When Amar Sawhney applied for jobs in the U.S. he was rejected because he did not have a green card. Instead, he started several medical device companies on his own including Focal Inc., Confluent Surgical, Augmenix, Inc. and Ocular Therapeutix, Inc.
Dr. Sawhney won an Ernst & Young Regional Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2006) and has met with President Barack Obama about increasing visa quotas for workers in the STEM fields. In 2012, Dr. Sawhney topped the Science/Technology Business category at The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.’s, Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards 2012.