Damayanti Bhattacharya has over 20 years experience in the Not-for-Profit space, 8 years in leadership positions. Her early career as an activist- academic resulted in over 7 publications ( 5 papers and 2 books) focused on areas related to gender, globalisation and sustainable development. Damayanti’s forte is in institution building and she is passionate about education, sustainable development, unconsumption and the arts. Prior to the Foundation, she was the CEO of the IIT Bombay Alumni Association. Damyanti completed her Bachelor in Arts from Presidency College, Calcutta and her Masters and Mphil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

A global C-suite transformative leader with 30 years of experience in Fortune-100, startups, and growth-stage businesses across the world. Has experience across the consumer goods and telecom industries, as well as in fintech and SaaS solutions. Ajey is highly skilled in steering Acquisitions (M&As), formulating innovative Go-to-Market (GTM) initiatives for B2B & B2C businesses across geographies, streamlining omni channel operations, and positively impacting top-line and bottom-line of large organizations.
Ajey has experience in building startups and growing businesses for global MNCs (Nokia, Microsoft, Coca Cola, ITC) that were looking for international expansion, particularly in India, MEA, and APAC markets. He has delivered hyper growth and expansion of varied entities of Nokia. By turning around the smart phone business and transitioning their feature phone business from #9 to #2 position in the industry in India, he was instrumental in building a billion dollar business for Nokia in APAC.
As an entrepreneur, he has kick started the expansion of Trustonic (a PE funded provider of software security solutions) in APAC with the aim of positioning it as a market leader in device locking solutions. He also founded the startup – Gamsa and instituted a partnership with Suunto® – a Finnish wearable brand, for exclusive rights in India, eventually achieving 10X growth within a year.
In his spare time Ajey likes to travel, read, listen to music, and play tennis and golf.
Ajey holds a B. Tech degree from IIT Madras and an MBA from IIM Calcutta and has attended courses in leadership and the latest technologies from leading universities around the world.

Namita is a program management and operations professional with 14 plus years of experience in the non profit space. Previously she has been the Chief Operating officer at IIT Bombay Alumni Association and Head, Operations at Technology Innovation Hub Foundation for IOT and IOE. A people person and a team player, she is passionate about programme implementation and stakeholder management. Namita, has a Masters in Human Resources Development.

Sandeep Natekar is a passionate technologist, teacher and trainer. Born and brought up in Mumbai, he spent several years abroad for higher education and employment thereafter. He is extremely enthusiastic about enabling aspiring innovators acquire relevant skills and abilities to excel while facing the challenges of the future. He was in-charge of the Innovation Hub - a unique skills and abilities development facility at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Muktangan Exploratory Science Center (www.exploratory.org.in) in Pune from 2017 to 2020.

Sandeep loves working with his hands fixing or enhancing broken stuff like furniture, electronic gadgets or kids toys and enjoys being a handyman. He actively participates in adventure activities like trekking, long distance road-trips, river rafting. He has also dabbled in amateur theater and enjoys singing. World history and biographies are his reading interests. He holds a BE in Electronics Engineering from Mumbai University and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University, New York, USA.

Meet Osheen: a captivating TEDx speaker and a remarkable wordsmith who seamlessly blends professionalism with a genuine human touch. Throughout her relatively short yet illustrious corporate career, she has effortlessly worn various hats, transitioning from being a skilled content writer to an astute market researcher, showcasing her versatility and creativity in every role she undertakes. As an obsessive bibliophile, you can always find Osheen with a book in hand. Her infectious personality never fails to brighten up any room she enters.

Yogesh is a bachelor in biomedical engineering with a knack for innovation. His career began as an R&D engineer, where he reverse-engineered market products to create new ones from scratch. At CST, Yogesh brought his vision to life by designing cutting-edge projects like a Mars Rover. His journey has also encompassed roles in data analysis and project management, with a particular focus on marketing and statistics. Currently, Yogesh is channelling his expertise into the Maker Bhavan Foundation, continuing to drive transformative change in his field.

Accountant extraordinaire with four years of experience, Krina Sheth has her eyes set on a PhD. Beyond her professional pursuits, she harbours a deep-seated love for teaching. Rooted in her culture, as a true Gujarati, Krina is always ready to burst into garba. Her collaborative nature and dedication to fostering camaraderie make her a valued asset in any team she joins.

Aditya is a marketing specialist and an alumnus of NMIMS, where he honed his skills in the field of marketing. With a knack for creativity and a strategic mindset, he navigates the dynamic world of brand promotion with finesse. Beyond the boardroom, Aditya finds solace and exhilaration in the open road, indulging his passion for riding bikes. His adventurous spirit is matched only by his quick wit and infectious sense of humor, making him a delightful companion both in professional settings and during leisurely escapades.

He is driven by the passion for connecting with people and loves being in conversation with individuals who want to make the world a better place.

Rashi, a Data Specialist and NM College alumna, excels in statistical analysis and research, with a methodical approach to uncovering insights from complex data sets. Her program management expertise, honed through freelancing projects, showcases her creativity and strategic vision. Beyond her professional life, Rashi enjoys crime documentaries, learning new skills, and embracing a nomadic lifestyle. Her passion for spirituality and Hinduism enriches conversations, while her quick wit and infectious enthusiasm make her a delightful presence in any setting.

