual degree with a B.Sc. in Economics and a B.A. in Statistics.[1]
Menon pursued various interests ranging across several different spheres including policy, environmental science, chemistry, journalism, law, debate, trivia, mathematics and sports analytics.
In 2010, Menon won second place in the United Nations Essay Contest for his piece on promoting global sustainability. As one of the top three pieces nationally, his work was forwarded to the desk of then-President Barack Obama.[2]
That same year, he worked on IBM's Battery 500 Project[3] measuring impedance for commercial electric vehicle implementation of the lithium-air battery. Winfried Wilcke, IBM's senior manager for nanoscale science, described Menon as "an energetic and enterprising young scientist."
He appeared multiple times on Kron-4's Bay Area Quiz Kids, attaining an undefeated record.[4] Prior to entering the technology field, he performed mass spectrometry research at UC Davis, mapping out glycoproteins such as bovine lactoferrin to discover cancer biomarkers.[5]
Writing and authorship[edit]
In 2018, Menon published his first book, A Brown Man in Russia: Lessons Learned on the Trans-Siberian. The title was based on a TED talk he delivered in 2015 in Durham, North Carolina.[6] Menon's speech generated interest from several publishing houses.
A Brown Man in Russia chronicles Menon's journey by train in 2013 from St. Petersburg through Irkutsk, Tyumen, and other remote outposts in Siberia before reaching its terminus in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.[7] It is notable for its unique structural elements, tying chapter-based chronological events to philosophical musings.
Menon cites Paul Theroux and Douglas Hofstadter as writing influences.
Non-professional pursuits[edit]
Menon is a champion on the American Parliamentary Debate Association circuit, having received multiple awards including tournament winner and top rated speaker, defeating opponents from the University of Chicago and Yale University among others.[8]
He spent several months in Guatemala implementing micro-consignment programs for local entrepreneurs. He also spent a couple of years working part-time as a low-latency data analyst for teams in the National Basketball Association[9].
In 2012, Menon was published in The Economist.[10].
Professional career and personal life[edit]
Menon started his technology career at Microsoft. An avid gamer, he was the head of online retention for Xbox Live in Seattle[11]. After leaving Microsoft, Menon spent some time at Dropbox driving product growth. Currently, he is the lead product manager for retention at Scribd, the Netflix for books.
Menon currently resides in San Francisco, CA. He is a lifelong Golden State Warriors fan, a season ticket holder, and the 2005 Stanford Basketball Camp Free Throw Champion.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Duke Statistics: Vijay Menon".
- ↑ "2010 UN Essay Contest: How can the U.S. build an international system that promotes good governance, development, and poverty reduction? How can the U.S. promote sustainable development and economic growth in developing countries?" (PDF). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ "IBM's Battery 500 Project Aims to Boost Range of EV Batteries". 2 October 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ "Quiz Team victorious". Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ "Analytical Techniques Toward Protein Glycosylation Analysis". Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6-HSvns4cY%7Ctitle Lessons Learned on the Trans-Siberian: TED 2015
- ↑ "A Brown Man in Russia - Vijay Menon - Glagoslav Publications". www.glagoslav.com. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ "APDAWeb - Results". apdaweb.org. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ "NBA Playoff Prediction Model" (PDF). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ "Reigniting Europe's Spirit". Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ↑ "Xbox Game with Fame: Vijay Menon". Retrieved 18 July 2018.
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