US Republican party appoints Indian-American to key post

An Indian-American engineer was on Friday appointed as the chief technology officer of the Republican party's national committee.

Puran Nebhnani, an electronic engineer graduate from the University of Mumbai, was earlier responsible for the architecture, design and development of the Republican party's website, the party said in a statement.

Along with Nebhnani, the RNC also appointed Samantha Osborne as its Chief Digital Officer. "The RNC's investment in our digital operation and technology development paid off in dividends last year when we won back the White House," said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

"The additions of Samantha Osborne as Chief Digital Officer and Puran Nebhnani as Chief Technology Officer ensures that we will continue to have the best and brightest leading the way at the RNC.

"Our commitment to staying on the cutting edge will give us the tools to help Republicans up and down the ticket win for years to come," she said.

Nebhnani, who has done his Master's of Science in Software Engineering from Monmouth University, joined the RNC in 2014 as a Lead Engineer. He went on to serve the RNC as Engineering Director and Deputy Chief Technology Officer.

Previously, he has held numerous contracting position with National Geographic Society, helping them build their new Content Management System for their website. He had also held various senior technical positions at Corvis Corporation, Pharad, Lucent Technologies and Bell Labs.