Hemant Kanakia is a retired serial entrepreneur based in Washington DC, USA. Since 2010, he has made angel investments in 20 early-stage companies in India ranging across education, technology and healthcare sectors. Between 2004- 2009 He was a partner with a Venture Firm based in the East Coast of USA. Hemant was founder and CEO of Torrent Networking Technology (acquired by Ericsson for $500 M ) and co-founder of Photuris (acquired by Meriton) and Gemplex, inc. (acquired by Tata Telesystems). Prior to starting Torrent, he worked at the research arm of AT&T Bell Laboratories. Hemant holds an undergraduate degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, a M S from Case Western Reserve University, and a Ph D in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Hemant is an ex-member of the Board of Trustees at Case Western Reserve University and Virginia Polytechnic. He was President of the Washington DC chapter of TiE and a member of the global board of trustees of TiE. He currently serves as a board member of several non-profit organizations in the art and cultural sectors.

This philosophy has become the key to my success in life. Early on, I spent a lot of time acquiring knowledge from classrooms and books. Only when I started learning by doing, my life turned around. Through this foundation, I hope many young folks get to learn this lesson early in their lives. As someone said, you do not learn to walk by rules of walking but by starting to walk, falling many times, getting up and trying again.

Aristotle said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

Ruyintan (Ron) E. Mehta was a serial entrepreneur in several plastics manufacturing businesses in the US and Canada for over 25 years. After his retirement, Ron has been involved full time in technology-enabled philanthropy and higher education in India.

Ron is the Executive Director of WIN Foundation that was spawned out of Wheels Global Foundation to support innovations and fund novel programs in Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) and Maternal and Child Health (MCH) issues in India. Many IITs in India - IITB, IITGN and IITKGP and several highly respected NGOs in India are beneficiaries of over $2 million in grants awarded by WIN Foundation to address WATSAN and MCH issues in India.

Ron is the current Director of IIT Gandhinagar Foundation and previously served as President of IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation.

Ron holds a B Tech (Chemical Engineering' 70), from IIT Bombay and Masters degrees in Chemical Engineering and Engineering Administration from the University of Connecticut and the University of Utah respectively.

Subhash Tantry is a graduate of IIT Bombay, the batch of 1975. He lives in Palo Alto, CA, USA with his wife Manjiri while his two sons, having graduated from college, run their own businesses in San Francisco. Subhash’s career, in enterprise software companies, has spanned several CEO, CTO and other C-Level positions, Board Memberships, and is a mentor to entrepreneurs and students. He was on the organizing committee of the first Mood Indigo cultural festival, was the Founding Board Member of the IITB Heritage Foundation, has convened TiECon in the Bay Area as a TiE Charter Member and chaired a PanIIT Global Leadership Conference in 2015.

“On Tinkering: The only reason to become wealthy is to be a philanthropist. Tinkering generates a wealth of innovative knowledge that can make you a philanthropist!”

Ashish Vengsarkar works at Google, building Google's Global Network, with a focus on optical networking and routing platforms. Over the last three decades, he has worked in telecom, with roles spanning R&D at Bell Labs, Product Management at large companies and running startups.

He has been actively involved in non-profits committed to STEM education via high school science fairs and animal causes via German Shepherd dog rescues. Currently, he sits on the boards of a medical device company, a pharma startup, and a non-profit focused on mental health.

Ashish has an MBA from Wharton, a Ph.D. in Fiber Optics from Virginia Tech, and a B.Tech. from IIT Bombay. In his free time, Ashish constructs crosswords and enjoys Bollywood and Indian classical music.

Ajay Lavakare is currently a director of TinkerTech Labs, a startup that designs and builds accessible, inclusive, and innovative technology solutions for people with disabilities, and a founding member & past Co-President of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs India. Ajay is also an active angel investor and has invested through Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs, Indian Angel Network (IAN), and LetsVenture. His investments include Unacademy, Innovaccer, Consure Medical, Inspirit VR, Meme Chat, and several other startups in EdTech, AR/VR, and social.

Ajay is a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Delhi chapter and has been a mentor to entrepreneurs through programs organized by TiE, iSPIRT, and NASSCOM. Ajay was the Chief Product Officer of SmartVizX, a company developing an immersive design collaboration platform for the building industry. He has also been the Managing Director of RMS Risk Management Solutions India and worked at the parent company, Risk Management Solutions in Silicon Valley as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of data solutions. Prior to that, Ajay founded RMSI, one of India’s leading geospatial information services and solutions companies. Ajay began his career in Tokyo with Kumagai Gumi Ltd., a leading Japanese architecture/engineering/construction company.
Ajay has a Bachelor of Technology degree in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (New Delhi, India) and a Master's degree in Structural Engineering from Stanford University (California, USA).

Kirat joined Alkyl Amines Chemicals Limited, a start-up, in 1980 and has been with the company since then. The company, manufacturing and marketing specialty chemicals, has a turnover of over Rs 1100 crores. He has seen the company grow many folds in the last four decades wearing many hats, primarily finance and operations, and has played an active role in its growth including in the takeover and turnaround of its subsidiary in Baroda, Diamines and Chemicals Limited. Currently, he is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the company. He is on the Board of Directors of listed companies, viz: Alkyl Amines Chemicals Ltd., Diamines and Chemicals Ltd, Kaira Can Ltd, serving on various Board Committees.

Kirat holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay, and a Masters in Management Studies, from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Bombay.

Community Service:
Member, Advisory Board of IIT Bombay Alumni Association, Mumbai, India.
Member, Western Regional Committee of the Indian Chemical Council, India.
Member, Finance Committee of UDCT now Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India
Director, Centre, Healthcare Entrepreneurship, IIT Hyderabad.
Member, CSR committee, Alkyl Amines Chemicals
Managing Trustee, Rukavipa Foundation, Mumbai.
Trustee, Babasheth and Kusumben Trust., Mumbai

An alumnus of Stanford University, Paula Mariwala is Co-Founder & President of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs India, Managing Director of Seedfund Advisors, an early stage venture capital firm, and Promoter Director of Hinditron Group of Companies, one of India’s oldest technology companies. Paula is founding partner at Aureolis Ventures, w invests across stages in innovative companies focused on social impact.

