Arvind K Chaudhary

Arvind arrived in Raleigh NC, USA in 1983 and became a US Citizen in late 2001. His enthusiasm for learning, had led him to plan an outing before he even arrived in USA. The following spring with his host family in Raleigh, he went to view the Bald Eagle nesting site at Lake Jordan, NC. Arvind loved Civil War and American Presidential History. He would answer almost all the Jeopardy questions at the dinner table except the one posed by his wife, "Why don't you go play for real and win some money”? But that was not Arvind. His quest was knowledge and complete knowledge. He did not wing it or fake it, did not even want to try it for the sake of a meeting or job interview. He was not afraid to say "I don't know". For him saying "I don't know" meant that he didn't know it a 100%, but he knew it 99%. The only pin he ever put on his backpack was ‘Learning Never Ends’. Arvind graduated from North Carolina State University (NCSU), with a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1985.

After graduating from NCSU, Raleigh, Arvind moved to Virginia Tech, for a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, with the eminent Dr. Arun Phadke. During this period, he met and married Sandhya in February of 1989. The two of them beside pursuing their modest academic goals, enjoyed driving and exploring Shenandoah Valley, enjoying Fall colors, Civil war sights in Richmond, VA, and National monuments in and around Washington DC. While doing his Ph. D Arvind pursued a course in Fiber Optics and scored a full 100 that surprised the regular Fiber Optics graduate students! He audited a course in music and gardening as well. Arvind defended his thesis on Halloween day and graduated with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1991 from Virginia Tech.

Arvind worked at Sargent & Lundy, Chicago, from 1992 to 98 and later a second stretch from 2012 to 2013 as Manager Consultant. Prior to the second spell at Sargent & Lundy he served as Director, Center for Intelligent Power (CIP) at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering for CG Power Solution, Albany NY until December 2011. After his first stint with Sargent & Lundy, Arvind moved to Cooper Power Systems (now Eaton) in South Milwaukee. He spent more than 10 years with Cooper Power System, before moving to the Advanced Capabilities Group in NGC in Ocean Springs, MS. Most recently he was Director of Research on Power, and Advisor to the Ministry of Energy in Brunei for a two-year period. Arvind chose to have different jobs and try something new after some years in a job. He was comfortable moving and working on different areas. He enjoyed the challenge and the richness of experience that these opportunities presented to him and his wife.

At Brunei Arvind was successful in obtaining funding for further research and collaboration toward the end of his assignment. At CIP Arvind was excited about Battery Storage and was instrumental in obtaining membership for CG in different Associations and Foundation.

Arvind was a Senior member of IEEE (Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineering), Member of IEEE Standards Association, Member of a CIGRE working Group, Member by Invitation of the Power System Relaying Committee (PSRC). He was awarded the "Engineer of the year 2000" by the Chicago Chapter of the IEEE Power Engineering Society (PES). He was also awarded the Working Group Recognition Award for Outstanding Standard Guide. He was a Registered Profession Engineer (P.E.) in Illinois since 1994. Arvind had been invited to test curriculum for PE Exams for a different region.

Arvind had exceptional prescience. In a recent post Arvind's cousin states that Arvind talked about cold light with him decade ago. Recently, drawing an ‘electrical’ analogy, Arvind mentioned to a group of friends and professionals, that during the current times we can make an effort to be like the LED light bulb - to produce more light, than heat. That was his message for all of us!

Prior to coming to the US, Arvind studied and worked in India. He attended the famed Indian Institute of Science, (IISC) and graduated with distinction with a B.E.in Electrical Engineering in 1979. Arvind was desirous of having a strong science background and had earlier achieved with distinction again, a B.Sc. in 1976 with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. He was taught by Prof. K. Parthasarathy who was the ‘Relay guru’ and also by Dr. D.P. Sen Gupta, who remembers Arvind as someone he had a special relationship with.

During his college years Arvind was known as a Quiz Master and Moderator. He was considered a formidable opponent, a friend remarked. Arvind was a voracious nonfiction reader. He read on many subjects, Science, Politics, History but when immersed in whodunits he had a twinkle in his eyes.

Arvind graduated from St. Josephs Boys High School (SJBHS), Bangalore India,1970. In School he was in the Dramatics Team and acted in a Play -The Valiant, where he played the prison chaplain. Despite him, the play won the best Play of the Year 1971! He enjoyed mostly Shakespeare plays. Both he and his wife enjoyed the riches the Goodman Theater in Chicago, Milwaukee Rep and APT in Wisconsin had to offer.

