Biography

Ashok Gadgil was born in 1950 in Bombay, India.

As a staff scientist at Berkeley National Laboratory, Gadgil specializes in the topics of efficient lighting technology, efficient use of energy in buildings, renewable energy technologies, and solar energy.

Speaks English, Hindi, and Marathi.

Inspired by the December 1992 outbreak of "Bengal cholera" in India that killed up to 10,000 people, Gadgil, an Indian-born scientist working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, sought a new way to purify drinking water. Using ultraviolet light emitted by an unshielded fluorescent lamp, he built a simple, effective, and inexpensive water disinfection system.