This journey has been a long time coming! I am honored and proud to share that I have been accepted to Kellogg School of Management with the Dean’s Leadership Award. This is more than a dream come true, and I am really looking forward to becoming part of this community to maximize my impact on the world. When I was a child, I wanted to be a pilot, an ISRO scientist; as I grew older, I wanted to be the Chief Minister of my state and the Prime Minister of my country; as I grew even older, I
In the last year or two, I have been to many coffee chats and given a number of interviews. As a part of these short conversations and interviews, I’ve had to communicate succinctly about my career journey, what I’ve been able to accomplish , and where I see myself going in the future. I’ve done this so often that the story I narrate, the accomplishments I share, and the aspirations I portray have become second nature. Particularly , the accomplishments that I shared , the highlights that demonstrate the best of the impact I’ve had in my career,
Most of the posts I see on LinkedIn are about how people are always thrilled and excited, but we often don’t get to hear all the efforts and emotions that preceded the thrill and excitement. To shed some light on the process as a whole, I wanted to share some of my recent experiences. I have been avoiding putting words to my thoughts, much less sharing with the world, on this for quite some time now. But today, I am changing that. But before I move forward, I want to preface this whole post by saying that the details
I’m excited to share that I have successfully passed the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam this past weekend! This marks another milestone in my recent professional development journey that I started about three months ago. I found the PMP certification by happenstance. I didn’t know it then, but I had already been doing much work that was aligned with project and program management. Studying for the PMP exam gave me several frameworks and tools that were incredibly helpful in managing and delivering successful projects, a foundation on conflict management and negotiations, and many successful case studies on the importance of
I recently got admitted to a highly selective, 12-week-long Climate fellowship program with a focus on business and operations covering topics ranging from energy to circular economy and manufacturing to nature-based solutions to engineered carbon removal. Having completed my first week of the Climatebase fellowship, I wanted to share my thoughts here. The fellowship kicked off with an excellent keynote address by Jonathan Foley from Project Drawdown. In his address, Dr. Foley discussed the current trajectory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and where we have to get to them by 2050. Here are a few things that I took away: 1. Emissions
I recently read Indra Nooyi’s, ex-CEO of PepsiCo, book . In the book, she detailed her early childhood in Madras, now Chennai - the capital of Tamil Nadu, the state where I grew up, India, her graduate school experience both in India and in the US, her work experiences both in India and in the US, her incredible mentors at her workplaces and her views on the workplace needs and culture. Each topic mentioned above warrants deep reflection, but something that I keep coming back to is ‘how critical thinking and expert guidance in early childhood can set one
Anytime my mom tells me about one of her ailments, and I ask her to go to the doctor, she usually tells me “அந்த காலத்துல நம்ம முன்னோர்கள் எல்லாம் டாக்டர்கிட்ட போகாம, மருந்து சாப்பிடம்தான் அவ்வளவு நாள் வாழ்தங்க.” It roughly translates to ‘Our ancestors managed to live long lives without needing to go to the doctor or take medicine.’ Trying to reason my mom’s line of reasoning about this particular conversation and other past conversations, I noticed some parallels: most times, we don’t stop to ask, ‘Why do we do things the way we do them.’ I engaged my mom further
Spring is my favorite season. For the bloom that the season brings. Season of newness after a season of hardship and conservation. New colors everywhere the eyes could see. Some Pink. Some White. Lots of green. It took me to a place. To a place, I have never been before. Here’s Theodore. Thanks for following along the trail, fellow traveler.
Giving back to the community is something that my parents instilled in me early in my childhood. And with my life experience, I believe that empowering the youth is the best way I can give back to society. Elementary and middle school outreach has always been something I devoted a substantial amount of time to in some way, shape, or form. Last weekend’s volunteering event was supposed to be one such outreach effort. But what ensued, beyond having a tremendous effect on the immediate community, also profoundly impacted me. When I arrived at the park, I
What is innovation to you? The word Innovation might seem intimidating to some; the word intimidated me for sure. Ever since I can remember, I began associating the term innovation with products such as Google and ASIMO. As someone who is easily impressionable, these associations stayed with me, and they began to define what innovation meant for me. At first, my associations may not seem to account for too much, but I am an engineer, and it is my job to develop new ways to solve problems or find new ways to implement existing solutions. Sometimes the customers