From left: Debadutta Dash, Prof. R. Poovendran (Chair, UWECE), Habib Habib, Justice Steve González (honoree), Bharti Sonawala, Saurabh Sonawala (honoree), Arnav Mariwala, Ambassador Sanjay Panda, Vibhav Mariwala, Rita Meher (honoree), Judge Ketu Shah(honoree) and Teresa Berntsen (honoree). Photo provided by Debadutta Dash)
On May 30, the Washington State and India Trade Relations Action Committee (WASITRAC) and the University of Washington (UW) Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering held its 2019 Building Bridges Across the Nations Awards ceremony.
Consul General of India, Ambassador Sanjay Panda, was the keynote speaker.
The late Hemant Sonawala, a UW alumnus, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. His son and granddaughter were there to receive it.
Sonawala graduated in 1961 and was honored for bridging business and technology relationships with Washington, India, and the UW.
Tasveer founder Rita Meher, Washington Supreme Court Justice Steven Gonzalez, King County Superior Court Judge Ketu Shah, and Washington Department of Licensing Director Teresa Berntsen were also honored.