The Art and Science of Creating More Effective Boards: Creating Value With Board Evaluations

Ashok Pamidi CEO (NASSCOM Foundation)

Bio

A purpose driven leader who works towards accomplishing organisation goals, by aligning, scaling and sustaining initiatives and programs that translate into accomplishing the final outcomes. At NASSCOM, over a period of 5 years he has scaled SME vertical to newer heights taking it global locations, strategized regional member outreach to become the strongest value add to the organization, and transformed non-performing assets into performing trends for IT BPM industry ecosystem, initiated disruptive initiatives to strengthen NASSCOM’s Skilling and reskilling goals.

With over 30 years of experience of working with IBM as a Geo Expansion Leader, and HP/Compaq/Digital as a transformation leader, he has the acumen of building and nurturing teams that hold up the vision of the organisations.

He is a member of the IT High power committee of GOVT of Kerala and in the board of ICT skills academy Karnataka and the NAIN (New age incubation network) board member of the Govt of Karnataka. He is also in the advisory board in numerous consulting firms in the areas of leadership and D&I.

Rishi Kapal (Conference Chair) CEO and Global Strategist (EDUGILD Global Edtech Accelerator)

Bio

Rishi is currently the Chief Executive Officer of EDUGILD, India’s first edtech startup accelerator and consulting Faculty with Leading Educational Institutes. His academic and entrepreneurial journey started in 2013, initially as a teacher of Sales, IMC and Entrepreneurship at leading management colleges. Presently, Rishi holds a portfolio of more than 20 edtech companies, invested in sweat equity as a business strategist and sales facilitator. Within 24 months of his association, couple of Rishi’s portfolio startups have reached a monthly revenue rate of 5–8 lakhs and have raised funds close to `10 crore in all.

From 1993 to 2013, over two decades, Rishi helmed strategic and operational roles in Sony, Qualcomm, Ericsson, BP/Castrol, Avaya, and HCL. Having received several awards and accolades for his professionalism and speed of execution, his last corporate assignment was as the VP and Interim MD of Sony Mobile Communications, owning a business deliverable of over USD200M.

As a senior coach with Right Management, Rishi conducts career transitions, experiences and performance management engagement sessions. His beneficiaries include super-senior and middle-management leadership teams of multinationals and students of educational institutes.

Rishi has been an invited speaker at the United Nations HQ in New York and has travelled and learned extensively from his global journeys. He speaks at various international forums and is also a published author. He has co-authored research papers with laureates of Oxford University and IIT Kharagpur. Academically, Rishi has dabbled in many fields. He is an Electronics Engineer and a Law Graduate. He also holds a master’s degree in marketing management from Pune University and is a post-graduate in management from IMI and on-boarded LEAD Certificate Program (one year) from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

ishi has handled strategic and leadership roles in sales, marketing, business development, people management and corporate strategy. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Electronics Engineering, Degree in Law(LLB) followed by two masters degrees each from IMI New Delhi and Pune University.

He is the Author of Kites in a Hurricane and acted as an advisor to more than 20 Edtech companies since 2015. He had revenue scaled up / facilitated fundraise for edtech companies such as: Simulanis, Ahhaa, Classboat, YoScholar/Edyoo, Abroad Shiksha, Jungroo, Sparup , MemoryTrix, KHEDAPT, to name a few.

Dr. Pankaj Mittal Additional Secretary (UGC)

Bio

Dr(Mrs) Pankaj Mittal, Additional Secretary, UGC is a Fulbright Scholar and has been a topper in MSc and PhD in Agricultural Statistics from IARI, New Delhi. She has a wide-ranging experience of more than three decades in Higher Education in the fields of Policy Planning and Management of Higher Education including Promotion of Access, Equity, Relevance, Quality   and   Human Resource Management.

Dr Mittal was appointed by the Government of Haryana as the first regular Vice-Chancellor of Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, the first rural women university of North India, in 2008, at a young age of 44 years, to undertake an onerous task of building up a tiny Gurukul into an institution of repute. Dr Mittal introduced a series of innovative practices and reforms as the Vice Chancellor of the only rural, residential, multi-faculty, women state university of the country which imparts education to 7000 girls from KG till PhD level in a holistic manner.

Within a short span of about six years, spanning over two terms as the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Mittal transformed the Gurukul into a university which is now on the international map with collaborations with universities like University of Baltimore, USA, St Catherine University, USA, Nottingham Trent University, UK and University of Cambridge ESOL, UK and is frequented by many international experts, teachers and students. Her contributions in Institution Building coupled with the blending of traditional and modern education is an exemplary contribution towards the promotion of rural women folk in a unique manner. The Social Impact of the Kanya Gurukul and the BPS Women University on the surroundings is evident from the Census 2011 figures of Sex Ratio of Khanpur Village, which stands at 1378 females per 1000 males in the state like Haryana which is known for adverse sex ratio (879 for Haryana and 940 for India). Similarly, the Female Literacy for Khanpur village is 76%, 10% higher than the national and state average (65.46% in India and 65.94% in Haryana).

Dr Mittal has visited a number of countries like USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Spain, Germany, South Africa, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mauritius and Philippines to name a few, for academic purposes for presenting papers in international conferences and for academic exchanges on behalf of UGC and the university. Dr Mittal had led a delegation of 15 Vice Chancellors to UK for academic collaborations.

Dr Mittal is also the proud recipient of following Awards and Honours:

Fulbright Nehru Scholarship grant for Educational administrators

President of India Award in 2017 for Digital Initiatives in Higher education

Honorary Doctorate-D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) from Karnataka State Women’s University, Bijapur, Karnataka

First Padam Shri Subhashini Devi Award 2018 for contributions in Societal Development and Community Engagement from the Chief Minister of Haryana.

Qimpro  Gold Standard Award  for leadership in Education for the year  2018

Dr. Mittal has been a member of various High Powered Committees and Professional Bodies including Programme Advisory Board and HRM Network Steering Committee on Human Resource Management of Association of Common Wealth Universities, London, Pay Committee for teachers in the State of Haryana, Search Committee for selection of Vice Chancellor, CDLU, Sirsa, Haryana, Board of Governors, Kerala State Council for Higher Education, Visitor’s nominee on Board of Management of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow, Central Counseling Board, All India Engineering Entrance Examination, Rehabilitation Council of India, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Board of Governors, Vellalar College for Women, Coimbatore, Programme Advisory Committee of Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, Haryana State Council for Higher Education, Haryana Innovation Council, Steering Committee of Planning Commission for formulation of XII Plan for Higher Education, Sub-Committee of Planning Commission on Leadership and Institutional Governance and Member-Convenor of Sub Committee of Planning Commission on Community Engagement of Higher Education Institutions etc.

She has published a number of papers, articles, occasional papers and reports on issues relating to higher education and women empowerment in national and international journals.

Dr. Sonal Minocha Chief Partnerships Officer (Nexford University)

Bio

Dr. Sonal Minocha is currently the Chief Partnerships Officer at Nexford University. She had joined Bournemouth University in June 2014 as its lead for Global Engagement, which encompasses global recruitment, partnership, staff and student mobility and a global profile raising agenda for the university.Her appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Global Engagement brought with it a re-energised institutional approach towards comprehensive internationalisation and the creation of a long-term vision for a Global BU that is anchored to, and complementary to, the university’s wider strategic vision. Among the key areas of work Sonal has led at BU have been the fusing of employability with internationalisation through the pioneering Global Talent Programme to enhance student experience and employability, the innovative Hubs of Practice for a highly profiled presence in the Indian, Chinese and ASEAN markets and the successful Global Festival of Learning – a simultaneous celebration of learning across three continents. This early traction has been demonstrably recognised through the recent nomination for the Outstanding International Strategy category at the 2016 THELMA Awards.Sonal has more than ten years of senior management experience across the public and private sectors in global Higher Education, having begun her career as a business graduate before moving into an academic career which started at the UK’s University of Northumbria.Before joining BU, Sonal was Executive Dean at the University of Bedfordshire Business School. In this role, she led the largest faculty at the university (approximately £36 million) comprising a range of departments including the Law School. In this role, she incepted and implemented a practice-led vision for the faculty that resulted in a number of expressions of this vision. These included a refreshed new course portfolio, innovative ‘mini internships’ called practice weeks, a refreshed infrastructure with creative practice driven ‘wall art’, more than 30 new productive relationships with regional employers – thus reprofiling to establish a truly business-facing Business School.In her executive portfolio, Sonal led the design and development of an exciting new employability proposition for the university: Education + Experience = UOB Employability commitment leading to a number of awards for the framework and its projects including AGCAS awards for two consecutive years for the innovative ‘Hire Me’ scheme.Alongside strong academic credentials in the broad area of international commerce and business, Sonal holds a Fellowship of the RSA, Higher Education Academy and the Strategic Planning Society. Her main teaching and research interests lie in the areas of global higher education, graduate employability, management education and practice, strategic creativity and organisational learning. As well as management education, she has a special interest in film and related international creative industries and her work has been disseminated via a range of outlets including books, articles and refereed papers.Sonal’s practice expertise has led to the design, development and delivery of innovative programmes for a range of corporate and international clients throughout her career (including Harrods, Ridgeons, Basildon Hospital and Severstal).

