Shailendra Singh

He was born on July 27, 1939, to Kamla and Sheonath Singh in Srinagar, India. He had fond memories of his childhood, playing in the Dal Lake and running up and down the lower Himalayan mountains nearby. His family later moved to Gwalior and Bhopal India, where he grew up.

Shailendra, “Shelley”, attended Govindram Seksaria Technological Institute, GSTI, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. After graduating from GSTI, he was a professor at Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, Rajasthan. In 1968 he came to the United States to pursue his doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. At SMU he made many lifelong friends who became family. Graduating in 1971, he went on to work on leading edge products in the communications, robotics, and medical diagnostic fields. Over the years he lived in Dallas, Texas, Sharon, Massachusetts, and Carlsbad, California.

He married the love of his life, Indubala Pandit, on June 6, 1964. He loved to joke that they were married on D Day. Meeting in engineering college in 1958, he was drawn to Indu’s intellect and kindness. His love for her is eternal and unmatched.

Beyond his love for Indu, he was a devoted father to his children, Abha Singh Divine and Rahul Singh. His belief in them knew no bounds, and he encouraged them to reach for the highest goals in whatever they did.

Shelley’s career was guided by a desire to develop new technologies and solutions to improve lives of others. He was a visionary engineer and founded several companies in his career aiming to deliver innovation to better the world. Most recently, Shelley co-founded Autogenomics, Inc. in Carlsbad in 2001 to focus on developing a new approach for automated DNA testing platforms for large scale testing labs. Shelley was central to the development and realization of the large scale DNA systems that were Autogenomics’s focus. Prior to Autogenomics, Shelley was a Vice President of R&D in the joint venture of Polaroid Corporation and Behringwerke, PB Diagnostic Systems, Inc. to develop medical diagnostic instruments using advanced imaging, chemistry, and engineering techniques. Earlier in his career, he designed systems for AT&T, Thermwood, an industrial robotics company, and others.

Shailendra is survived by his wife, Indubala Singh; daughter, Abha Divine, her husband Jim Divine, and their son Shaunak Divine all of Austin, Texas; and his son, Rahul Singh, his wife Rosemary Singh and her son Chris Paetow all of Encinitas, California; and his sister, Shobha Sinho of Bhopal, India.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Kamla and Sheonath Singh.

Memorials or donations may be made to SMU Lyle School of Engineering to establish a graduate scholarship in his memory.