Paula brings more than 25 years of entrepreneurial and operational experience with technology companies and 15 years of investing experience in early stage companies in the USA and India. In her role as Founding MD of Seedfund since 2006, Paula has been actively involved with the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India to source, evaluate and mentor start-up companies having led investments in education, healthcare, deep technology and rural/social impact sectors. She works closely with portfolio companies to take them to their next stage of growth. As an angel investor she has a large portfolio of companies with Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs India and in her individual capacity through her family office.

She is on the board of Foundation of innovation and Technology Transfer, (FITT)- IIT, Delhi, Beyond Capital Fund, The Stanford SEED Transformation Program, Go Massive Incubator for Sustainability and Social Impact Platform iDoBro. She writes and speaks regularly at various startup events and serves on boards of several of her portfolio companies. She is also President of the Stanford Alumni Association – India.

Paula is deeply committed to the causes of education, environment, gender equality, human rights and women empowerment. She supports several NGOs and serves on the boards of The Gender Lab, Avanti Young Women Leaders Program and Katalyst India. She is an advisor to the SDG Philanthropy Platform, India, The UN India Women Entrepreneurship network. In addition, she mentors women entrepreneurs as well as young women from socially disadvantaged backgrounds through various personal and professional networks.
Paula is a founding member on the Board of Management of KREA University, India, The Governing Board of K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering and on the Advisory Board of Physics Department of her alma mater, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

She also serves on the Advisory Boards of The Centre for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University and Stanford SEED, India.

Paula holds an MS in Applied Physics from Stanford University and BSc (Hons) inPhysics from St. Xavier’s college, Mumbai.

For Ravi Mariwala, life is another great adventure to embark on. He is the Founder, Promoter and CEO of Smaart Water, a company that provides affordable, integrated and holistic water solutions for industrial, institutional, residential, commercial and community markets in Rural and Urban India. He has started the company with a vision of providing Sustainable and Abundant Water to everyone. In the process, he has developed more than 10 technologies, 25+ products and five services packages, which are commercialized.

Sustainability and outdoors are a passion for Ravi. He has worked on sustainable and integrated solutions for water. He has set up more than 10 million liters per year Rain Harvesting system and more than 300 installations in the water sustainability space. He extensively lectures about sustainable solutions for water.

Dr. Mariwala holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware with 5 patents and 17 publications in international peer-reviewed Journals. He has more than 25 years’ experience in chemical and allied process industries in various capacities, including projects funded by Dupont, Air Products, Rohm & Haas and US Govt. through TDS Research, Colorado. He is a promoter of Marico, Kaya and promoter and Director of Eternis Fine Chemicals.

Ravi is an adjunct faculty at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. He lectures on Technology and Entrepreneurship at ICT. He regularly mentors 2-3 students every year through projects to inspire them to join a field related to Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship.

He is also one of the founding members of Tech & Innovation Advisor Group of Centre for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University.

Ravi has been sailing for the last 45 years and currently sails competitively and cruises along the western coast of India regularly. He is also an active member of The Himalayan Club. He has climbed and trekked extensively in the Himalaya and Sahyadri (37 years, more than 250 ascents) and edited the prestigious Himalayan Club NewsLetter.

After graduating from Indian Institute of Technology in 1970, Sudarshan founded Technocraft Industries with his brother. The company began by making sheet metal components and special tools for international tractors, built steel drum closures, and then built a worldwide monopoly for an American multinational company for over two decades. Sudarshan holds eight patents on drum closures.

Since its inception in sheet metal, Technocraft has also grown to become a leading global manufacturer of scaffolding systems, an industry considered hazardous in the US and western Europe.

With subsidiaries in engineering services for the global market and defence, the company keeps up with the latest technology. Technocraft Defence Private Ltd. develops defence technology as part of its efforts to make our country Atmanirbhar. The company continues to be managed and co-chaired by Sudarshan.

The trust he founded by Sudarshan and his brother runs subsidised vocational courses in tool making, die making, and Mechatronics in Murbad, Mumbai and supports a number of charities at the same time. Children from tribal communities receive free education, lodging, and food.

Sudarshan with his brother also funded Alma Mater in Bombay to set up a centre for applied artificial intelligence. The centre is known as the Technocraft centre for artificial intelligence.

