Patent Making: Suddenly It Clicks
The eighth of eight ways entrepreneurs, investors and savers have made a million. Find out how they did it and read all eight.
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, June 2008
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Millionaire Lesson No. 8
Forgo the safe route and find an employer who will help you live up to your potential.
By the numbers, Gurtej Sandhu is one of the most prolific inventors in the U.S. What’s more, he has parlayed his education and ingenuity into millionaire status.
Sandhu holds more than 700 patents, which puts him among the top ten patent holders in the nation. He works for Micron Technology, which makes memory microchips that are used in most digital devices, from cell phones to MP3 players. The semiconductor business faces cutthroat competition, and all of Sandhu’s patents focus on making microchips more efficient.
The son of two chemists, Sandhu, 47, was always attracted to math and science. "I liked engineering better than medicine because I didn’t have to deal with blood," he says. He earned a degree in electrical engineering from the elite Indian Institute of Technology, in New Delhi, and received a PhD in physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990.
Turning down a job offer from a bigger rival, Sandhu joined Micron, which at the time ranked 16th among makers of memory chips. His physics professor and mentor, W.K. Chu, persuaded Sandhu to take the Micron job because it would give him an opportunity to learn many aspects of the chip-making business rather than being locked in to a specialized job at a larger company.
Inspiration comes quickly, says Sandhu -- "Suddenly it clicks and there’s a flash" -- but it takes dedication to develop an idea from creation to a patent. And sometimes you don’t even comprehend the magnitude of what you’ve discovered. For example, Sandhu developed a method of coating microchips with titanium without exposing the metal to oxygen, which would ruin the chips. Initially, he didn’t think his idea was a big deal, but now most memory-chip makers use the process.
Micron is based in Idaho, and Sandhu enjoys bike riding and spending time with his wife and two teenage sons in and around Boise. "The isolation works for me," he says. "I’m more open to new ideas here."
EIGHT MILLIONAIRE PROFILES
1. The Video That Took on a Life of Its Own
3. Pounce When the Time Is Right
5. A Thirty-Year Plan to Make a Mil
6. Breaking With Family Tradition
Reader Comments (7)
Posted by: Hank at 05/12/2008 03:28:26 PM
My financial and life advice, after modest success, at 70 years of age; but realizing the modern realities: 1.Don't go to college, or send your children to college; it costs too much, and when so many do it, it becomes worth less and less. 2. Don't save your money. Not only will you find that, like education, if very many do it there will be too much savings and thus will compete for too little return; further, you will find that, after having done so, it will buy much less years later than it would have if you used it years before; and what can you do with money anyway, except to use it. 3. Do not have children. Instead, consider how much better off everyone concerned would have been, if your parents had taken that advice.
Posted by: Wayne Smith at 05/13/2008 05:15:30 PM
Hank...Education opens too many doors to ignore it. Savings allow you to take advantage of opportunities that come your way in life. Finally, other than the Lord, having a family is the most important thing in life. I hope when and if I reach 70, I can look back and say it's been a wonderful life.
Posted by: JB at 05/13/2008 11:24:36 PM
1. Since so many go to college, now young people should get a Master's to be competitive, not just a Bachelor's. 2. Don't just save your money, learn to invest so it can grow faster than inflation and provide for your retirement so you won't be a burden to family or society in your golden years. 3. Have children. Love, nurture, admonish, provide for and teach them to pay it forward to their kids.
Posted by: Dirk at 05/14/2008 09:28:39 AM
Hank, I'm glad you were not my father.
Posted by: alan at 05/19/2008 08:25:52 PM
when you reach the seventies your needs become less and life is much simpler. its time to look and evaluate your life and enjoy the time you have left..simplify
Posted by: DEE at 05/20/2008 01:33:40 AM
HANK YOUR PARENTS MUST HAVE NOT HELPED YOU AT ALL. I TOO, HAD NO HELP BUT I VALUE EDUCATION. I HELPED OUR CHILD GO TO COLLEGE AND AM GLAD I DID... I WORKED MANY LONG YEARS AND EDUCATED MYSELF...MY PARENTS DID NOT HELP ME AT ALL. MY SPOUSE DID LIKEWISE AND WE LEARNED FROM LIVING A HARDSHIP LIFE...THAT NOW MAKES US PROUD OF OURSELVES...WE SAVED MONEY, AND ARE RETIRED, BUT WE FEEL SECURE TO PAY OUR BILLS, AND MEDICAL...MAY LIFE BRING YOU JOY AT YOUR AGE AND THINGS MAY CHANGE FOR YOU.
Posted by: orlenda at 05/28/2008 03:44:55 AM
Here is my thought on college. For some industries it is necessary (unfortunately sometimes only to GET the job-and not necessarilly to DO the job...), for some jobs-its not. There are plenty of jobs one can "learn as they go" or even go to a short and sweet technical school for, where you dont have to learn Shakespeare on top of the skills you need for your job (as in college). Going into the Horse industry, I was planning on going to college to get an "Equine Science and Management" degree. Well I got severly Ill in my senior year of high school, and one fo the medications they used to keep me breathing, made me go blind. Three years later, my eyes are doing better and I can read again. I never did graduate high school, but this actually turned out for the best. Instead of wasting money on college, I have been home, and learning all I can on my own. I have learned alot ust from having my own horse, and being involved in the horse community. I...am going through every book and magazine I can get my hands on. In THIS particular industry, it is actually BETTER to NOT have a degree. Most horse people dont respect it-they see you as "book learned" instead of having real experiance. I am now living in my parents' home with my fiance...and we are saving up to buy a farm while I continue to study on my own. To go this route you must be a "self-starter" though. I hope more people can find sucess in this route...