The 44-year-old technician of Indian roots Cottalango Leon has been chosen for this year’s Oscar for scientific and technical achievement.

The Indian American has won the award under the ‘Scientific and Technical Achievements’ category for the design, engineering and continuous development of Sony Pictures Imageworks.

The academy award recognises the collaborative tool he and his two team members developed for Sony. Dubbed as “itview” the software makes review of movie segments by artists at various levels a lot easier during film making.

“It feels good. We started in 1996 and I was the main contributor for eight years. Often actors used to tell us they loved our product though commercial software is available,” Mr Cottalango, a software engineer, told NDTV from Los Angeles.

Born in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin district, Mr Cottalango grew up in Coimbatore. He moved to the US to pursue his Masters in 1994.

There’s excitement at his hometown Coimbatore. His mother L Rajam, a retired teacher, said: “It’s a proud moment for us when the world recognises my son’s contribution. We are ordinary people. Both me and my late husband were teachers.”

Unlike the regular academy awards for films, awardees in this category would receive just a certificate.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present 10 scientific and technical achievements during its annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation on February 13.

The main Oscar Award ceremony will take place on February 28, 2016.