The ET Innovation Awards is set up by The Economic Times with the motto to rev up the innovation drive in the country to spur economic growth.
ThinkStock PhotosThe jury members will pick India's best innovations across 13 categories.
India will need to rev its innovation engine in order to spur economic growth and move faster to the goal of becoming a $5-trillion economy. It is with this in mind that The Economic Times set up the ET Innovation Awards. Meet the members of the jury who will pick India’s best innovations across 13 categories. Watch this space for more updates on the ET Innovation Awards.
S Ramadorai, Jury Chairman
He was the vice-chairman of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and transformed TCS to one of the world’s largest software and services company. Ramadorai, who had the ability to foresee technology waves, shepherded the IT industry through its first major slowdown when the internet bubble burst. He was also the adviser to the Prime Minister of India in the national council on skill development.
Dilip Shanghvi, MD, SUN Pharma
It is widely rumoured that Dilip Shanghvi borrowed Rs 10,000 from his father to start Sun Pharma in 1983 to make psychiatric drugs. Shanghvi grew Sun inorganically — rolling up several small and large drug manufacturers to create one of world’s largest pharma companies. According to Shanghvi, innovation has helped Sun Pharma to remain competitive in the cut-throat world of drugs and medicines.
Known as the ‘Father of the Scorpio’, Goenka’s focus on “frugal innovation” helped do away with unnecessary costs. The Mahindra Research Valley in Chennai as well as its Chakan manufacturing facility stand out as pillars of innovation in its automotive and farm journey. Goenka’s electric vehicle game plan is a journey which is seeing Mahindra take rapid strides with technology at its forefront. As chairman of Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Goenka has been working closely with the institute for a strong industryacademia partnership.
Kola is a well-known investor and trend-spotter. After being a successful serial entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley, she moved back to India to get involved in the start-up ecosystem. She typically leads Series A investments and has invested in 30 companies over the last decade such as Snapdeal, Myntra, Urban Ladder, Dream11 and Curefit.
Shah, through EdelGive, strategised a model whereby a combination of funding, fund-raising and capacity building support is facilitated for NGOs to assist them do better what they do best. Under her leadership, EdelGive in the first decade of its existence has been instrumental in building a tight network of non-profits, philanthropists, foundations, and corporations whose support has helped scale programmes, that benefit close to 4.5 lakh people in need.
Milind Atrey, Professor and Dean R&D, IIT Bombay
He is also the chair professor in the department of mechanical engineering at IIT Bombay. Before that, for over six years, he was the professor-in-charge of SINE (Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship) which is IIT Bombay’s Business Incubator. Atrey specialises in cryogenic engineering and has worked on various technologies related to space, defense, atomic energy and medical devices. He has more than 150 publications to his credit and he holds nine patents. Before joining IIT Bombay, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Germany for three years, has worked as scientist in the Dept of Atomic Energy for five years and as principal engineer in Oxford Instruments, UK.
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