Sonam Wangchuk (Engineer) Height, Weight, Age, Wife, Biography & More

Bio
Real Name	Sonam Wangchuk
Nickname	Snow Warrior
Profession	Engineer, innovator
Physical Stats & More
Height	in centimeters- 172 cm in meters- 1.72 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 8”
Weight	in Kilograms- 71 kg in Pounds- 157 lbs
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper
Personal Life
Date of Birth	1 September 1966 (Thursday)
Age (as of 2024)	58 Years
Birth Place	Uley Tokpo, Ladakh, India
Zodiac sign	Virgo
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Ladakh, India
School	Vishesh Kendriya Vidyala, Delhi
College/University	National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar CRAterre School of Architecture, Grenoble, France
Educational Qualifications	B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering Masters in Earthen Architecture
Family	Father- Sonam Wangyal (former politician) Mother- Not Known Brother- Not Known Sister- No Known
Religion	Not Known
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Not Known
Affairs/Girlfriends	Not Known
Wife	Not Known
Children	Daughter- N/A Son- N/A

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sonam Wangchuk

Sonam Wangchuk was born in a tiny village of 5 households. Because of the lack of schools in the vicinity, his mother taught him all the basics in mother tongue until the age of 8.

Wangchuk then got admission in a school, which was a few kilometers away from his home. However, he could only spend a few months there as the language to which the teachers and students resorted wasn’t known to him.

In 1977, Wangchuk left for Delhi, where he got admission in Vishesh Kendriya Vidyalya, a free residential government-run school for children from the border areas.

Although his father wanted him to become a Civil Engineer, Wangchuk opted for Mechanical Engineering. Infuriated by Wangchuk’s decision, his father refused to pay the fee for the course. Wangchuk then gave tuition to 10th standard students in order to finance his engineering course at NIT Srinagar.

In 1988, Wangchuk laid the foundation of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL). SECMOL strives to rebuild the lost pride and self-confidence of the students of Ladakh through its educational reforms program. He is also known for designing the SECMOL campus that runs completely on solar energy and uses no fossil fuels for cooking, lighting or heating, even in Ladakhi winters when temperatures fall to –25° C degrees.

In 1994, Wangchuk played an important role in the launch of Operation- New Hope, a triangular collaboration of government, village communities and the civil society to bring reforms in the government schools system. This movement led to raising the all important 10th-grade exam results in the region from 5% success to eventually 75%.

In 2005, he was appointed as a member of the National Governing Council for Elementary Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

It is believed that Aamir Khan’s Phunsuk Wangdu character in the 2009 blockbuster movie- 3 Idiots was inspired by him.

In late 2013, Wangchuk invented and built a prototype of the Ice Stupa, which is an artificial glacier that stores the wasting-stream-water during the winters in the form of giant ice cones or stupas and releases the water during spring, which is a very vital season for the local farmers.

In November of 2016, Sonam Wangchuk was awarded the ‘Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2016‘ for his ‘Ice Stupas’ project. The award ceremony which was held at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre was attended by many Hollywood celebrities. Wangchuk received 100,000 Swiss francs (INR 67 lakh) and one of the world’s most expensive watches engraved with his name from actress Michelle Monaghan.