See Pic of Arvind as chaplain

Arvind's first hobby was collecting and understanding Stamps, first as a student in High School and later he continued doing it for his nephew in Bangalore. Arvind was inspired by his Uncle and Aunt in Arizona who mailed letters and stamps to him. Arvind loved the US Postal Services. He would buy different Stamps and look for new themes to mail to people. He absolutely loved the America The Beautiful postcards available in the late 1990s. It was a charming way of learning US History, from an array of perspectives, be it the Civil Rights movement, Inventors, Latin Singers, Women leaders, or the Forever Stamps and so on. To this day, he mailed birthday cards to his close family and waited to hear if they received and liked the stamps. It was a ritual he took seriously. The most thoughtful of this exercise was at the Vatican City, 2001, where he selected some beautiful stamps for postcards to mail to his mom Asha -- who alone in the family had the honor of shaking hands with Pope John Paul II around 1985 or '86.

See Pic of Mom Asha / and PC mailed from Vatican

Arvind was a long-distance swimmer in his youth. Besides participating and playing informally, Arvind enjoyed Sports academically as well. He loved Cricket, Hockey, Tennis and US Basketball and knew the stats related to those. One of the most memorable experiences for him was to be living in Chicago during the Bulls Championship year! From his father Bhupendra K. Chaudhary's life came at least two of Arvind's pursuits- one the love of hockey which his father played while attaining a Graduate degree in Engineering in Metallurgy from Banaras Hindu University (BHU); the second to learn German inspired by his father's trip to Germany for work in 1960. Arvind attended Max Mueller Bhawan, Bangalore, briefly, to learn the language. Arvind deeply loved and adored his father. Theirs was an unspoken connection. Arvind's ashes will be immersed in the same river near Bangalore where his father’s were. Arvind loved his younger brother and nephew who in his mind, were still little! He enjoyed saying "Aye Aye Captain" whenever he mentioned his brother, a Captain in the Merchant Navy.

See PIC of Father and post card to him. and brothers together and Capt.

Arvind enjoyed eating different kinds of food. He had the sophistication and the simplicity to enjoy a spectrum of cuisine from fancy to frugal His recent travels to different countries in SE Asia allowed him another opportunity to indulge and enhance his palate. Arvind could wake up to food. The only time his wife did not succeed was when he lay in the ICU. Yet, during the early COVID-19 phase and with the rising number of deaths Arvind suggested and took to observing austerity in diet and lifestyle as a token of regard for the hardship around him.

Arvind was contemplating moving back to India soon and explore traveling within India. Australia and New Zealand were number one on his list for the next chapter. He had recently (2017) connected with his School (SJBHS) and College friends and it is with these groups and extended family that he anticipated spending time with, in the future in India.

Arvind was a good son, a good family person, a good friend and a good husband.

As his wife, I know I was blessed and lucky. It was an honor to know him, to love him and to care for him. Arvind himself was so caring and comforting and I will continue to cherish his remarkable Mind…

His book of 1001 Excuses remains unpublished!

Arvind was born in Vadodara in 1955. He would be 65 today! I am wishing and praying for him. And I know that others are too, because he had a place in every heart.

Private Prayer services were performed by Pandit Jagadish Acharya of Wisconsin followed by Cremation on Thursday Sept 22, 2020.

He will be missed by the Chouhan family of Bombay and the extended Chouhan family. Pradeep Bhai, Nikhil, Bhushan and Vishnu Chouhan attended the service and performed the last rites for him. Sumitra Chouhan ji, you were special to Arvind. Also remembering Radhika ji (Bade Mummy) and missed by members of her family. Also missed by Uncle Dilip and families, cousins in Bombay, Nashik and Pune and Ujjain.

Arvind is being fondly remembered by the entire Chaudhary family- the Keshav Parivaar of Banda, U.P. his ancestral home. Families of Indu Chaudhary and Allahabad families of S.K.S (Prem) Chaudhary, families of Sushma Chaudhary; families of cousins Ravi (Nirmala) and Yatindra (Neeta) Singh. Family of Tanamaya Singh; Family of Shweta Singh. He will also be missed by the entire Singh family of Jabalpur and cousins Dhiren Singh, Chitra, Nimmi, and Preeti; Munna Mama & his Family. Remembered by Premkumari ji and the entire Assam family.

He will be dearly missed by his loving wife Sandhya - VS; his brother, Girish K.S. (Irani) Chaudhary; his nephew Sidhant; his mother-in-law, Gangeshwari Devi; his brother-in-law, Sanjay Vikram (Anu) Singh; nieces and nephews; other relatives and many dear friends in the US and Bangalore. He was preceded in death by his parents.Remembered by Premkumari ji and the entire Assam family.