Shaibal is a serial entrepreneur. His first startup was acquired by Netscape in 1997, and the technology went on to become one of the first web mail systems. His second startup, acquired by RIM, catapulted the BlackBerry’s growth from 400,000 corporate email accounts into 400 million consumer email accounts during his tenure as Chief Architect of BlackBerry (2002-2006). Cozeva, his latest startup, is used by some of the largest health systems in the US. Shaibal holds 47 published US Patents and applications. He is a Silver Medalist from the Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur and completed his PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Prof. Timothy A. Gonsalves is an Indian computer scientist and professor. After a long stint on the faculty of IIT Madras, he served as founding Director of IIT Mandi, Himachal Pradesh from 2010-2020. He is currently a Professor Emeritus (Honorary) at IIT Mandi and a Mentor at the IIT Madras Research Park. Prof. Gonsalves is one of the Founders of the TeNeT Group with its motto “World-class technology at an affordable price”. He has also been a part of many start-ups like n-Logue Communications and the IIT-M RTBI. In 1998, he founded Nilgiri Networks (P) Ltd in Ooty, where he trained local talent to develop telecom software. He co-founded NMSWorks Software (P) Ltd and designed its flagship product, CygNet. He has also worked on financial systems as a consultant to SBI and SEBI . He led the development of the first standards for mobile payments in India as a member of the Mobile Payment Forum India. From 2010 to 2020, Prof Gonsalves built IIT Mandi as a green-field institution in a remote Himalayan valley in Himachal Pradesh. By the end of its first decade, IIT Mandi had grown to over 2,000 students and 130 faculty. It had made a name for its unique project-oriented BTech curriculum. In 2019, it was ranked 20 th among engineering institutions in India in the NIRF, Its faculty and students had achieved laurels in research and extra-curricular activities. IIT Mandi Catalyst was the leading technology-business incubator in Himachal, and EWOK helped many village women to start businesses, attain computer and English literacy and meet their aspirations. Prof. Gonsalves led the national effort to increase female enrolment in the B.Tech program at all IITs, which more than doubled from 8% in 2016 to 20% in 2020. After his retirement, Prof. Gonsalves has been active in improving education in engineering colleges in India. He founded the LEAP (Learning Engineering by Activity with Products) programme in 2021. He is also the founding member of the Steering Committee of the CSEDU programme aimed at improving the effectiveness of teaching of computer science subjects in colleges. Prof. Gonsalves was named AICTE Distinguished Chair Professor in 2021. Prof. Gonsalves received his B.Tech. From IIT-Madras, M.S. from Rice University, Houston and Ph.D. from Stanford University, California. In 2021, he was named an AICTE Distinguished Chair Professor and is a Distinguished Visiting Professor, Ahmedabad University. The Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_A._Gonsalves has further information.

Dr Ranbir Singh is a pioneer and leader in the field of Silicon Carbide power semiconductors for high power and high frequency applications. Delivered Solutions to Industry that were unique and relevant. He is the Founder of GeneSiC Semiconductor, a company focused on developing wideband gap semiconductors like Silicon Carbide.
Dr Singh has demonstrated leadership in the design, fabrication, characterization of SiC devices. He has published over 200 papers in industry leading conferences and journals, awarded over 40 patents and written 1 book on these subjects Specialties: Semiconductors, Hybrid Vehicles, Solar Inverters, Power, Radiation, High Temperature, Power Semiconductors, Power Devices, Utility Grid, Green Electronics, Rad-Hard Electronics, Oil Exploration Electronics, Aircraft Actuators, Motors, Naval Power Systems, Government, Solid State Power, Power Conversions, DC-DC Converters, Power Supplies, Power Transmission & Distribution, Energy Storage.
Ranbir is a B Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi (’90) and a MS (92) and PhD (’95) from North Carolina State
University.
He is a resident of North Carolina Beach, USA

Professor Emeritus Arogyaswami J. Paulraj, Stanford University, is a pioneer of MIMO wireless communications, a technology break through that enables improved wireless performance. MIMO is now incorporated into all new wireless systems.

Paulraj is the author of over 400 research papers, two textbooks, and a co-inventor in 80 US patents.

Paulraj has won over a dozen awards, notably the National Inventors Hall of Fame (USPTO), Marconi Prize and Fellowship, 2014 and the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, 2011. He is a fellow of eight scientific / engineering national academies including the US, China, India, and Sweden. He is a fellow of IEEE and AAAS.

In 1999, Paulraj founded Iospan Wireless Inc. - which developed and established MIMO-OFDMA wireless as the core 4G technology. Iospan was acquired by Intel Corporation in 2003. In 2004, he co-founded Beceem Communications Inc. The company became the market leader in 4G-WiMAX semiconductor and was acquired by Broadcom Corp. in 2010. In 2014 he founded Rasa Networks to develop Machine Learning tools for WiFi Networks. The company was acquired HPE in 2016.

During his 30 years in the Indian (Navy) (1961-1991), he founded three national-level laboratories in India and headed one of India’s most successful military R&D projects – APSOH sonar. He received over a dozen awards (many at the national level) in India including the Padma Bhushan.
Honors & Awards
• Inductee - US Patent and Trademark Office National Inventors Hall of Fame, US Patent and Trademark Office (2018)
• Marconi Prize and Fellowship (2014)
• IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal (2011)
• Govt. of India Padma Bhushan (2010)

Dr. Tandon is presently focusing on investments in critical and emerging technologies’ application to unmet clinical needs in USA and India, in a win-win for Healthcare/IT/Life Sciences sector.

As a venture capitalist for decade and a half in Silicon Valley, she invested in 12 companies with 11 exits. Investing in private, proprietary, technology-based lifesaving and life-extending companies, 9 being acquired within few years of investment by GE, Pfizer, Gilead, Amgen, Biogen-IDEC, Cephalon, CSI and Millipore etc. while 2 portfolio companies went the IPO route.

Nandini was Managing Director, MDS-Lumira Capital, with 1.2 Billion dollars under management having established office in Palo Alto in early 2004. Prior to that she was Partner, RBC Capital Partners, launching their venture capital presence in USA in early 2002 in San Francisco.

Dr. Tandon brings successful investment track-record, entrepreneurial experience, deep domain knowledge and rich operational background from pharma, biotech, MedTech and semi-conductors to her investments. She was the Chief Business Officer of a VC backed start-up Zyomyx Inc., VP of Business Development, Hyseq Inc., and held various positions at Chiron Corporation, GlaxoWellcome and Microelectronics Center of North Carolina where she received a patent in semiconductor.

