Seventh Leadership Conclave

Shri R A Venkitachalam Professor and Chair Underwriters Laboratories Bangalore

As the Vice President - Public Safety Mission, Shri Venki focusses on advancing the cause of Public Safety and ULs mission across the Developing World. The urgent need for enhanced measures to ensure Bangalore, India. Public Safety, in the backdrop of accelerating economic growth and globalized markets for products and services, is something that Venki is passionate about. To facilitate constructive dialogue between multiple stake holders in addressing Public Safety challenges, the establishment of Safety Councils in India as a platform was spearheaded by Venki, the first such one for UL, outside of North America. In his earlier role with UL as the Vice President & Managing Director for Emerging Markets, Venki led the growth of UL in the region covering South East Asia, India, Middle East and Africa over a ten year period. Leading with the "Public Safety Mission" and executing with local relevance with the strategy "UL In India For India" have been at the core of Venkis efforts. During his tenure, he led UL in making significant investments in the region, expanding ULs geographic footprint as well as technical, laboratory and service range as well as capabilities. Prior to joining UL, Venki held senior General Management / Commercial responsibilities at CEO level with leading MNC / Indian companies covering Consumer, Capital Goods and Telecom sectors. Venki is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, holding a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Industrial Management. The Executive Leadership Program at SOM, Yale has been one of his more recent on-going education exposures. Shri Venki has been a speaker at several forums in India and abroad, covering issues pertaining to Public Safety, Government Policy, Industry-specific Product Regulatory aspects as well as General Management.

Prof Michael H. Bergin Professor --- address: USA Duke University

Prof Bergin is currently Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Faculty Network Member of The Energy Initiative. His general research focus is on the influence of air pollution on both climate and human health. Prof Bergin's specific interest is particulate matter (PM) in which he has done a wide range of studies on the emission, formation, deposition and impacts of PM. He is particularly interested in how PM impacts climate by modifying the radiation balance of the atmosphere and has done studies in both pristine regions of the world (Greenland and the Himalaya), as well as hazy regions (the Southeastern US, China, and India). More recently he has been studying the influence of PM on human health with emphasis on determining the relative contributions of sources (such as biomass burning and vehicular emissions) to acute health impacts. He was also involved in developing and deploying the next generation of air quality sensors to inform citizens on the quality of the air they are breathing so that they can make informed decisions to improve their air. Prof Bergin vision involves combining a multidisciplinary, multicultural approach to research and education that brings together researchers from around the world to collectively work together to make the air cleaner. He has won several awards for teaching and research including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest award bestowed upon an engineer/scientist at the onset of their careers.

Shri Harsh Bhargava President Bankworld Incorporated USA

Shri Bhargava is currently the President of Bankworld Inc, a prominent Washington DC based Management Consulting company with experience in over 75 countries including projects on competitiveness strengthening in the emerging markets, entrepreneurship and youth, and access to finance to micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Prior to that as the Vice President (International Division) of a US Corporation, he set up businesses in over 60 countries and was awarded US President's E Award for excellence in international business. Shri Bhargava is also the Founder and the President of I Create Inc, a nonprofit corporation with 20 centers in India and one in Kenya. I Create has provided its highly acclaimed and practical grassroots entrepreneurship programs for the rural and urban women and unemployed youth, numbering over 50,000. Shri Bhargava has personally taught courses in starting, expanding and managing businesses at the Iacocca Institute, Lehigh University and the Wharton School in the US, and has been invited to speak at global conferences and events and institutions including IIT. He has been written up and interviewed in a number of TV shows and newspapers including the New York Times. He has written extensively on entrepreneurship as a career option for youth, and created training manuals and books on financial literacy and entrepreneurship training. He is originally from India and worked as a Tata Administrative Service officer with Tata Motors before coming to the USA. Shri Bhargava is an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Shri B V Jagadeesh Managing Partner KAAJ Ventures USA

