Dr. Debasis Baral passed away unexpectedly on June 6, 2019, in San Jose, California. Born in Daltonganj, Jharkhand, on October 30, 1952, he was the second child and only son of Professor Sankar Sebak Baral and Durga Rani Baral. Debu, as he was affectionately called by many, grew up in Howrah, West Bengal on the campus of the Bengal Engineering (BE) college, where his father was a renowned professor. In 1969 he received his high school diploma from the BE College Model School and was awarded a National Science Talent Scholarship. From 1969-1972 he attended Presidency College, Calcutta University and from 1973-1975, Delhi University, where he earned his Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees. He then pursued his M. Tech at IIT Kanpur from 1975-1977. He then traveled to the U.S to pursue doctoral studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, earning a PhD in Physics in 1983. His first job offer was in the Bay area and he subsequently moved to San Jose, where he lived and worked for over 35 years, and met and married his beloved wife, Bertha Higa. At the time of his retirement in 2017, he was Vice President of the HDD Labs of Samsung Information Systems America and held seven US patents with several additional applications filed. Debu was admired for his generosity, his fun-loving and easygoing personality, strong work ethic, and humility. Despite his demanding career and travel schedule, he never failed to make time to enjoy visiting with family and friends in India and in the US. He was a role model to many and will be deeply missed. Debu is survived by his mother, Durga Baral of Chandanagar, West Bengal, India, by his wife, Bertha Higa of San Jose, his sisters, Dr. Bani Baral, Rani Sinha, Dipali Sil, Jonaki Panja and numerous nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Debu's memory to a charity of your choosing.
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