Nandini has supported companies, across start-ups to commercialization, in developing products for unmet medical needs. She has been on board of dozen plus high-tech companies.

Nandini participates on a global basis on entrepreneurship, venture capital, healthcare, and gender empowerment. Her selected engagements include being a moderator for panel in India with Senator Warner, Senator Bennet and Senator Udall on Healthcare, was a panelist in Palo Alto with Senator Gillibrand (successor of Senator Clinton) on Women Empowerment, was Panelist at Milken Conference in LA for ObamaCare, Chaired investment focus of Super Return Conference in San Francisco, Geneva and Dubai and was delegate for US State Department’s Global Entrepreneurship program to Turkey, Dubai, Hyderabad and Hague, under President Obama and President Trump respectively.

Present Board & Advisory roles:
Board Member, Maker Bhavan Foundation
QB3 Board, Quantitative Biology Institute, UC of Santa Cruz, Berkeley & San Francisco
Medical Cyberworlds Inc.
Advisor to Stanford University’s Byers Center for Biodesign
Bay Area Council Economic Institute Board of Trustees
San Francisco-Bangalore Sister City Board

An internationally distinguished researcher and higher education leader, Satish K. Tripathi, PhD, was appointed the University at Buffalo’s 15th president in 2011.
Tripathi was UB’s provost from 2004-2011 and dean of the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California-Riverside from 1997-2004. Previously, he spent 19 years as professor of computer science at the University of Maryland, including seven as department chair.
Tripathi graduated at the top of his class from Banaras Hindu University. He holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Toronto, and two master’s degrees in statistics from the University of Alberta and BHU. Tripathi has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, and Brock University in Canada.
An active leader in the national higher education community, Tripathi serves as chair of the Mid-American Conference Council of Presidents and on the boards of the NCAA Division I, NCAA Board of Governors, and the College Football Board of Managers. He previously served on the board of directors for the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
A fellow of the IEEE and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he has published more than 200 scholarly papers, supervised more than 30 doctoral and postdoctoral students and served on program committees of numerous international conferences. He has been the editor of several scientific journals and is a founding editorial board member of IEEE Pervasive Computing.

Prof. Rajesh Nair is an inventor, product designer, and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in multiple startups in the Boston area. As one of the founding faculty, he served as Professor of Practice in Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Asia School of Business, a new school started by MIT-Sloan in Kuala Lumpur. He also was a Visiting Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His current startup EnCube Labs is an education company specializing in training youth in innovation and entrepreneurship.
His research since 2012 has been in ‘Developing ways to catalyze innovators and entrepreneurs in communities from the ground up and build local entrepreneurship ecosystems.’ He has conducted more than seventy transformational workshops on Making, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in India, the USA, Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, and Vietnam. His work has catalyzed more than 50 student startups. His last 6-day boot camp on design, innovation, and entrepreneurship was held at IIT-Palakkad in January 2021.
Rajesh is an educator and practitioner of the Design Thinking process. He founded three product-manufacturing companies in the US. He is also the founder of a nonprofit organization, TechTop Trust that promotes innovators & entrepreneurs among Indian youth since 2006.
He holds 13 US patents. He received Master’s degrees in Engineering & Management (MIT), Manufacturing Engineering (UMass, Amherst), and Electronic Product Design (IISc, Bangalore). He also holds Bachelor’s degrees in Physics (Kerala) and Electronics & Communication (IISc).
He has given talks at the UN General Assembly and TEDx events on catalyzing young entrepreneurs. His current mission is to nurture a million children and youth into entrepreneurship from around the world.

Prof. G. 'Anand' Anandalingam is the Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Management Science at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Previously he was Dean of Imperial College Business School at Imperial College London from August 2013 to July 2016. He was also Dean of the Smith School of Business at Maryland from 2007 to 2013. Before joining Smith in 2001, Anand was at the University of Pennsylvania for nearly 15 years where he was a professor in both the Penn Engineering School and the Wharton School of Business.
As Dean in two prestigious universities, Anand has raised close to $100 million in gifts for the institutions, set up a number of successful Masters degree programs, hired several very prominent senior scholars, and promoted many women and minorities to academic leadership positions, several of who have gone on to Dean positions in other universities. Anand helped establish a Center on Entrepreneurship at Imperial College, and expand entrepreneurial education and practice at the University of Maryland with a particular emphasis on social innovation. At both Maryland and London, he set up several centers of excellence including Social Value Creation, Financial Policy, Business Analytics, and Health Policy. He has also created educational partnerships around the world including in China, India, and the Middle East.
Anandalingam has also been a pioneer in online education at both the Smith School of Business at Maryland and Imperial College Business School. In the former, he launched an online MBA, which is the largest revenue generator in the business school. In the latter, Anand built up an Educational Technology Unit and helped launch a very successful online blended global MBA program. Imperial College Business School also launched undergraduate business studies for non-business students from science and engineering. He created a strategic partnership with EdX to teach micro-Masters degrees in Business, Finance and Analytics.
Anand has received numerous academic and teaching awards while at the Smith School, as well as a variety of scholarships, fellowships, prizes and endowed appointments at Pennsylvania, Harvard and Cambridge. He has published more than 100 papers and 4 books, and has presented his work in numerous prestigious international conferences. His research has evolved from economic dynamics and policy, to energy and environmental systems analysis, to design and pricing of telecommunications and information systems, to technology strategy, to leadership and social entrepreneurship.
Anandalingam is on the Board of Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Zhejiang University School of Business (Hangzhou, China), American University of Cairo, and Collegiate Directions Inc. (a Washington DC non-profit supporting education for new immigrants). He has also consulted for several Fortune 1000 companies including AT&T, Nokia, MCI, Motorola, Nextel Communications, KPMG, GE Capital, and institutions such as Fujitsu NIH, The World Bank, Amtrak, US-AID, US-Department of Energy and Arnold & Porter (law firm). He was a founding partner of an energy/environmental consulting firm, International Development & Energy Associates (1982-1988).
Anand received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, and his B.A. from Cambridge University, U.K.