Sonal’s key external appointments include External Examiner at Ulster University, UKCISA Board of Trustees, International Academic Advisory Council for QS Conferences and Governor at Poole Hospitals NHS Trust.

Sonal is a passionate advocate for innovative approaches to teaching and learning, internationalisation of the ‘home’ experience, close university-industry interaction for a brand of HE that is integrated with policy and practice – regionally, nationally and internationally.

Eric Zimmerman Director of Research Support Office & Global Engagement (The Interdisciplinary Centre (IDC), Israel)

Bio

Dr. Eric Zimmerman was born (1962) and raised in New York City, Eric studied for his undergraduate and graduate studies at Brooklyn College, majoring in Judaic Studies. Following a brief stint in Jewish community work, he moved to Israel with his wife in 1988. Initially living on a kibbutz and working as an irrigation manager in the orchards, Eric began his career in higher education management in 1993 when he joined Bar-Ilan University’s Research Authority. Today, Eric is Director of Research and Global Engagement at IDC Herzliya. Eric, and his wife Sharon, have five children and reside in a residential community in the Greater Tel Aviv area. Sharon, an economist by education (Barnard) is a partner in a consultancy firm specializing in managing multi-partner international research and development consortia.

Professional Statement

Working together with the President and Provost, Dr Zimmerman established and directed (for eight years) the Academic Affairs, International Engagement and Research Support Offices at the Interdisciplinary Centre (IDC), Herzliya. Recruited in 2006, Dr. Zimmerman now provides leadership and service to faculty, staff, and students, assisting in implementing policy and decisions of the IDC academic and governing committees relating to research and global engagement. His wide portfolio includes responsibility for all competitive research and program grants and the protection of the institutional intellectual property; developing global partnerships and managing all institutional internationalization agreements, including student exchange, summer and study abroad programs; managing the development of double degree MA-level programs; and the development of joint doctoral programs.

Dr. Zimmerman has been a member of several national and international committees, most recently a Higher Education Reform Expert (HERE) of the European Commission, and is a past leader of a task group within the largest European professional association of research administrators (EARMA), a founding board member of a European-based association on research information management (euroCRIS), the force behind the development of the Israel National Database of Academic Research and Development (INDARD), and party to other national and global initiatives. He regularly writes and lectures on internationalization, entrepreneurship education, research management, academic productivity and Israel and advises organizations on information management and work flow practices as they effect academics and administrators at institutions of higher education.

Eric coordinates the TeachEx project.

Prior to joining the leadership team of IDC Herzliya, Dr. Zimmerman served as the assistant director of the Bar-Ilan University (Israel) research support office, coordinating efforts to secure competitive grants in the STEM, social sciences and the humanities.

Prof. Madhu Vij Professor of Finance (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi)

Bio

Dr Madhu Vij is a Professor of Finance at the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi where she has been teaching for over three decades. Her professional and teaching interests include the areas of International Finance, Risk Management, Banking and Financial Services, Corporate Finance and Accounting. She has received the Alumni Excellence award from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi. Dr Vij has participated and attended the Global Colloquium on ‘Participant-Centered Learning’ at Harvard Business School, Boston, USA. Prof Vij was on the Panel of Judges for the award of PM’s trophy for selecting the best steel plant for 2 years (2011-2013) and has also been a member of Ad-Hoc Task Force, Results Framework Document (2011-2013). Dr Madhu Vij has been an Independent Director of MOIL Limited. Currently, she is an Independent Director for four private limited companies.

Prof Vij’s research interests include asset liability management, country risk analysis, derivatives, foreign exchange risk management, treasury management, corporate valuation, credit ratings and financial crisis, currency correlation and corporate governance. She has completed a number of projects sanctioned by National bodies like UGC, RBI, ICSSR, SAIL and Delhi University. She serves on the editorial board and is also a reviewer for several academic journals, national and international conferences.

Prof Vij had been the Director, Women’s Studies and Development Centre, University of Delhi for one year (June 2012 to July 2013). She is actively involved in working on Gender issues, has delivered special talks in this area and has also worked on a project on ‘Microfinance and Gender’.

She has published several research papers in International and national Journals of repute and has presented papers globally in the field of banking and finance. She has authored four books namely Multinational Financial Management, Management Accounting, Management of Financial Institutions and a book on Corporate Finance for NIIT for MBA participants for ITT, USA. She has also co-authored two books – one on ‘Merchant Banking and Financial Services’ and the second one on ‘Women’s Studies in India: A Journey of 25 Years.

Dr Vij is … actively involved in research, consultancy and training for several leading public and private organizations in the areas of Project Management, Strategic Financial Management, Case-based method of learning and teaching, Finance for Non-finance managers.

Prof. HP Singh Dean International Relations (University of Delhi )

Bio

Prof. HP Singh is currently the Dean, International Relations (S&T), University of Delhi and the Director of Cluster Innovation Centre, University of Delhi. He has a long and illustrious research carrier behind him. Prof. Singh has a particular expertise in stellar physics, automated data analysis and astronomy instrumentation.

Previous Positions

1984-1990 Lecturer, Dept. of Physics, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi
1990-1992 DAAD Fellow, University of Kiel, Germany
1992-1994 Research Associate, Queen Mary University of London
1994-1997 Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Physics, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi
1997-2003 Reader, Dept. of Physics, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi
2003-2005 Reader, Department of Physics & Astrophysics, University of Delhi
2005- Professor, Department of Physics & Astrophysics, University of Delhi

Affiliations

Dean, International Relations (S&T), University of Delhi
Director, Cluster Innovation Centre, University of Delhi
Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society, London since 1999
Member, International Astronomical Union, Paris since 1985
Member, Astronomical Society of India since 2005
Member, India-Japan Science Council, Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India since Feb. 2016
Chair, IIA-TAC (Indian Institute of Astrophysics -Time Allocation Committee) 2018-2021
Visiting Associate, IUCAA, Pune since 1995

Former Affiliations

Director, Centre for Science Education & Communication, University of Delhi (2010-2012)
Proctor, University of Delhi (2010-2012)
Dean (Examinations) University of Delhi (2012)
Member, Governing Council, IUCAA (2012-14)
Vice President, Astronomical Society of India (2013-16)
Member, Editorial Board, Bulletin of Astronomical Society of India (2010-2016)
Member, Planning & Programming Committee, National Science Centre, New Delhi (2012-14)
Visiting Faculty, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology 1995, 1997, 2001, 2015
Visiting Faculty, Queen Mary University of London, 1999, 2000
Visiting Faculty, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA 2000, 2002; Aspen Center for Physics, 2015
Visiting Faculty, State University of New York at Oswego 2014, 2015, 2016
JSPS Visiting Fellow, Kinki University, Osaka, Japan, 2005 ; Tokyo University 2015, 2016, 2017
Visiting Professor, University of Stuttgart and MPI for Astrophysics Heidelberg, Germany 2007, Uni.-Marburg 2015, 2017
Invited Professor, Lyon Observatory, Claude Bernard University, France 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2018
Visiting Professor, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea 2009-10
Guest Observer, Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, 2000-2003
Guest Observer, Loiano Observatory, Italy 2000
Guest Observer, INAOE observatory, Hermisillo, Mexico, 2000
Guest Observer, Mt. Wilson Observatory (Caltech), Califiornia, USA 2000
Councilor, Astronomical Society of India, 2007-2009
Member, Users Committee, IUCAA, Pune, 2007-2009

Dr. Raj Singh Vice Chancellor (Ansal University)

Bio

Dr. Raj Singh is the Vice Chancellor of Ansal University and Hony. Vice Chairman of Education India Foundation at New Delhi. Till recently, he was Vice Chancellor of Rayat-Bahra University (RBU) Mohali. Prior to RBU, he was the first Vice Chancellor of the G D Goenka University, Gurgaon, first Vice-Chancellor of Ansal University, Gurgaon and first Vice Chancellor of Amity University Madhya Pradesh at Gwalior.

He has been the Vice Chancellor at Amity University, Jaipur and Pro-Vice Chancellor at Amity University Uttar Pradesh, NOIDA. He was also the Director General of Amity Business School, NOIDA, Director of ICFAI Business School (IBS) New Delhi from inception in 1995. He joined Indian Air Force in 1981 at the age of 16 ½ and served there for about 14 years prior to entering the field of education in 1994.