Shri B V Jagadeesh is Managing Partner at KAAJ Ventures. He has successfully invested and guided companies such as Nutanix (IPO), Yodlee (IPO), Arkin (acqd: VMWare), Elastic Box (acqd: Century Link), NetMagic Solutions (acqd: NTT), Ocarina Networks (acqd: Dell) and Ankeena (acqd: Juniper) to name a few. Before founding KAAJ, Shri Jagadeesh served as a founding investor and CEO of NetScaler. NetScaler pioneered the concept of Application Delivery and was successfully sold to Citrix for $325M and served as Group VP and GM for Citrix's Application Networking division. Prior to Netscaler, he co-founded and served as CTO of Exodus communications in 1993 that pioneered the concept of Internet data centers. He was instrumental in the successful IPO of Exodus in 1998. Currently Shri Jagadeesh is an active investor and serves on the board of several Silicon Valley Startups. He is also an adjunct faculty at the Leavey School of Business, SCU. Shri Jagadeesh is also very actively involved with several non profits for the betterment of the world such as UVCE Foundation - providing scholarships to deserving students, One School At A Time - Constructs School buildings for the under privileged, Akshaya Patra - providing mid day meals to 1.6 Million children everyday.

Dr Arvind Jain Managing Partner AXJ Resources LLC USA

Dr Arvind Jain is an internationally recognized authority in the aluminum industry with over 30 years of experience in the business. In 2013 he founded AXJ Resources LLC, a metals and mining consulting company focused on aluminum. Before this he had served as the Vice-President Strategy & Investments at Rio Tinto Alcan, Montreal, Canada. His prior positions include Vice-President at Kaiser Aluminum, Oakland, California and the head of Energy Modeling at SRI International, Menlo Park, California. Dr Jain holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Operations Research from Case Western Reserve University and a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur where he was also awarded the B.C. Roy Gold Medal for the best undergraduate student of the year. He has been at the forefront of the IIT alumni movement in the USA for over 30 years, serves on the Board of PanIIT and is a past President of the IIT Kharagpur Foundation. Dr Jain was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by IIT Kharagpur in 2011 for his exceptional contributions.

Shri Vivek Pattanayak Former IAS Officer Govt. of Orissa Orissa

Shri Pattanayak joined Indian Administrative Service in 1966 after having taught Political Science in the University. He held positions like Sub-Collector, Additional District Magistrate, Project Director of Marginal Farmers' Agricultural Labourers' Development Agency, Managing Director, Sugar Industry, District Magistrate, Director, Tourism, Culture and Information, Managing Director, Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha, Secretary to the Government of Odisha in the Departments of Tourism, Culture, and Information, Joint Secretary, Civil Aviation, Permanent Representative of India to the International Civil Aviation Organization and Secretary to the State Government in the Department of Energy. He took voluntary retirement from IAS to join International Civil Service and posted as Director of ICAO, a specialized agency of the United Nations. After completion of his tenure in UN system, he held the post of the Chairman, State Public Service Commission. Since then he have held posts of Chairman of Electricity Company and Chairman of Regional Stock Exchange and Chairman of Management Association affiliated to AIMA, and associated with the engineering and management institutes. Shri Pattanayak have headed task force constituted by the government on power sector and interface between non-government organizations and government. He is a member of a Montreal based think-tank on international civil aviation. Shri Pattanayak have been on the Board of public sector and private sector companies. He have negotiated international agreements, bilateral agreements and also been associated with international business. Now he gives lectures in educational institutions and write in newspapers. He has written four books two on human resource management.

Shri Hasmukh P Rama Chairman and CEO JHM Hotels, Inc. Greenville, SC. USA.

Shri Rama holds a Master of Business Administration degree from St. Xavier University, USA and was awarded the degree of Hospitality Management, Honorary Doctorate Degree by the Johnson & Wales University USA. H.P. Rama has been in the lodging industry for almost four decades, beginning with a 40 Room independent property in Pomona, California. Today, JHM owns and operates 42 hotels in USA and India under Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, Sheraton and Taj. Mr. Rama has been the Founding Chairman of Asian American Hotel Owners Association - with a membership of 12,000 hotel owners in USA. Many honors have been awarded to H.P. such as the Oberoi Award for Excellence, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Hospitality Leader of the Year, Industry Person of the Year, U.S. Small Business Administration Entrepreneurial Success Award, Arthur Landstreet Award - for promoting education in Hospitality and the Above & Beyond Humanitarian Award by Lodging Conference USA. Mr. Rama has served as a Board of Advisor to many hospitality schools including Johnson & Wales University - New York University, University of Houston, University of South Carolina and California Polytechnic University. Also, Executive Professor in Residence Cornell University Hotel School and Visiting Professor at Penn State University and Michigan State University. He is currently serving as a Founder and President of Auro University of Hospitality and Management in Surat, India.