Srinivasan Keshav is the Robert Sansom Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cambridge.
After undergraduate studies at IIT Delhi in 1986, he went onto receive his PhD in 1991 from the University of California, Berkeley. He then joined the research staff at Bell Labs; while at Bell Labs, he also had visiting faculty positions at IIT Delhi and Columbia University. In 1996 he became an associate professor at Cornell University; he then left academia in 1999 to co-found Ensim Corporation. In 2003, he joined the faculty at the University of Waterloo, where he held a Canada Research Chair in Tetherless Computing from 2004 to 2014 and a Cisco Systems Chair in Smart Grid from 2012 to 2017.
Dr Keshav has been co-director of the Information Systems and Science for Energy (ISS4E) Laboratory at the University of Waterloo since 2010. At the University of Cambridge, Prof. Keshav continues to work on research and teach in areas related to sustainable energy.
Honors and awards
• Director’s Gold Medal, IIT Delhi (1986)
• David Sakrison Memorial Prize, UC Berkeley (1992)
• ACM Fellow (2012)
"For contributions to computer communication networks and systems."
• IEEE Fellow (2019)
• IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumnus Award (2019)
• Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (2019)

Anant Agarwal is the Founder and CEO of edX and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. Prof. Anant won the Maurice Wilkes prize for computer architecture, and MIT's Smullin and Jamieson prizes for teaching. He is also the 2016 recipient of the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize for Higher Education, which recognized his work in advancing the MOOC movement. As a CEO of a global nonprofit, Anant is helping to transform traditional education, removing the barriers of cost, location and access. edX is reimagining the possibilities of education, providing the highest-quality, stackable learning experiences including the groundbreaking MicroMasters® programs. Additionally, he is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the President of India and was named the Yidan Prize for Education Development Laureate in 2018.

Dr Pramod P. Khargonekar is the Vice Chancellor for Research and Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Khargonekar has served in a variety of administrative roles in academia and federal funding agencies. He has been on the faculty at the University of Florida, University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, and University of California, Irvine. At the University of Michigan, he was Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from 1997 to 2001 and also held the position of Claude E. Shannon Professor of Engineering Science. At the University of Florida, he was Dean of the College of Engineering from 2001 to 2009, and Eckis Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering until 2016.

He also served briefly, in 2012-13, as Deputy Director of Technology at the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E. In March 2013, the National Science Foundation (NSF) appointed him to serve as Assistant Director for the Directorate of Engineering (ENG), a position he held until June 2016. In this position, Dr. Khargonekar led the ENG Directorate with an annual budget of more than $950 million. In addition, he served as a member of the NSF senior leadership and management team and participated in setting priorities and policies.

An expert in control systems engineering, Dr. Khargonekar has authored more than 150 refereed journal publications and 180 conference publications. He has supervised 36 doctoral students.

Academic Distinctions
Fellow, IEEE and IFAC; NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award; IEEE W. R. G. Baker Prize and Axelby Best Paper Award Award; IIT Bombay Distinguished Alumnus and Distinguished Service Awards; Claude E. Shannon Chair, University of Michigan; Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher; the American Automatic Control Council’s Donald Eckman Award; and the Hugo Schuck ACC Best Paper Award. At the University of Michigan, he received the Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship

Alan Wolf, Professor of Physics (retired after 35 years) at The Cooper Union in NYC and U.S. Patent Attorney, received his Ph.D. in Physics for seminal work in the field of “Chaos Theory” from the University of Texas, Austin, and his J.D. from Yeshiva University (Cardozo Law School). Professor Wolf served as a federal law clerk to The Honorable Lawrence McKenna in the Southern District of New York and taught law (Patent, Evidence, Introduction to legal theory) at Cardozo Law School. Professor Wolf co-founded Invention Factory® -- an intensive summer program in conceiving of inventions that can make a difference, prototyping, pitching, and patenting. Invention Factory has run in the U.S. since 2013 and at IIT Gandhinagar since 2018.

Adil Zainulbhai is the Chairman for Quality Council of India and TV18 Broadcast Ltd and Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. Adil is also on the board of 15 other companies including Reliance Industries, Larsen and Turbo, Cipla etc.
Previously Adil retired from McKinsey India as its chairman after 34 years with the legendary consulting firm, 24 of which were in the US. Zainulbhai joined McKinsey in 1979 straight out of HBS; he set up the Minneapolis, Minnesota, office and later led the McKinsey office in the US capital of Washington D.C., helping clients across sectors as diverse as telecommunications, consumer electronics, energy, banking, infrastructure, and healthcare.
He counsels the CEOs of many of India's largest companies in a range of industries, including infrastructure, metals and mining, financial services, and pharmaceuticals - and he has helped several such companies become global leaders. He has also helped leading multinational companies build large, profitable businesses in India.
Adil is passionate about strengthening India's public sector and contributing to the nation's development. He works closely with senior government leaders to drive growth and raise living standards, strengthen key sectors of the economy, and improve education, health, and welfare. In both his private and public-sector work, he develops long-term partnerships with his clients to deliver results and create true impact, while helping to build people's capabilities.
He serves on the boards of numerous nonprofit organisations, including the American India Foundation, the CII National Council, Saifee Hospital, and Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust, which is redeveloping Mumbai's Bhendi Bazaar. Apart from MBF, he serves on the advisory boards of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, the Ajay .G Piramal Foundation, the Wockhardt Foundation, and Institute Health Management Research, as well as on the global advisory board of the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is president of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association, India.
Adil Zainulbhai holds a B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Bombay and a post-graduate from Harvard Business School.