A Postgraduate in Economics and Doctorate in Strategic Cost Management, he was topper of the coveted Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) and has had an exemplary career spanning 36 years. A strong proponent of Flexible, Inter-disciplinary and Trans-disciplinary learning, he has a unique leadership style that has significantly contributed towards the establishment and growth of some of the finest Universities in the country.

A rare blend of academics and administration, he is highly regarded for his oratory skills. Dr. Singh is known for designing innovative programs in collaboration with foreign Universities from the US, UK, Australia, Italy and France and industry.

An avid researcher, acclaimed teacher, astute administrator and Institution builder, he has been a trainer and consultant in areas of Corporate Governance and Change Management. His clients include both Indian and Multinational companies like TATA, Air India, Telecom Consultants of India Ltd., Denso India, ANZ Grindlays, NTPC, GAIL, SAIL and others. He has trained over 4000 teachers in school as well as higher education.

Dr. Singh has published and presented many research papers and delivered keynote addresses in over 80 national and international conferences and has been a panelist in many TV shows, featured as one of the movers and shakers on the Daily World Post and “My Icon” on FM channel in 2016 and 2017. He represented India at the International Design Summit held in Milan, Italy in 2013 and is a TEDx speaker.

Widely travelled, he has been a visiting Professor at IIT-Delhi and Delhi School of Economics. He has been on advisory boards of many Institutions and University Departments, Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) and was the Vice Chairman of Quality Committee on Education of QCI, Govt. of India. He regularly chairs the expert committees of National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and was member of the first Governing Council of the Rajasthan Science Congress. He has been conferred Awards for exemplary Education Leadership in 2012, 2016 and 2017.

Prof. A.K. Bakhshi Vice-Chancellor (PDM University)

Bio

Prof. A.K.Bakhshi is the Founder Vice-Chancellor of PDM University. He was Executive Director of Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), Mauritius (a post equivalent to that of Chairman, UGC in India) during October 2013 – February 2015. He was selected for this prestigious position through an international selection in 2013. Prior to joining TEC, he has been Vice-Chancellor of U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU), Allahabad for more than two years (2011–13). Prof. Bakhshi held the prestigious Sir Shankar Lal Chair of Chemistry in the University of Delhi for more than two decades and was also Head, Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi during May 2010– August 2011.

Prof Bakhshi is also Chairman of Centre for e-Learning as well as Chairman of Guru Angad Dev Teaching – Learning Centre (a Centre of the MHRD Govt. of India) both located at SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi. These centres are based on two national projects in the field of e-Learning worth more than Rs. 10 crores. Prof. Bakhshi is also the Chairman of the National Resource Centre of Chemistry of the MHRD. He was also Chairman of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) project in Chemistry of the CSIR. Prof. Bakhshi has also been a Member of the Standing Committee of the National Mission on Education through ICT (NMEICT). He was also the Chairman of the Content Advisory Committee for Chemistry for SAKSHAT portal of the MHRD, Govt. of India which was launched on 30^th October 2006 by the then President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

A double gold medalist of Delhi University, Dr. Bakhshi did his post-doctoral training at the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany with Prof. J. Ladik and at the Kyoto University and the Institute of Fundamental Chemistry, Kyoto, Japan with Professor K. Fukui, the Nobel Laureate and Prof. T.Yamabe. He has also been a Visiting Scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangaluru.

Prof. Bakhshi’s research interests include theoretical polymer chemistry with special reference to electrically conducting polymers and biopolymers. He is the author/coauthor of about 170 research and education articles etc., and one patent. He has to his credit eleven books as author/co-author and many as editor/chairman/ convener of the working group. Many students have obtained their Ph.D / M.Phil under his guidance. His other interests include innovation in science education, ICT in higher education, e-Learning and MOOCs.

Prof.Bakhshi has been the recipient of several awards and academic honours. These include amongst others : World Education Award, Haryana Ratan Award, Bharat Jyoti Award, Fellowship of the IUPAC; Lifetime Achievement Award by IAEWP, Guest of Honour at the 26th IGNOU Convocation at Varanasi, Felicitation at the Centenary Celebration of Vigyan Parishad Prayag, Distinguished Teacher Award; National Education Award by Headlines Today News Channel; Bioved Honorary Fellowship, Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) Medal; Fellowship of the National Academy of Sciences (FNASc); JSPS Fellowship; DAAD Fellowship; INSA Research Fellowship; UGC Career Award; Prof. P.K.Bose Memorial Award of the Indian Chemical Society, Best Paper Award in the field of Chemical Sciences from DAAD; Young Chemist Award; Dr. Krishan Rao Gold Medal, Dr. R. D. Desai Award of the Indian Chemical Society, Prof. R.P. Mitra Gold Medal, ISCA Best Poster Awards of the Indian Science Congress Association for the years 2012 and 2015. India Didactics Association (IDA) 2014 Special Award for excellence in Digital Content in Education for our template etc. Prof Bakhshi was awarded Capital Foundation National Award for distinctive and outstanding contribution to Education by former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (December 2011).

Prof. Bakhshi has also been elected as the President of the section of the Chemical Sciences of the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) for the year 2011-12. Prof. Bakhshi has been the member of the editorial board of the Indian Journal of Chemistry (Section A). He has also been a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research published by the CSIR and also the Chief-Editor of the UGC-sponsored journal Chemistry Education Review. He was also a co-guest editor of the special issue of the Indian Journal of Chemistry on Conducting Polymers. Prof. Bakhshi is recognised as one of the best teachers of Chemistry in the country.

Prof. Bakhshi has delivered many Talks / Plenary Lectures / Keynote Addresses at various conferences and seminars both in India and abroad. He has also Chaired Technical Sessions at various national/international conferences. He has also been very actively involved in the organization of many conferences, workshops and seminars at the national/international level.

Prof. Bakhshi has also been the Director of the Institute of Lifelong Learning (ILLL), University of Delhi and the Centre for Professional Development in Higher Education (CPDHE), a UGC Academic Staff College of the University of Delhi for about three years (2008 – 2010). In his capacity as Director ILLL, he spearheaded the process of e-transformation of the University of Delhi.

Prof. Bakhshi was felicitated (September 2009) by the Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam for his contributions in the e-transformation of the University of Delhi, as Director ILLL. Prof. Bakhshi is presently very actively engaged at the national level in the development of e-content and MOOCs under Digital India initiative of the Govt. of India. He is one of the leading e-Learning experts of India.

Last but not the least, Prof. Bakhshi has also the distinction of being one of the first persons from the Universities in India to have been selected as the Member Scientist of the “Third Indian Research Expedition to Antarctica” in 1984.

Dr. Ranendra N Saha Director (BITS Pilani-Dubai Campus)

Bio

Dr. Ranendra Narayan Saha is Shri B K Birla & Shrimati Sarala Birla Chair Professor (Senior Professor of Pharmacy) and Director of BITS Pilani Dubai Campus. In 2011 he has been awarded Shri B. K. Birla and Shrimati Sarala Birla Chair Professorship at BITS Pilani for contributions in teaching and research. He has vast experience in the field of Pharmacy especially in Pharmaceutics, novel drug delivery systems and Pharmacokinetics. He received “Pharmacy Professional of the Year 2013” Award given by Indian Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and Technologists. He is also recipient of “The Best Pharmacy Teacher Award” for the year 2005, awarded by Association of Pharmaceuticals Teachers if India (APTI), in recognition of his contribution in teaching and research in the field of Pharmacy.

He has more than 33 years of teaching, research and administrative experience. He is also a Senate and Research Board Member of BITS, Pilani. Has hold several administrative position before being appointed Director of BITS Pilani Dubai Campus. He was Head, Dept of Phramcy, In-charge of Doctoral Programme, Dean of Faculty, Dean of Educational Development Division, Deputy Director (Administration) of BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Deputy Director (Research and Educational Development) of BITS Pilani (university) and driving research agendas for all 4 campuses of BITS Pilani.

Dr. Ranendra N Saha has successfully completed several projects funded by industries and government funding agencies. He has transferred 5 product technologies to Pharma industries. One controlled release product designed by Dr. Saha has been granted Indian Patent and commercialized and launched to Indian market from 2005 by Ipca Laboratories limited, Mumbai by the name Zerodol CR and Movon CR. Presently he is working on projects sponsored by Industries and Government agencies.

He has already guided 16 doctoral students and is currently supervising 8 doctoral candidates. He has guided about 100 M.Pharm Dissertation Projects and many project students in various laboratory oriented, study oriented, and special projects in the undergraduate and post graduate level.

Dr. Ranendra N Saha is on advisory board and selection committee member of a number of Universities in India and abroad. He has published more than 90 papers in international, national journals and presented more than 100 papers in Conferences/ Seminars/ Symposiums. He has also delivered several invited lectures at Seminars and Conferences, Universities in India and abroad.