Prof. Akshai Runchal President Analytic & Computational Research Inc California, USA

Prof. Akshai Runchal initiated the CFD Virtual Reality Institute (CFDVRi), Dharamsala, a registered non-profit institute in Himachal Pradesh. He also established ACRi group of companies that have provided advanced technology CFD Simulation and Modeling services to a number of international clients in the US, Europe and India since 1979. Prof. Runchal started his professional career as a faculty member at IIT Kanpur 1969. He has taught at a number of leading institutes including IIT Kanpur, Imperial College, London, Cal Tech, Pasadena and University of California, Los Angeles. Prof. Runchal obtained his Ph.D from Imperial College in 1969. He was a key member of a small group of 3 persons led by Prof. D. Brain Spalding that invented the Finite Volume Method (FVM) of CFD in mid- 1960's.

Shri Kushal Chand Sacheti CEO Galaxy USA Inc and Key Items Inc New York

Shri Kushal Sacheti, is the CEO of Galaxy, a diamond business company in New York. He is a philanthropist with a passion for education. He obtained his M. Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He has set up a Centre for Desert Development Technologies at BITS Pilani, from where he obtained his B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering. He is a donor for many other educational and humanitarian causes.

Lt Gen Subrata Saha Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Planning & System) Indian Army

Lt Gen Subrata Saha is the Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Planning & Systems). He is responsible for long term perspective planning, capability development and modernisation of the Indian Army. His operational experience includes GOC15 Corps, leading all military operations in Kashmir, GOC Infantry Division in Strike Corps, Brigade Commander on the Line of Control in Kashmir, Counter Insurgency in Assam and Punjab and Siachen Glacier. He led disaster management operations as a Battalion Commander during the Super Cyclone in 1999 and more recently as Corps Commander during floods in Kashmir in 2014. He has the unique distinction of having attended the Staff College, Camberley (United Kingdom) and the United States Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was adjudged as the Best Overseas Student at the Staff College Camberley and Gold Medalist at the Higher Command Course in the Indian Army War College. He has represented the country in the De fence Management Seminar in Canberra, Australia in Sep 2005, Senior Officers Workshop on International Rules Governing Military Operations ICRC, Geneva in Nov 2008 and Senior Executive Seminar on Counter Terrorism at the George Marshall Centre in Garmisch Germany in Sep 2015 and Chiefs of Army Roundtable Talks in Malaysia in Apr 2016. A recipient of the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Yudh Seva Medal, Vishist Seva Medal twice, COAS Commendation twice and GOC-in-C Western Command Commendation Card. He holds Masters Degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from University of Madras and Strategic Studies from US Army War College, M Phil in Defence Management from Devi Ahilya University Indore and Diploma in Management from IGNOU.

Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor IIT Kanpur IIT Kanpur

Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi is currently Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and the Dean of Academic Affairs at IIT Kanpur. From 2008 - 2010, he served as the Director, LNM Institute of Information Technology (LNMIIT), a public-private partnership University in Jaipur. His administrative experience includes running the Institute Computer Center, managing Graduate Admissions, cultural advisor to students, Student Counselling, managing UG education at IIT Kanpur (as Chairman of Senate Under Graduate Committee), design of CS curriculum, and Chairman of Health Center Users Committee. He has visited about 70 colleges in India to discuss issues related to career planning, future of IT industry, curriculum and various technical/research talks. Professor Sanghi has a B. Tech from IIT Kanpur, and M. S. and Ph. D. from University of Maryland.

Shri Hari Sankaran Vice Chairman and Managing Director Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) Mumbai

Shri Sankaran is Masters in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. With his vast experience in Project development and financing, Shri Sankaran has spearheaded the commercialisation of infrastructure projects in India. As Vice Chairman and Managing Director of IL&FS Ltd. Shri Sankaran is over all in-charge of IL&FS Group activities and has been largely responsible for the Group's focus on infrastructure, having led its initiatives in all infrastructure verticals of the Group. He is instrumental for significant expansion of IL&FS Group activities and profitability.