Dr Eric Lima, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The Cooper Union in NYC received his PhD. in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University where he worked on tissue engineering of cartilage. He specializes in the design of biomedical devices. Professor Lima co-founded Invention Factory® -- an intensive summer program in conceiving of inventions that can make a difference, prototyping, pitching, and patenting. Invention Factory has run in the U.S. since 2013 and at IIT Gandhinagar since 2018.

Dr. Beheruz N. Sethna is President Emeritus, and Regents’ Professor of Business at the University of West Georgia.

During his 19-year tenure as President, UWG grew from a college with ~7,500 students to a doctoral degree-granting, SACS-Level-VI university (highest level) with ~12,000 students, and was recently classified as a Doctoral University (moderate research activity).
Shared accomplishments include: UWG increased full time enrollment by ~50%, land by >70%, square footage by >100%. UWG added more square footage than every other previous presidential administration combined in UWG’s 107-year history at a cost of ~$330M. UWG’s endowment grew by >10 times.
UWG acquired its first major endowment to name an academic college, started its first four doctoral programs, created Georgia’s first and only Board-approved Honors College and Advanced Academy, and awarded more degrees than every other presidential administration combined.
He served twice as Interim Executive/Senior Vice Chancellor for the University System of Georgia. He was awarded Resolutions of Commendation from the Georgia Governor, Senate, and House, and was named among the 100 Most Influential Georgians six times.
He is a former Senior Fulbright Professor, and has been a keynote speaker in several venues in three continents, in addition to being a TEDx speaker.
He is the first person of Indian origin to become president of a US university. Carnegie Corporation named him a “Great Immigrant – Pride of America.”
He credits his parents, his wife, Dr. Madhavi Sethna, and his two children (doctor and attorney), and four grandchildren

Bakulesh Shroff is owner and CEO of System Engineers a Baroda based company that manufactures Chemical Process Equipment like Reactors, Heat Exchangers, large vessels for the Chemical & Oil and Gas Industry. Bakulesh has pioneering work in the design and manufacture of Calorifiers. He has been responsible for setting plants on turnkey basis for Emulsion polymerization, Epoxy and Alkyd Resins, in the middle east, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Bangladesh as well as the manufacture of highly specialized mixer vessels for installation in the USA and Europe. Bakulesh is a B Tech, Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay and a PGDIE from NITIE Mumbai.

Raj Mashruwala has served on the boards of Syntel (SYNT, acquired by Atos), Delta ID, Inc. (acquired by FING-B.ST), Guavus, Inc (acquired by Thales) and HealthifyMe. He is actively engaged with non-profits where he serves on the boards of Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation, Foundation of Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE), and IIT Gandhinagar Foundation.

Raj retired from TIBCO Software Inc (acquired by Vista Equity Partners) as an Executive Vice President in the office of CEO. Prior to that, he was the Chief Operating Officer at TIBCO Software Inc. Since the founding of TIBCO, Raj built and led the worldwide sales and marketing operations. As the Chief Operating Officer, Raj was also responsible for engineering, professional and support services.

Prior to joining TIBCO, Raj co-founded YieldUp International, a semiconductor equipment manufacturing company, Media Computer Technology Inc., an ASIC design house and Consilium Inc., a Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) software, provider. Mashruwala led Consilium’s R&D and professional services operations since the company’s inception.

Raj holds M. S (Engineering) from the University of California, Berkeley and B. Tech (Mechanical) from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Raj holds several patents on Object-Oriented Modeling for Manufacturing Systems.

Community Service
Chair, IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation, Santa Clara, USA
Director, IIT Gandhinagar Foundation, Palo Alto, USA
Director, Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), Palo Alto, USA
Member of the Advisory Board of Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India
Director, Foundation of Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship, IITH, Hyderabad, India
Chief Biometric Coordinator (2009-2011), Aadhaar. Raj has been an early volunteer in this ambitious nation-building project of Indian Government.

Narayan, Narya to his IIT friends, graduated from IIT Bombay in 1975. While working, completed his Diploma in Management Studies (DMS) from Bombay University, stood third in the University. He has done many short term professional courses including one from Harvard. After working in a manufacturing company from production to process and product development, to applications development moved into a project environment and was involved in establishing an aluminium rolling mill plant in Malaysia. On return to India, he joined a large Indian corporation as a corporate resource and led their diversification into Real Estate and Infrastructure. He held Leadership and Board positions in many companies and post his withdrawal from the corporate world has been advising many entities on large development projects.

He embarked on a Social path for creating livelihoods for the urban poor through a unique business model for which he was awarded ‘Social Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year” award at the World CSR Congress in 2014. He is actively engaged with his alma mater and the Institute has recognised his contribution with the Distinguished Services award”.