He has visited abroad on several occasions on invitation from universities and associations to deliver lectures. He has organized several national and international conferences. He organized one International Symposium on Advances in Drug Delivery Systems at Damascus, Syria on invitation from ASST (Arab Societies of Science and Technology, Syria).

He is also member of many scientific associations and societies like Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI); Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA); Indian Society of Technical Education (ISTE); Controlled Release Society Inc., USA; American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), USA; American Chemical Society, USA; Controlled Release Society, Indian Chapter.

Dr. Vimal Rarh Joint Director, (Teaching-Learning Centre of the MHRD)

Bio

Dr. Vimal Rarh, is a Senior Chemistry Faculty at Department of Chemistry, SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi and has around 15 years of teaching experience in Chemistry. She has experience of mentoring and guiding UG, PG as well as research scholars. She has done her doctorate from the University of Delhi and submitted thesis entitled: “Synthetic studies on chalcones and dihydrochalcones”. She has done her post-doctorate at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi in the project entitled “Studies towards the enantioselective synthesis of prenylated quinolinone alkaloids”.

She has her research interest in Organic Chemistry, e-Learning and Forensic Science. She has to her credit many research papers, a patent, books, presentations and invited talks at National and International platforms. She has guided one M.Phil student and currently guiding a Ph.D student.

Presently, she is the Principal Investigator for Chemistry project worth Rs 1.12 crore and is guiding the technical team at the Centre of e-Learning as Technical coordinator for 6 subjects. She is also the Principal Investigator for a project worth Rs 4.81 crores under the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Training (PMMMNMTT) of the MHRD, Govt. of India at SGTB Khalsa College.

Apart from her teaching responsibilities, she is guiding a full-time team of around 40 academic, technical and office staff along with overall coordination with around 800 academicians across the country as Deputy Director of the Centre for e-Learning and the Joint Director of Guru Angad Dev Teaching Learning Centre both located at the SGTB Khalsa College.

Dr Vimal Rarh has authored the following multimedia enriched e-content as Author/co-Author

Around 120 modules (e-Text, Self-Learn, Self –assessment, Learn More) and Video lectures in Chemistry and Forensic Science for ePG Pathshala project
Two e-Books, National Science Digital Library, NISCARE, a division of CSIR, with the active collaboration of UGC and Ministry of HRD, 2008.
ILLL, DU Portal: Chapter “Stereochemistry”, 200 e-Quizzes, 5 Organic Chemistry e-Labs and One e-Lecture.

She has to her name various awards and honors. She is a Member of

e-Governance Committee for the development of software for automation of UGC’s schemes at National level for Universities, Colleges and individuals; and also of the Task Force Committee for development of MOOCs for ePGPathshala programme at National

Level (for all 77 subjects) by UGC .

She has been a recipient of Best Innovation award at Antardhwani-2015 under the DU Innovation projects, entitled“Identification of weapon holders in crime cases” as co-Investigator and IDA-2014 special award for the category“Digital content in education” at the International conference cum exhibition “WORLD DIDAC- 2014”.

Kyle Edwards Head of School (Vega Schools)

Bio

Kyle Edwards has been a member of Vega since its inception. He is an expert in Project Based Learning (PBL) and the iLEAD process that Vega embeds within it’s pedagogy. He leads Learning Leader training in understanding and implementing of PBL. With a Bachelors of Science Degree in Excercise Physiology, Kyle also heads the Vega SPEED (Physical Education) program.

Kyle started his professional career working in civic engagement and Youth Leadership in Korogocho and Mathare slums in Nairobi, as well as the facilitator of the iLEAD program at Ngunyumu Primary School, Korogocho. He was also on the board of Ignitus Worldwide (Youth Leadership NGO), where he networked youth leadership programs across the world, primarily in 19 African nations. His work took him to the UN African Headquarters, UN Safer Cities Programe, as well as USAID Nairobi. After his experiences at UN, he knew that teaching and coaching leadership education was something he wanted to be connected with at a more profound level.

He then moved on to teach and coach at St. Gilgen International School, one of the top tier boarding IB schools in Europe, in Sankt Gilgen, Austria. Through his growth in learning and coaching, Kyle moved on to Tauranga, New Zealand to live out his dream as an International Rugby player and as a strength & conditioning coach. He has also worked throughout his professional career as a consultant for Edwards Education Services in teacher training and facilitation of the iLEAD leadership curriculum. This consultancy has taken him to both public and private schools, as well as educational leadership programs around the world.

Kyle knows that the best trait for a teacher is to be a student. He firmly believes that throughout his experiences he has learned far more from the people he has met and the surrounding environment. One of his favourite experiences has been working as a Alligator ‘relocator’ in South Carolina, USA. He goes on to say that “Working with alligators, is a lot like being with children. They can sense your emotions without even saying a word, so you have to be patient, relaxed, and most importantly respectful.”

Having lived on four continents and travelled extensively to more than 36 countries around the world. Kyle is now proud to call India his home. He is fascinated with Indian culture and history, studied Hindi and coaches the Delhi Hurricanes Rugby Men’s senior team. He aspires to write a book on his life and experiences, as well as continue to pursue his studies in cultural anthropology. Kyle is extremely passionate about Vega, what it stands for, and wants to do his part in making Vega the most innovative school in the World

Dr. Neeta Bali Principal (G D Goenka World School)

Bio

Dr Neeta Bali is a seasoned educator with over 34 years of experience in the field of education. She started her career with Mater Dei School in Delhi as Head of department, English and served for over 18 years. Subsequently, she was the Vice- Principal., Apeejay School, NOIDA for 6 years. From May 2008 to December 2014, she is the Principal and Head of School at G D Goenka World School.

From January 2015 to May 2017, she headed Kasiga School- a residential School in Dehradun that now ranks among the top residential schools in the country followed by a brief tenure as Head of Podar International School- Powai, Mumbai. She is an eloquent speaker, Trainer and has been frequently invited to speak at various prominent educational conferences all over the country. Her repertoire includes various curricula, ICSE and ISC, CBSE, IBO Accredited programmes- PYP and IB-DP, Cambridge accredited programmes – IGCSE and AS and A Levels. She has spearheaded partnerships with some leading schools in Scotland – Oban High School and Wasatch Academy- Utah – USA. She has worked intensively with the British Council as a BCSA- British Council School Ambassador in promoting the spirit of international mindedness. Apart from this, she has authored English Language books for Frank Educational Aids and a book of Essays for Madhuban. Her forte’ is English Language teaching, teaching of Psychology and Career, as well as Psychological Counselling and she, is a trained counsellor.

Other programmes promoted by her during her various assignments are the IAYP and the Interact Club –an offshoot of the Rotary club. She is on the apex advisory of many leading organizations like Univariety and Cogito Hub and is an editorial advisor for leading educational publications like ‘Scoonews’. She has written several articles for widely read Educational magazines like ‘Teacher’ brought out by Australian Council for Educational Research and ‘Mentor’. Her conviction and passion are to promote the Academic, emotional and social well being of all pupils under her care and she believes in working in synergy with the parent community as well as her colleagues. She is the recipient of ‘Jean Lawrie International Grant ‘and award conferred on her by IASL in the year 2015 and ‘Inspiring Educator’s Award’ conferred by Rocksport and received from Dr Kiran Bedi as well as ‘Exemplary Educator’s Award ‘by Productivity Council of India in addition to the ‘Uttarakhand Rattan Award ‘conferred on her in 2015 by PPSA- Dehradun.

Dr. BS Ajaikumar Chairman and CEO (HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd.)

Bio

Dr. Ajaikumar is a doctorpeneur and the Chairman & CEO of HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd. He is a radiation and medical oncologist with over 40 years of experience.

Learning The Ropes

After completing his MBBS from St John’s Medical College, Bangalore, he went on to complete his residency training in oncology from the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville. Dr. Ajaikumar completed his fellowship in radiation and medical oncology from the renowned MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas.

While he had the opportunity to continue to practice at MD Anderson, he chose to start a cancer center west of Chicago in 1979. This center grew well; however, Dr. Ajaikumar was also interested in looking at building a cancer care facility in India. He used to spend several months in the year monitoring the status of cancer care in India.

As he continued to build his practice in the US, Dr. Ajaikumar also founded a not-for-profit hospital in Mysore, Bharath Hospital and Institute of Oncology in 1989. This was largely to meet the needs of patients in Mysore and its surrounding areas.

At the same time, along with a group of oncologists, he started the Bangalore Institute of Oncology (BIO). As this center grew, it helped Dr. Ajaikumar understand the nuances of cancer care in India. The requirement was very clear: there was a great unmet demand. The need of the day was accessibility, affordability, and high quality of cancer care treatment.