Shri Piyush Shah Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics Pvt. Ltd.. Ahmedabad

Shri Piyush B Shah is the Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics Pvt. Ltd. Shri Shah is Bachelor of Technology (Electrical) from IIT- Mumbai (1975 Batch). Since 1983, he is the Promoter & Managing Director of Hi-Rel Electronics Pvt. Ltd (Now known as Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics Pvt Ltd), Hitachi Hi-Rel is a leading manufacturer of Power Electronic Products such as Variable Frequency Drives, Industrial Automation systems, UPS Systems, Solar Power Conditioning systems etc. having manufacturing units at Gandhinagar and Sanand with sales and marketing office and service centres all over the country. Shri Shah was the Chairman of Gujarat State Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2012. Shri Shah has been a Member of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - IT Gujarat Task force, Gujarat Council and Regional Council Committee Western Region of CII. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and an Expert member in the Post Graduate Board at Nirma Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad. Shri Shah was an Executive Council Member of Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA) in the year 2011-12. An avid Golfer and a Bridge player, a voracious reader, he enjoys travelling to discover new locales and places.

Ms Amita Sharma Former Additional Secretary Technical Education, MHRD India

Ms Amita Sharma served in the Indian Administrative Service (1981) and superannuated in 2014. Her core professional experience relates to social development policies and programmes, particularly related to education, social protection, gender, inclusive growth and sustainable development. Her professional assignments included serving as mission director of Shiksha mission in MP, joint secretary, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Additional Secretary technical education, MHRD. She has received several awards for her work such as the Common Wealth Gold Award for best Global Innovation in Public Service (education) in 1998, the President of India's Award for female literacy, 2001, the Government of India's award for the best website for MGNREGA in 2010, the India Today award for "Woman in Public Affairs, 2010". Ms Sharma has also received the MP government's Raza award for her poetry. She is presently visiting faculty IIT Bombay and also working with IPE Global (a development consultancy organization) as a consultant.

Shri Arvind Singhal Chairman and Managing Director Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon

Shri Arvind Singhal is the Chairman & Managing Director of Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd which is a leading management consulting firm focusing on select (major) sectors that include textiles, retail & consumer goods, food & agriculture, healthcare, and education. He is a graduate of IIT-Roorkee (Bachelor of Engineering) which recognized him as a "Distinguished Alumnus" in 2012, and a post graduate of UCLA - USA (MBA). He is also an active writer with over 350 published articles in leading national and international publications, and a frequent speaker and lecturer at several prestigious national and international academic institutes and industry platforms. Shri Arvind sits on several Boards (including some not-for-profit). He is currently on the statutory Boards of Welspun India, Greaves Cotton Limited, Metro Shoes, Mahindra Retail, and Premium Transmission Limited. In addition, he is also serving on the Board of Governors of Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) - Delhi. He is also currently serving on Asia Advisory Council of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and on the Advisory Council of IIT-Roorkee. In the past, he has served on the Advisory Board of LG Electronics (India), and on the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee.

Prof Mahesh Tandon Managing Director Tandon Consultants Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi

Prof Tandon is an international expert in the field of Structural Engineering. Many of the structures designed by Prof Tandon have been widely acclaimed and have received recognition in India as well as internationally. He is President, Indian Association of Structural Engineers (2015-16) and President, Indian Society of Wind Engineering (2015-16).Under the AICTE-INAE program he was appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor at IITs @ Kanpur, Roorkee & Gandhinagar (2005-2015). He is a Fellow of INAE, the past Chairman of the National Information Center for Earthquake Engineering at IIT Kanpur and the past President of Indian Concrete Institute. Some of his major projects include the Viaducts, Bridges, Stations Underground Constructions and Depots of the Metros at Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Noida, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Lucknow and Gurgaon. Other transportation structures include the Bangalore-Electronic City Elevated Expressway, several Flyovers and Interchanges in the cities of Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Guwahati at important road crossings, and the structures of Kuala Lumpur Light Rail, Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and Delhi-Badarpur Expressway. Monumental Building projects include the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi, the Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex at Anandpur Sahib, Punjab and the Precast Factory for Samtel at Ghaziabad. Prof Tandon has made significant contributions in the development of a culture for innovation in structural engineering both within and outside his organization by sharing his expertise and experience. His special areas of interest also include motivating the next generation to adopt Civil Engineering as their profession and vocation in life.