Prashant Ranade is the former Co-Chairman of Syntel’s (NASDAQ: SYNT) Board of Directors. He held this position till the company was acquired by Atos Inc. in October 2018 where he continued to work till June 2020. Earlier, a career spanning 40 years, he held various leadership roles as Executive Vice Chairman, CEO and President.
Prashant was a member of the Company’s Board of Directors from 2007 till October 2018 when the company (NASDAQ: SYNT) and currently serves as an Independent Board Member of Brinker International’s Board of Directors (NYSE: EAT). Prashant co-founded IndusSME in June 2020, which provides technology solutions for Small and Medium Enterprises.
Prashant has a strong track record of transforming organizations through a strong focus on customer centricity, innovative service/ product offerings, operational excellence and employee engagement to drive value creation. His areas of expertise include leadership development, application of emerging technologies, product/process/services development, making Global enterprises efficient, effective and customer-centric, projects management and delighting customers.
Throughout his career, Prashant has demonstrated outstanding leadership skills, the ability to understand and translate new technologies into global product strategies, and deep domain knowledge in healthcare and life sciences, high-tech engineering and manufacturing, hospitality, retail and wholesale and supply chain and logistics automation.
Prashant holds a B. Tech. in Engineering from IIT Bombay, an M.S. from the University of Cincinnati, and an MBA from Xavier University, Cincinnati. He is also the recipient of “Distinguished Alumni” awards from both IIT Bombay and the University of Cincinnati.

Jayant Kholgade is an independent Pharmaceutical Engineering Consultant. His 45-year career spans a variety of industrial sectors including the Nuclear Fabrication Department of L& T and the research and development department of ACC. Jayant's work in the Pharmaceutical Industry includes Boots Pharmaceuticals, Hoechst, Merind, and Ranbaxy as chief Engineer.

He is also a Partner in Sonal Engineering and specializes in the design and fabrication of Fluid bed processing equipment for the Pharmaceutical Industry. Jayant holds a B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay.

Piyush B Shah is a Power Electronics Industry expert founded who founded Hi-Rel Electronics (P) Ltd) at Gandhinagar, Gujarat in 1983. It was acquired in 2015 by Hitachi and is now known as Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics Pvt Ltd.
Piyush retired from Hitachi Hi-Rel in 2018 and since then has been actively engaged in strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem as an active member of Indian Angel Networks. He is passionate about supporting new ventures in the field of Renewable Energy and Energy Management Systems.
An avid Golfer and a Bridge player, a voracious reader, he enjoys travelling to discover new locales and places.
Piyush holds a B Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay.

Community Service:
Ex Chair, Gujarat State Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
Member, Executive Council, Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association
Member, CII – IT Gujarat Taskforce,
Member, National Council on Innovation
Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Member IIT-Gandhinagar Endowment Committee
Member Post Graduate Board of Nirma Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad

Chandrashekhar Inamdar’s 40-year professional life spans a broad-spectrum expertise in Application Engineering, Software Specifications, and Mechanism Design. He began his career at Siemens India and then went on to found and lead a number of engineering firms. He was the founder and CEO of Autosoft Controls and Automation (Pune) Pvt Ltd engaged in Industrial Automation and the design, engineering and manufacturing of control panels. Executed a wide range of industrial projects from concept to commissioning including but not restricted to Special Purpose Machines, Quality Testing Machines, Cement
Plants, Dairy Plants, Water Treatment Plants, Granulation Plants, Vehicle and Engine assembly systems, Material Handling Systems etc.

Since his retirement Shekhar has been focused on volunteering his time and in the education sector working with NGOs to improve student awareness in ICT. He has also guided faculty and students of Atal Tinkering Labs in schools and as a special advisor to the Director of IIT Goa between 2018-2020.

Chandrashekhar holds a B Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay. In spare time he can be found reading books on education and economics or pottering in his garden.

Sunil has played key technical and management roles in five technology companies. Four of the five were co-founded by him. Two of the five had initial public offerings.

He is serving as an advisor to SPARK Translational Science Program at the Stanford Medical School. This program bridges the gap between discovery and treatment in medical science. The SPARK model has been adopted at over fifty medical schools around the world.

Sunil has co-authored 30 US patents.

He holds B. Tech. EE ’76, IIT Bombay, Ph.D. EE Stanford Univ. ’81.

Prof. Prakash W Dandekar is a renowned teacher, experimenter and
product designer with more than 40 years of professional experience.
A graduate of Electrical Engg Deptt SGSITS in 1973, he
completed M.Tech. from IIT Bombay in 1975.
He has worked in renowned industrial houses like Tata Power and
Tata Technologies as a designer, project leader and manager for about 10
years. Prakash was a VP and Head of Embedded Systems in Impetus InfoTech
Indore also.
He has run successful consultancy, product design, manufacturing and
marketing activities for more than 15 years. He has several firsts to his
credit in industrial control, process monitoring. His expertise covers wide
areas of electrical, electronics, computer networks and computer hardware
engineering areas.

Parimal has been a hardcore brick and mortar professional since 1975. Always happy to be with batchmates and also enjoy the company of IITians across the board. Been lucky to have travelled extensively for leisure in the name of work and continue to do so. Busy folks may feel free to delegate part of their globetrotting and rest assured of unnoticeable nonperformance.

Shashi Mantravadi worked in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHELI, Hyderabad, for 28 years in several divisions in the area of Design/Engineering of Renewable Energy Systems, Steam & Gas Turbines and, later, Engineering Computer Systems.

He went on to join Altair Engineering, Bangalore in 2007, where he built and lead a wonderful team of 30 with diverse & niche skill sets as a professional services group for CAE process automation & related Enterprise Solutions.

Subsequently, Shashi worked as a consultant in the field of Engg Process Automation and Data Management for a few years before retiring from professional life.

Shashi holds a B Tech in Aerospace Engineering and an M Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay.

He had been very active with the IIT Bombay alumni movement and founded the Hyderabad Chapter of the Association. He is a recipient of IIT Bombay's "Distinguished Service Award".
In his free time, Shashi enjoys outdoor sports and social work and spends a lot of time in his home garden.