Scaling The Dream

With this in mind, he moved back to India with his family in 2003 with a vision of expanding the services offered in Bangalore. Dr. Ajaikumar believed in bringing the hub-and-spoke model to create multiple centers across India to make cancer care affordable, at the same time, bringing high quality care by introducing linear accelerators even in Tier2/Tier3 cities. Also, the cornerstone of his vision was the belief that cancer can be treated only one way: the right way, the first time.

HCG was instrumental in introducing high-end technologies like CyberKnife™ and TrueBeam™. It also brought in advanced bone marrow transplant therapies as well as molecular imaging.

Dr. Ajaikumar also had his eye on the end-to-end delivery of cancer care, and knew molecular diagnostics was an important part of cancer therapies. With this in mind, Dr. Ajaikumar acquired Triesta, which was a molecular diagnostic lab. Today, HCG is at the forefront of molecular diagnostics and incorporating genomics to facilitate precision medicine.

Another area of interest for Dr. Ajaikumar has also been fertility in India. He partnered with Dr. Kamini Rao, under the Milann brand name, and has established multiple centers across India.

Today, HCG is rapidly expanding and will soon have 26 comprehensive cancer care centers from its present number, 17. Milan will grow to 8-10 centers.

With this success, Dr. Ajaikumar is deeply energized and hopeful to spread this model globally. He eagerly seeks to help patients achieve longer and better lives by providing them the best accessible cancer care treatment. He continues to pursue his passion of increasing and strengthening the network of comprehensive cancer centers across the world; beginning in Africa.

Fulfilling A Vision

As a doctorpreneur, his vision has been to focus on good patient outcomes, patient safety and make treatment affordable and accessible. Among his other achievements, he has been awarded the prestigious E&Y Start-Up Entrepreneur of the Year Award as well as the Asian Health Care Leadership Awards. Harvard Business School has done several case studies on HCG and Dr. Ajaikumar has given several talks at Harvard Business School and Babson Business School. His goal has also been to encourage and mentor other doctors and entrepreneurs in their own specialties.

Today, under his leadership, cancer care in India has seen a paradigm shift, and cancer care has been redefined as a chronic disease.

Consciously Giving Back

He is a social entrepreneur and has started several NGOs, which have done tremendous developmental work in the Gundlupet district, Karnataka. His organizations have worked on providing financial aid for needy cancer patients, the empowerment of 20,000 women through microfinance, educating 550 children by providing a local school over the last 20 years, and addressing social ills in society.

Apart from his charitable work, he enjoys being a marathon runner and is a voracious reader.

Rupamanjari Ghosh Vice-Chancellor (Shiv Nadar University)

Bio

Dr. Rupamanjari Ghosh is the second Vice-Chancellor of Shiv Nadar University. Her term as the Vice-Chancellor began on February 1, 2016. In addition, she has the charge of Dean of Research and is the head of the Faculty Development Center.

Dr. Ghosh joined the University in July, 2012, as the Founding Director of the School of Natural Sciences (SoNS) and the Dean of Research and Graduate Studies. She has played a key role in shaping the vision and mission of the School.

Prior to joining the University, Dr. Ghosh has served as the Dean of School of Physical Sciences at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, along with many other important academic and administrative positions. She has held several visiting faculty/scientist positions on invitation abroad and delivered numerous invited research seminars. Recipient of the Stree Shakti Science Samman for her ‘original contribution to Science’, she serves as an expert on the Department of Science and technology (DST), Government of India committees in Physical Sciences; and in many central and state universities and institutes. Having contributed to science research and training from the university to the school level, she has also served as the Chief Advisor for the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Science textbooks for Classes IX and X, developed afresh under the National Curriculum Framework – 2005.

Dr. Ghosh has a Masters of Science degree in Physics from the University of Calcutta, India, and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester, NY, where she worked as a Rush Rhees Fellow, selected for ‘outstanding scholarly ability and the promise of exceptional contributions to scholarship and teaching.’ Her pioneering work with Prof. L. Mandel on two-photon interference (using the nonlinear optical process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion) has yielded new direction in quantum optics and quantum information in the creation and use of a source of entangled photon pairs, and of single photons, is at the forefront of research today

Her research interests include Experimental and Theoretical Quantum Optics’ Laser Physics; Nonlinear Optics and Quantum Information. As a researcher; teacher; orator and an academic administrator par excellence, Dr. Ghosh is well known for her stand and efforts to support the cause of gender justice and environment consciousness in the higher education system.

Vijay Chadda CEO (Bharti Foundation)

Bio

Vijay Chadda is the Chief Executive Officer of Bharti Foundation, the development arm of Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecom, agri business, financial services, retail, realty, and communication & media devices.

Bharti Foundation was set up in 2000 with a vision ‘to help underprivileged children and young people of our country realize their potential’. The Satya Bharti School Program was launched as its flagship initiative, aiming to provide quality education, free of cost, to underprivileged children in rural India, with a special focus on the girl child. Continuing on the tradition of contributing towards the nation’s agenda, the Foundation has recently announced ‘Satya Bharti Abhiyan’, an initiative to improve rural household sanitation facilities.

As the CEO of Bharti Foundation, Vijay has played a key role in project expansion and enhancement of quality standards and system efficiency, while constantly keeping the team morale high to deliver their best in challenging circumstances. He has led the development of the organization and its education programs at primary, elementary and senior secondary standards. Through his experience, clear vision and strategic thinking, he has also been able to establish a successful and replicable model of Public Private Partnership. The Satya Bharti School Program provides free quality education to over 42,000* children from marginalized communities in rural areas, through its 254 schools (249 primary/elementary and five senior secondary schools) across six Indian states.

Under Vijay’s leadership, learnings and best practices of the Satya Bharti School Program have been taken to the Government schools, under the aegis of the Quality Support Program, to improve the overall quality of the schooling experience. He has guided the organization to broaden its scope from running its own schools to engaging deeply with the Government and mentoring Government schools to enhance the quality of education through need-based interventions.

In an endeavour to constantly expand Bharti Foundation’s horizons and impact on education, Vijay has led the organisation to participate in a prestigious international initiative through the Satya Bharti Learning Centres Program. Under this, Bharti Foundation has joined hands with Educate a Child, a new global initiative launched by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Doha, Qatar, to bring out of school children back into schools and ensure continued quality education for children. Bharti Foundation has been chosen as one its four global strategic partners.

He is spearheading the ‘Satya Bharti Abhiyan’ initiative, which is under implementation in the focus area of rural Ludhiana. Through this initiative the Foundation aims to improve rural household sanitation facilities and build toilets for girls in government schools in the villages of Ludhiana, where no such facility exists. Till now over 13,000* Individual toilets have been handed over to beneficiaries, and 14 girls’ toilets have been built in government schools in the villages of Ludhiana.

Vijay has over forty years of professional experience in different fields. He has served in the Indian Army for twenty years and has headed some of the leading corporates in the travel and hospitality industry. It was his innate desire to contribute to society in a meaningful and substantive way that drew him from the corporate world to the Foundation. His army background has inspired many processes and events to inculcate a sense of patriotism and integrity within the school program.

A graduate from the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune, India and the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College Toronto, Canada; Vijay has also completed his M.Sc. in Defence Studies from Madras University.

Vijay has served on the board of significant Travel & Tourism Associations and is a part of various National Committees in the area of Education, Skill Development and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). He has represented the organization at various renowned national forums. Vijay is a member of the India – Malaysia CEOs Forum (CII) and is also on the Advisory Committee of leading schools and educational institutions.

P.B.Kotur Head of Higher Education (Wipro)

Bio

P. B. Kotur is a General Manager and Global Head – Higher Education, Talent Transformation, Wipro Limited, Bangalore.

Work Experience

In his 24+ years of overall IT career, he has been involved in teaching, training, evangelizing campus programs, creating and implementing the Work-Integrated Learning Programs and development activities.

He has been associated with Wipro for the last 18+ years and spearheaded several game changing academic and business initiatives in the Organization.

Prior to joining Wipro, he worked as a Faculty in the Department of Computer Science, Basaveshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot, Karnataka. He has worked on Internet Security Algorithms at Motorola India during his dissertation work.

Qualification

He got the FIRST RANK in his the Master’s degree in Engineering from Bangalore University.

He has done General Management Program (GMP) from IIM Bangalore under a Wipro-IIM Bangalore Collaborative Program.

He completed the “Leadership and Change Management” Training at IIM Ahmedabad

Leadership and Initiatives

Currently, Mr. Kotur is the Head of the following initiatives in Wipro:

* Global Freshers Engagement – As the Head of the Global Freshers Program, he is responsible for Design, Development and Deployment of technical training programs for all the freshers joining Wipro. He has trained over 100,000 freshers in the last one decade and transformed them to be successful Professionals in the organization.