Shri Ashok Thakur Former Secretary Higher Education, MHRD India

Shri Thakur has a Post-Graduate Degree in History from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Later was awarded Diploma in International Economic Relations from International Institute of Public Administration, Paris, in the year 1984-85. He has also been an alumni of Kennedy School of Government and also IDS Sussex University, where he did programmes on Infrastructure Development in Market Economy and Poverty Reduction, respectively. Since he retired in October 2014 he has been an Honorary Professor in Public Administration at Punjab University. He is also a member of the Circle of Friends of Cambridge University UK. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1977 and since then has held several posts including Principal Secretary, Tourism ,Culture, Youth Services and Sports, Industries, Forests , Home etc in the State Government of Himachal Pradesh. At the Centre, he worked in the Ministry of Rural Development in the rank of Joint Secretary. He also served in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, as a faculty member. In May 2008, he joined the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, as Additional Secretary Technical Education and later took over as Secretary [Higher Education] in May 2012. During this period of more than 6 years, Shri Ashok Thakur took a number of steps to improve the quality of higher education in the country by initiating reform measures through UGC, AICTE and DEC. These are the principle regulators in the country affecting the lives of more than 30 million students enrolled in more than 700 universities and 300 engineering colleges ,most of which are in the private sector. An unprecedented number of top - class institutions of higher learning were set up under him .Till 2008 there were only 7 IITs which increased to 16. Similarly the number of IIMs increased from 6 to 13 and NITs from 20 to 30; Central Universities from 24 to 40, SPAs from 1 to 3, IISERs and IIITs in PPP mode from nil to 5 and 12 respectively. Indeed very few individuals would have the experience of establishing so many new premier institution in the country or even elsewhere. The budget for higher education also increased 9 times during his tenure. The overall Gross Enrolment Ratio of the country also increased from 12% to 20% during this period thereby making the target of achieving 30% by 2020 well within the country's reach. Similarly in the area of Skill Development , which is the single most important issue facing the youth and future of the country, he had an important role to play in the formulation of the National Skill Qualification Framework which mainstreams skills into the higher education system for the first time in the country. But more than the increase in GER or the expansion in the top class institutions, his main passion has been to improve the general quality of higher education in the country. In this his main thrust has been to provide more autonomy to the universities, working with the State Governments, reforming private universities, making accreditation an important tool in improving quality, laying more emphasis on industry - academia collaborations and advocating an open door policy for the best education providers in the world to participate and enrich the experience.

Shri A. M. Tiwari Managing Director Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited, Vadodara Vadodara

Shri. A. M. Tiwari, IAS, has had diverse set of responsibilities in the Government of Gujarat. These include Principal Secretary (Education), Secretary (Social Justice & Empowerment), and as Secretary (Tribal Development). He is currently the Managing Director of Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited since August 29, 2014. Shri. Tiwari served as the Managing Director at Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited during July 14, 2011 to May 2, 2013. He holds B.Sc in Chemistry, Zoology and Botany at Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University and also holds M.Sc in Zoology from same University. He holds MBA from the Univerza v Ljubljani.

Prof. Satish K. Tripathi President State University of New York Buffalo, USA

Prof. Satish K. Tripathi serves as President of the University at Buffalo. An internationally recognized computer scientist, Prof. Tripathi joined UB as Provost - the university's chief academic officer - on July 1, 2004, after serving as Dean of the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside. He was one of the creators of the UB 2020 strategic plan to achieve academic and research excellence. Prior to joining UC Riverside in 1997, he was a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, where his 19 years as a faculty member included being chair from 1988 -1995. He was a visiting professor at the University of Paris-Sud in France and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany while at the University of Maryland. He has published more than 200 papers and supervised more than 30 Doctoral and Postdoctoral student. He is a fellow of the IEEE and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Buffalo Urban League. Prof. Tripathi is the first international-born president in UB's history, a fitting distinction for one of the most international universities in the U.S. In addition to a doctorate in computer science earned from the University of Toronto in 1979, he holds three master's degrees, one in computer science from the University of Toronto (1976) and two in statistics from the University of Alberta (1974) and Banaras Hindu University (1970). He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree from IIIT Allahabad.