John Hoffmire: One of the things that always impresses me when I sit down with a CRISP scholar is the interdisciplinary learning that each of you have engaged in. You are no exception. You’ve gone from a Bachelor of Engineering, to printing technology and graphic communication, technology management, Indology and Buddhist studies. Then on to consulting
John Hoffmire: Kamesh, you are a man who wears lots of hats. Tell me about your many responsibilities at Tata.
Kamesh: As a Senior Vice President, Strategic Collaborations and Programs in the Group Technology and Innovation Office of Tata Sons, my job is to create and deliver strategic collaborations and new technology programs for global impact.
John Hoffmire: I hope you don’t mind my starting out on a somewhat personal note by saying I remember you as one of the nicest people I have ever met. I’ve often wondered how you balance your kindness and positive attitude against the sometimes hard edge that is expected in the business management world.
Mohita: In
John Hoffmire: When I met you in Oxford two years ago, if I remember right, you were working on providing safer drinking water throughout India. Is that still one of your priorities?
Suphiya: You remember right. In India, as in many other parts of the world, water scarcity is considered a major crisis in the 21st
More youth from the Northern Province are turning to innovative startups under the initiative of Yarl IT Hub (YIT), originally set up in 2013.
They are made competitive via the Yarl Geek Challenge Accelerator which runs for six months for a selected cohort of early-stage startups twice a year.
During these six months, the startups will be
John Hoffmire: I just finished watching the documentary ‘Our Planet’ with David Attenborough. It has deepened my respect for anyone who has devoted their work to preserving our planet’s natural resources and making this world more equitable. That certainly includes you. Please tell me how you became a sustainability science expert and a trans-disciplinary research
John Hoffmire: You’ve had an interesting journey from electrical engineer to being the energy sector lead for Villgro Innovations Foundation, India’s oldest and one of the world’s largest social enterprise incubators. Please tell me about that journey?
Ananth: I started out as an electronics engineer by training. I spent 14 years in the IT/Tech sector at
John Hoffmire: I love your Twitter tag: “A scientist who makes serious research fun.” Tell me about your recent research and what is fun about it?
Beena: First, to me what makes research fun is that one gets to follow one’s curiosity. As a scientist, I’ll take on a challenge and then use my curiosity and
John Hoffmire: Let me ask you a fun question first. You have a PhD in Palaeobotany. How did you end up in the innovation, incubation and start-up management field?
Manisha: It has been a long and interesting journey. The short answer is that early on in my career, I moved a lot to various parts of
John Hoffmire: Please tell me about the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (CIED) at Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH).
Abha Rishi: John, the central mission of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (CIED) is to prepare men and women to lead, innovate, and think entrepreneurially in business, as well as in public and
John Hoffmire: MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA) named you among the Top 35 Innovators under 35 years of age in the world on the TR35 2012 list. Please tell us more about that?
Vipin: As an ophthalmologist, I was keenly aware of how difficult it was for a doctor to access past information about
John Hoffmire: As a professor of Information Management, how would you define your field?
Anjali: Information management is an emerging field that is concerned with the infrastructure used to collect, manage, preserve, protect, store and deliver information. The guiding principle of this infrastructure allows information to be available to the right people at the right time and protects that information from getting
John Hoffmire: When I met you in Oxford last year, I recognized that you where someone who followed their passion and worked in two very separate fields. Tell me more about that.
Sashane: I do straddle two different industries. In my day job I work on innovation in the fashion industry as part of a team that seeks
John Hoffmire: Tell me about the company you co-founded.
Daisy: I started my career with the Gauhati Stock Exchange after completing my Bachelor’s degree in Statistics and an MBA. After a short stint I started my entrepreneurial journey when I cofounded Integrated Digital Systems along with my husband in 1992. Our company has been at the
A staple event of the Sri Lankan tech calendar, Season 9 Finale of the Yarl Geek Challenge (YGC) has come to an end. A competition organized annually by the Yarl IT Hub, the YGC is known to attract the best in entrepreneurship and technology from the Northern part of the country. Over the years, many
John Hoffmire: Tell me about the product you developed.
Mrinmayee: It all started because of the reluctance shown by a relative of mine to face the public after hair grew abnormally on her face during menopause. That prompted me to find a remedy for the problem. As a medical pharmacologist, I was trained to help solve
John Hoffmire: Tell me about your company, NoPo Nanotechnologies.
Gadhadar: I founded NoPo Nanotechnologies in 2011 along with Dr. Robert Kelley Bradley. Our objective was to produce high quality carbon nanotubes and thereby enable applications that would transform life. In particular, we are developing technologies for the space industry that will also help solve some of
John Hoffmire: Tell me about Creativiti Council, the organization you founded.
James: We are a non-profit organization addressing the needs of two marginalized sections of the society. Our first mission is to address elderly/bedridden/palliative care. With gradual deterioration of abilities, the aged population faces extreme difficulties to meet their daily needs. It has been noted that
John Hoffmire: What is the Venture Center?
Mugdha: Venture Center is India’s award-winning, leading technology business incubator for science and technology startups. We offer entrepreneurs and startups the widest suite of incubation programs, services, resources, and facilities. With over 75 resident startups at any given time,
John Hoffmire: Tell me about your company, RCupe Lifesciences Pvt. Ltd.
Jayant: RCupe Lifesciences is a biomedical device start-up focused on developing, manufacturing, and commercializing innovative solutions for unmet clinical needs in emerging and other markets. Currently we are focused on a much needed ‘Ozyn-D™’, an indigenously developed, novel intraosseous (IO) device for pre-hospital and in-hospital