* Localization Programs – He has been heading the global skills development programs across the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, China, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore and Middle East as part localization drive.

* TalentNext – He launched this Corporate Social Responsibility Initiate in pursuit of excellence in Engineering Education in India, where the Professors of Engineering Colleges are trained on Digital Skills at Wipro. Over 200 Professors from 60 Engineering Colleges are provided the Digital skills training and they in turn have trained over 10,000 students.

* Pre-Joining Program (PJP) – He designed and developed PJP program to prepare the Premier Schools recruits with Project required skills while they are in their final semester and take up the online and proctored assessments before joining. Over 5,000 students who had Wipro Offers are trained.

* WASE (Wipro Academy of Software Engineering) – an Industry Academia collaboration with BITS Pilani (Rajasthan) to nurture science graduates on industry-ready skills. He has guided over 14,000 graduates over a decade. This initiative got a global recognition CUX (Corporate University Exchange, USA) award for its innovative methodologies and excellence in developing new generation skills in the industry. Currently over 6,000 fresh science graduates are pursuing their higher studies in this academy.

* WiSTA (Wipro Software Technology Academy) – He is also responsible for launching another industry academia collaborative learning program with VIT, Vellore (TN), for providing Masters degree in Data Science, VLSI & Embedded, Information Technology (IT) and Systems and Design Engineering. Currently over 5,000 fresh science graduates are pursuing their higher studies in this academy.

* NOTCH UP – He designed this higher education program for senior employees of the organization to provide them the management program

in collaboration with Symbiosis University, Pune to provide the Management, Sales & Marketing, Finance & Leadership skills.

* Foreign Language Academy (FLA) – As a Leader of this Academy, he is responsible for enabling cross-culture and language proficiency amongst the employees, who will be traveling onsite or work with customers with specific language needs.

Advisory Role

Mr. Kotur has been associated with many Institutes and Universities as an Industry Advisor and the member of the Governing Council. He helped Universities to create the Industry Ready Curriculum towards enhancing the learnability and employability.

Mr. Kotur represented Wipro in the NASSCOM Governing Council, New Delhi.

He also provided his able guidance to the Committee of Special Projects, Govt of Maharashtra towards creating employability for non-engineering graduates.

He served as the Advisory member, ADVANCED CENTRE FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING IN CYBER LAW & FORENSICS, National Law School of India University, Bangalore (https://www.nls.ac.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=257&Itemid=94 )

He was also member of the India Advisory Council of New York University, which was established under the eminent advice of Dr. Sam Pitroda.

Technical Publications

Mr Kotur has authored several technical books on Computers and Information Technology. Some of them are university prescribed textbooks.

1. Object Oriented Programming with C++

2. Computer Concepts and C Programming

3. Data Structures with C

4. C Programming and Data Structure

5. Computer Science for First Year PUC

6. Computer Science for Second Year PUC

7. Computer Thilivalike, Bangalore University Publication

8. Computer Ellarigagi, Sapna Book House, Bangalore

9. Computer Shikshana-I, for first year D.Ed, Govt of Karnataka

10. Computer Shikshana-II, for second year D.Ed, Govt of Karnataka,

11. Basic Programming and Computer Applications, for secondary schools in Karnataka, DESRT, Bangalore

12. Computer Jnana, for secondary schools in Karnataka, DESRT, Bangalore

Non-Technical Publications

Mr Kotur has published two non- technical books (poetry)

1. Kavyanjali

2. Bhakti Kudal Bhava sangama

Research Papers

Some of his scholarly articles and interviews on “Education and Technology” are published in Times of India, The Hindu, DNA, Deccan Herald, Prajavani and Samyukta Karnataka.

He has presented several research papers at various National and International conferences.

Media Featuring

All India Radio (AIR), Dharwad had broadcast his talks on science and Information Technology

CNBC TV18 broadcast his interview on corporate programs.

TV7, one of the top TV Channels in Orissa state in India broadcast his interview on Internship and industry engagement

Social Media

Mr. Kotur is an active Social media member on Yammer, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. He is followed by thousands of people across the world.

Dr. Manpreet Singh Manna Director (Admin & SWAYAM) (All India Council for Technical Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development)

Bio

Dr. Manpreet Singh Manna, born on 14th March, 1971 at Patiala, Punjab (India), graduated in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Mysore University, Mysore in the year 1993. He did his Master of Engineering in Power & Machines from Thapar University, Patiala and Ph.D. in Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering from SLIET (A Centrally Funded Deemed University established by Govt. of India), Longowal. Starting his teaching profession as Lecturer from SLIET in the year 1997, Dr. Manna is Director (Administration) and SWAYAM Project Cell Incharge. Apart from discharge of day to day administrative functions, Dr. Manna with his persistent efforts and devotion under the able guidance of his Seniors at MHRD and AICTE, developed and made “SWAYAM PLATFORM” go-live for public well within a record time. For his pioneering and outstanding performance, the Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the Hon’ble President of India felicitated Dr. Manna with the “COMMENDATION AWARD” on 9th July, 2017 during the Launch of “SWAYAM Platform”, one of the important digital initiatives of MHRD during 3 Days’ National Convention held during 8th July, 2017 to 10th July, 2017 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Prior to this, Dr. Manna successfully organised the inauguration of “HACKATHON” on 9th November, 2016 at Teen Murti Bhavan, New Delhi under the benign Chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister for Human Resource Development in the presence of eminent academicians and intellectuals from all over the Country.

Dr. Manna, a Senior Member of IEEE has visited as an Associate Professor sponsored by Ministry of HRD to AIT, Bangkok during 2012 session. He is a Fellow of Institutions of Engineers (India) and ISQEM, UK. He is Dr. Manna is also Life Member of ISTE India, IACSIT Singapore and member of Advisory Council of CEGR India. Dr. Manna has published about 140 Research Publications for leading National and International Journals and attended a number of Conferences in the field of Engineering and Technology. Dr. Manna has been nominated as member of the various committees like J & K state fee Structure Committee and BOGs; Member of Divisional Railway User Consultative Committee (DRUCC); Member of National Executive Council of Centre of Education Growth and Research for Two years; Honorary Advisor on the Board of CMAI; Member of Advisory Board of Confederation in Education Excellence, New Delhi and Expert Member for School Board of Engineering & Technology, Central University of Kashmir. Dr. Manna has been elected as President of the CEGR Core Committee for Two years upto 31.12.2017.

Dr. Manna has been conferred with the “Commendation Award” by the Hon’ble President of India; ‘Bharat Excellence Award’ with ‘Gold Medal’ by the Former Election Commissioner of India at IIC, New Delhi in 2014. Dr. Manna is also recipient of ‘Shreshth Aacharya Award-2011’, ‘Best Citizens of India Award-2014’ from FFI, New Delhi, ‘Outstanding Faculty Award-2015 VIFFA’ at Chennai and ‘Rashtriya Shiksha Gaurav Puraskar-2015’ from CEGR, New Delhi. He is also recipient of Innovative Policy Maker -2017 Award from News India & GESA, India.

Prof. Mammo Muchie Research Chair In Innovation Studies (Tshwane University Of Technology)

Bio

Professor Mammo Muchie holds a DPhil in Science, Technology, and Innovation for Development (STI&D) from the University of Sussex. UK. He is currently a DST/NRF rated Research Professor at the Faculty of Management Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. He is a fellow of the South African Academy of Sciences and the African Academy of Sciences. He is also currently adjunct Professor at the Adama Science, Technology University, Arsi University, Addis Ababa University and University of Gondar, Ethiopia. He has been senior research associate at the SPMTDC programme and also has become Senior Research Associate at the TMD Centre of Oxford University.

He is collaborating with researchers (DILIC) on the potential research areas of Africa-China industrial high-technology sectors. He has been invited as Associate Faculty professor at Sussex University, UK for the next three years; at the University of Economics in Prague as visiting professor, Jawarahal Nehru University India, Tonji and Shanghai University, China; Honorary Professor Jiaxing University, China, Assistant Professor Amsterdam University, Visiting Professor Carleton College, USA; Principal Lecturer, Middlesex University, Professor, Aalborg University; Part–time Lecturer, Cambridge University; Honorary Professor UNISA. Professor Mammo held various positions globally, including the Director of the Research Programme on Civil Society and African Integration at the then University of Kwa Zulu-Natal; board member at the North Western University, Chengdu, China.

