Venuvinod Patri, left this world on October 4 th, 2018, but his spirit of compassion, humility, intellect and enduring love will be forever cherished by his beloved wife, three children, eight grandchildren, nieces, nephews and extended family and friends.

Venu was born on October 25 th, 1941 in the small town of Baroda, Gujurat, India. At the age of

13, he would endure many family hardships, having to provide for his mother, two young sisters

and brother, financially and emotionally. His traits of selflessness, perseverance, and

intellectual ambition started at this tender age and would culminate throughout his life, in

academics as a student, at university as a professor and in his personal/social life as a devoted

husband, proud father and loving Tata.

Despite limited opportunities and financial resources, Venu thrived academically at a young age.

He pursued an engineering degree at Osmania University in Hyderabad, as he envisioned the

financial opportunities this field would provide for his family. He was accepted to the

prestigious IIT school in Bombay and would settle and work there as an engineer.

In November 1968, his life would change forever when he married Mrudula Patri, his devoted

and loving wife for nearly 50 years. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Manchester England as

Venu pursued a post doctorate in Engineering. Their family expanded with the birth of their

first child Deepak in 1970 and they would spend their early years travelling throughout Europe,

embracing different cultures and ethnicities, moments they cherished for a lifetime.

Upon successfully completing his PhD in 1971, Venu took his young family back to India, some

135km away from Hyderabad in a town called Warangal. While there, his only daughter Sreya

was born in 1973 and then his youngest son, Dheeraj two years later in 1975.

In 1978, Venu and family moved to Hong Kong to further his career. He eventually accepted a

position as the Department Head for Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management

at the new created City University of Hong Kong. It was here that his career flourished and his

vision of innovation through technology left a profound and lasting impact upon his colleagues

and students. He was passionate about technological change, innovation and global education

and its lasting impact on impoverished societies. He would eventually write numerous books

on these subject matters and would be granted the status of Professor Emeritus by City

University of Hong Kong.

Eventually his three children would move to the United States to pursue collegiate degrees,

marry and start their own families. After retiring from a successful career and witnessing the

respective achievements of his children, Venu and Mrudula moved to Chicago in 2002 to spend

their retired years with their children, Deepak, Sreya and Dheeraj, their spouses and eight

grandchildren.

Amongst his many accomplishments, Venu’s greatest joy was being with family and helping his

family in whatever capacity he could. His spirit of generosity, selfless love, compassion and

​humility extended beyond his nuclear family. He was instrumental in the academic and

professional achievements of his nieces, nephews and family friends alike. In spite of his

numerous academic, professional, family and social achievements, he did not pursue these ends

for his own personal gain. He was and is the model for human dignity, character and the

pursuit of knowledge/truth to improve the lives of each individual he touched and to improve

society as a whole. He was a true visionary, a man not limited by any culture, place, religion or

time. He will be missed by all those dear to him, but his exalted traits and values will be

imprinted on our hearts forever.