MUMBAI: UFO International Pvt. Ltd has appointed US based technocrat Makarand Karanjkar as chief technology officer (CTO).

Karanjkar was part of the core committee of Dolby, instrumental in recommending standards for Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) in US and was part of the team that deployed D – Cinema theaters in more than 400 sites across the world.

UFO founder and CEO Sanjay Gaikwad says, “We welcome Makarand on board and are very happy to have him to hold the technology front of our international operations. We count on his vast and varied experience to help us take UFO Moviez to a higher level.”

“It’s nice to be back in your own country with a treasury of knowledge and exposure to the world. UFO’s digital satellite technology has already made many in the world film industry sit up in the chair and I look forward to accomplish this challenging task of constantly refining it and take it to global parameters,” adds Karanjkar.

Karanjkar played a key role in managing exclusive playback on Dolby cinema servers for Chicken Little Run, the first 3 – D movie by Disney. The other two achievements to his credit include his contribution to first widely deployed digital cinema, Incredibles and George Lucas’ Star Wars series, which conducted several premiers across Europe on Dolby system.

More recently 3i, one of the worlds leading investment funds dealing in technology and innovative products took a strategic stake in UFO by investing Rs 1000 million. The funds will be utilized to fuel UFO growth plans worldwide.