He is currently the chairman of the advisory board of African Talent hub of the Community Interest Company (registration no.10461990) to raise funds for making Africa the talent, innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and knowledge hub of the world. He has been appointed as special distinguished advisor to the Africa Union’s Student Council and a mentor for the African Entrepreneurship award. He has initiated the African Unity for Renaissance and Knowledge Exchange series of conferences since the last six years. He is a founding scientific advisor to ´the African Solar network, founding chairman of the Network of Ethiopian scholars. He has lead the SIDA, Sweden funded research on engineering design and on transformative innovation for African integrated development and educate on public media to speed up the creation of innovative and renascent Africa. He is also a co-founding member of the Nano Technology Institute in TUT leading the innovation side of the research.

Nabil Sultan Professor and Dean of the College of Business Administration (A’Sharqiyah University, Ibra, Oman)

Bio

Nabil Sultan is Professor and Dean of the College of Business Administration at A’Sharqiyah University, Ibra, Oman. Prior to that he was Professor of Innovation Management and Leadership (a Personal Chair from the University of Essex) and Head of Division of Management, Business and Enterprise at University Campus Suffolk (UCS) which is jointly owned by two leading British Universities: University of East Anglia and the University of Essex. He is internationally recognised for his publications in the fields of information management, knowledge management, leadership cloud computing, renewable energy and Arab Gulf’s socio–economic affairs. He is UK-educated and has 28 years of work experience, 17 years of which were in British higher education. He has developed strong skills in undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum development, accreditation, research and developing people’s skills and careers and widening community participation. He has extensive knowledge of the Middle East (especially the Arabian peninsula and Gulf region) gained through experience and research and demonstrated through journal and book writings.

During his tenure at UCS, Professor Sultan was responsible for the leadership and management of this division including staff, budget, development of curriculum, enterprise, the delivery of recruitment and retention targets and quality standards and the development of relevant networks within and beyond the university. He was also Director of Research and PhD Provision where he was responsible for promoting the Business School’s multi-disciplinary research in the areas of management, business and enterprise and the vetting of prospective PhD students. Moreover, he was Director (and founder) of the Middle East Research Centre (MERC) and Editor-in-Chief (and founder) of the peer-reviewed journal “Review of Management and Enterprise Studies” (REAMS).

Professor Sultan is also a Visiting Professor at the Servant-Leadership Centre for Research and Education at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Vrije Universiteit is one of Europe’s prestigious universities and is ranked 136th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2014/15. Since 1999 and up to 2012 Professor Sultan worked for Liverpool Hope University and was Award Director of its International MBA. During that tenure, he was awarded the Rector’s High Commendation for Teaching Excellence Award (2009) and Hope Business School’s Research Excellence Award (2010 – 2011).

Anu Acharya CEO (Mapmygenome)

Bio

Ms. Anu Acharya is the CEO of Mapmygenome India, a Genomics company whose vision is “To touch 100 million lives”. In 2013, she introduced the concept of improved healthcare through personal genomics in India. Ever since, she has successfully pioneered the company through growing product lines, expanding affiliate network and has received funding from stalwarts like Mr. Ratan Tata and Mr. Rajan Anandan and more. She is a distinguished alumna from IIT Kharagpur.

Under her able leadership, the company has won several awards and honors: ET Startup Awards 2015 – Women Ahead, Nasscom Emerge 50 – League of 10, Emerging Company of the Year 2015 – Govt. of Karnataka, SMART CEO List of Top 50 Startups, VCCircle Innovative Healthcare Startup 2015, Wall Street Journal’s top global startups 2016, Red Herring Asia and Global 2016, and more.

From 2000 until April 2013, Ms. Anu Acharya was the CEO of Ocimum Biosolutions, a global genomics outsourcing partner for discovery, development and diagnostics, a company that began as a pure Bioinformatics company. Since co-founding the company in 2000, she has led the company through three strategic international acquisitions, two capital raises for equity investments and launch of several innovative products, solutions and services through its proprietary platform called RaaS (Research as a Service). An author of several research papers published in major journals, various articles for journals like Nature, Ms. Anu Acharya recently received early publication approval for her patent for SNaPpy – the genetic risk prediction algorithm developed in-house at Mapmygenome. She has been invited to various institutions globally (academia as well as commercial) to share her knowledge, expertise and experience in the fields of genomics and entrepreneurship.

Books authored: (list not exhaustive)

Software Innovations in Clinical Drug Development and Safety (link)
Pharmaceutical Outsourcing: Discovery and Preclinical Services (Pharmaceutical Outsourcing, Volume I) (link)
Healthcare ethics and training: Chapter on Impact of human exome sequencing on clinical research (link)
Atomic Pohe

Books in which Ocimum/Mapmygenome is covered: (List not exhaustive)

From Campus to Corporate
The Game Changers
Biomedical Innovation in India: Comparison to China
Women Entrepreneurs: Inspiring Stories from Emerging Economies
Emerging Markets Rule: Growth Strategies of the New Global Giants

Case Studies on Ocimum/Mapmygenome

Harvard Business : https://hbr.org/product/ocimum-biosolutions-from-bioinformatics-to-integra/an/W11198-PDF-ENG

Boards

She currently serves as a Governing Board member at the NIBMG (National Institute for Biomedical Genomics). She is on the Board of Mentors for IvyCap Ventures and Advisory Board at Flag A Spot, Action for India & KIIT. She is also a member of CII National Committee on Biotechnology 2016-2017.

Ms. Acharya had served in the past as a Governing Board member at CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), the Vice Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Genetics for the World Economic Forum, on the board of ABLE (Association of Biotech Led Enterprises), and as President of the Hyderabad chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

Awards & Honors

In May 2016, Women Economic Forum honored Mapmygenome her with the award Iconic Innovative Trailblazers of the Decade. In 2015, she won the Women Ahead category and made it to the top 5 innovators list in the Economic Times Startup Awards. In October 2015, Anu Acharya received the FICCI FLO Women Achiever’s Award in the category Innovation through Technology. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for its class of 2011. The British High Commission also named her part of the “Young Leaders Forum” in 2013.

She was selected by Red Herring Magazine to the list of 25 Tech Titans under 35 in 2006. She was named Biospectrum Entrepreneur of the Year for 2008 and received the Astia Life Science Innovators Award in the same year.

Past Positions & Education

Prior to founding Ocimum Biosolutions, Ms. Acharya has had rich experience in the Telecom, IT and entrepreneurship arenas. She worked for a start-up in the telecommunications space called Mantiss Information and a consulting firm called SEI Information where she helped create a social networking site for entrepreneurs. Her experience is backed by education at premier institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, India (IIT) and University of Illinois where she has two Postgraduate degrees in Physics and MIS.

Dr Naveen Kulkarni CEO (QuantumZyme)

Bio

In charge of Quantumzyme’s science and strategy, Naveen comes with over 20 years of scientific & entrepreneurial experience in the drug discovery industry across the USA, Australia and India.

He has published several research papers and the most notable was published in Nature in July 2017 with a few more interesting discoveries in the pipeline for the year.

Naveen is an entrepreneur and hands-on executive officer with extensive knowledge of Pharma, Healthcare, regulatory and medical devices scenario in India. Solid Healthcare, Life Sciences background known for strategic and focused approach, with extensive accolades for establishing creative strategies for optimizing internal operations, financial returns, limiting risk, creating lean teams, and external customer service and output.

Prior to founding Quantumzyme, he served as the CEO of Cryo Stemcell and prior to that as Director at Philips Research, where he was associated with a portfolio of opportunities for new business creation in healthcare and energy. In his previous roles, he has risen through the ranks – from being a bench worker at an Australian research institute to heading the strategic business unit of an American drug discovery informatics company. He has conceptualized and developed novel solutions for accelerating drug discovery and directed teams consisting of experts from different domains including chemistry, proteomics and systems biology. He has been instrumental in conceiving new ideas that are the basis for the company’s patent portfolio.

Has been a speaker and presenter in several international conferences.

World Congress for Preventive and Regenerative Medicine, Taiwan.
ABLE Bioinvest
Bangalore Bio
Bio Partnering Europe, London, UK.
Bio North America, Vancouver, Canada.
Beyond Genome Conference, San Diego, USA.
IBM High Performance Computing conference, Hyderabad, India

Guest Lectures in several institutions like:

IIT Madras
University of Virginia
University of California, San Diego
Indian Business Academy, Bangalore, INDIA

Advisor – Board of Studies at:

Welingkar Institute of Management
Department of Biotechnology, SDM Group of Institutions

Previous engagements:

CEO – Cryo Stemcell

Overview of the profile:

Turnaround of the company from a Stem cell banking service provider to become a healthcare company and developed the roadmap and business plan for next level funding. Initiated PRP therapy and Hospital partnerships with new customer acquisition and sales team mobilization pan India.

Director – Philips Research Asia

Overview of the profile:

As Director Business Development at Philips Research Asia, Naveen was involved in identifying and developing technology ventures for spin-ups, spin-ins (technology acquisition) and spin-outs in Philips. He has successfully developed and managed a portfolio of opportunities for New Business Creation across Healthcare and Energy relevant for India, emerging markets and globally.

CEO – Polyclone Bioservices

Overview of the profile:

Founded Polyclone and lead the company as a CEO and successfully forged Drug Discovery Alliances, developed markets for Genomics and Proteomics services, Virtual Screening and Research Information Systems.

Responsible for developing a Govt. recognized R&D unit
Successfully raised R&D Grants from various national and international agencies
Managing research projects from start to finish in various areas of cancer genomics
Filing of the first patent for a cancer target

Principal Consultant, Life Science – SysArris Inc, USA

Overview of the profile:

Initiated and implemented Bioinformatics services for SysArris. Established niche offerings and positioned the company as a leading provider of consulting, technology, outsourcing and applied research services for pharma and biotech industry.

RESEARCH

CRC for Diagnostics Technologies (CDT) Brisbane, Australia Summary:

CDT is an A$40 million/yr. Co operative research center and a consortium of academic partners and members of Australian Diagnostics Manufacturers Association, sited at Brisbane. This Project involved developing a novel Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) based DNA diagnostic assay, utilizing the Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) principle for the detection of single gene mutations.

EDUCATION

MSc, Applied Science (Life Science) Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA BSc, Microbiology, Bangalore University, INDIA

Professor Sir Malcolm Grant Chairman (NHS England)

Bio

Professor Sir Malcolm Grant , CBE, FAcSS is the Chairman of NHS England, formerly known as the NHS Commissioning Board. He is also a barrister and academic lawyer.

Grant was appointed as chair of the newly formed NHS Commissioning Board in 2011 by the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley. He was previously the ninth President and Provost of University College London – the head as well as principal academic and administrative officer of the university – for over a decade from 2003 until 2013. He is the current Chancellor of the University of York.

In August 2003, Grant left the University of Cambridge to become Provost and President of University College London.

In 2004, Grant launched ‘The Campaign for UCL’. The campaign was designed to generate 300 million pounds of extra funding for the university, to expand facilities and provide for new research initiatives. The appeal will also fund an ear institute, a spinal repair unit and an institute for women’s health. Fifty million pounds of the targeted funds will provide support for students, in the form of bursaries, scholarships, and post-doctoral fellowships. It was the biggest ever fundraising target set by a university in the United Kingdom, until Cambridge set a £1 billion target for its 800-year anniversary followed by the highest ever £3 billion target set by University of Oxford through the Oxford thinking campaign.

Grant said of the ‘Campaign’:

“I have heard it suggested that the concept of philanthropy is somehow alien to the national psyche, and that asking for money is not the British thing to do. This is, frankly, nonsense. Most of our leading universities owe their origins to philanthropy. Without the generosity of our founding fathers, UCL would never have seen the light of day back in 1826. This campaign will enable UCL, a real British success story, to enjoy the kind of resources to enable us to compete with the world’s very best academic institutions”
— Interview with BBC News, 2004

In 2005, on an invitation from The Cheese Grater, he agreed to shave off his moustache if UCL students raised £1500 for Comic Relief, on Red Nose Day. Unfortunately for his moustache — of 33 years — students and staff duly donated over £2,000. However, it has since regrown.

In 2006, he spoke out against the Israel university boycotts by the Association of University Lecturers (now the Universities Colleges Union). In 2006, Grant also controversially stated that European students had better English skills than many British students.

In 2007, Grant said the achievement and academic gap between male and female students was widening. Since 1998, 313,259 more women than men have made university applications. Malcolm Grant said, “the trend indicated a big fall in the number of university-educated men”.

In January 2007, he argued that the entire nationwide university approach to funding needed a different approach. In regard to UCL’s need for additional funding, he stated the reasons in an interview with the BBC:

“”To provide world-class research – through discovery, invention and creativity – and to convey the excitement of it to able young minds.”
— Interview with BBC News, 2007

In June 2007, in response to legal threats from Alan Lakin, husband of a purveyor of herbal remedies, Grant required Professor David Colquhoun to remove his website, “Improbable Science” from university computers. An outcry from the scientific community ensued, and Grant reconsidered, inviting Dr. Colquhoun to bring the site back to UCL once it had been edited for libel.

In December 2011, Grant became the first UCL Provost to be challenged by ‘a vote of No Confidence’ by UCL Union, the representative body of UCL students, following his appointment as chair of the NHS Commissioning Board. However this was deemed unconstitutional.^{[citation needed]} As a result, the matter was passed to a referendum in which the students of UCL voted in confidence of Grant by 1699 votes to 1185, with 391 abstentions.

Patricia Hewitt CHAIR (UK INDIA BUSINESS COUNCIL)

Bio

Patricia Hewitt is the Chair of the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), the premier business-to-business network that works with the British Government to promote bilateral trade between the UK and India.

Patricia Hewitt had a long and distinguished career in politics and government, including as the longest-serving Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the last fifty years. In that role, she made India her top international priority, believing – as she said in 2002 – that India was rapidly becoming ‘the world’s most exciting knowledge-driven economy’. She also served in Tony Blair’s government as Cabinet Minister for Women (2001 – 2005) and Secretary of State for Health (2005 – 2007). Between 1997 and 2010, Patricia was Labour MP for Leicester West and continues to have close ties with the city and its large British Asian community.

Patricia is a non-executive director of EuroTunnel, a member of the International Advisory Board of Sutherland Global Services and a senior adviser to FTI Consulting. She was for many years Senior Independent Director of BT, where she chaired the remuneration and pensions committees, and a member of the UK government’s Asia Task Force. She is also a member of the UK India Round Table.

For the last six years, Patricia has been an active supporter of Katha, a ‘profit for all’ social enterprise that is transforming the lives of children and their families in Delhi’s slums. She chairs the donor consortium established by the British Asian Trust – one of the Prince of Wales’s Trusts – to support Katha’s work.

In October 2014, Patricia was selected by the British Government to receive the first Dadabhai Naoroji award to recognise her contribution to economic ties between the UK and India.

Born in Australia, Patricia took her undergraduate degree at Cambridge University, and has been awarded an MA by both Cambridge and Oxford. She is an Honorary Associate of Newnham College, Cambridge, an Honorary Doctor of De Montfort University and an Honorary Fellow of the London Business School.

Patricia’s husband, William Birtles, has recently retired from a long career as a barrister and senior judge at the Mayor’s and City of London Court. They have a daughter and a son, both in their 20’s. In her spare time, Patricia enjoys reading, music, theatre and gardening. Although her efforts to learn Hindi have not been very successful, she wowed the Vibrant Gujarat summit in January 2013 with her speech in Gujarati!

Harriet Fear Chief Executive (One Nucleus)

Bio

Harriet Fear joined One Nucleus (formerly ERBI) as CEO in February 2009. She previously worked as a Diplomat with the British Foreign Office for 21 years serving in over 17 countries around the globe. Half her career was spent in the commercial field, latterly heading UK Trade & Investments national life sciences trade team for over 5 years.

She was attracted to the role at One Nucleus because she wanted to spend time helping companies maximise their competitiveness and to lead a team which already had an excellent reputation. Since her arrival at One Nucleus, the company has redefined its membership (now life science and healthcare, not only biotech), formed strong and strategic relations with like minded US counterparts for the benefit of members and merged ERBI with London Biotechnology Network to enhance the offer to members and create a stronger critical mass on the international stage.

One Nucleus is the largest membership organisation in Europe. A not-for-profit private company, it has over 450 members including pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and diagnostic companies and associated technical and commercial service providers.

The One Nucleus mission is to maximise the global competitiveness of its members. For their science and technology-based members, this means being global leaders in the research, development and commercialisation of healthcare innovations that radically improve the quality of people’s lives around the world. For their business and professional services members, it means delivering exceptional services that significantly enhance the business performance of their clients.

Harriet Fear has accepted the Prime Ministers invitation to continue in her UK Business Ambassador role for a further two years to 2017. She continues to be Chief Executive of One Nucleus – her first priority and passion. By accepting this invitation, Harriet has agreed to undertake, in the margins of her personal or business travel, a programme of activities developed by and with the Government until July 2017. This could include for example, hosting a reception in a country she is travelling to in order to highlight UK expertise in the life science and healthcare sector, briefing UK Ministers and HM Ambassadors on key business priorities and interests as they might arise; meeting overseas Ministers and inward missions; and providing insights into how UK Trade & Investment can better deliver for business.

S D Ravetkar Executive Director (Serum Institute of India Limited)

Bio

Dr. S.D. Ravetkar is an Executive Director with Serum Institute of India Ltd. Apart from his Doctorate he holds degrees in Management and Finance. He has authored various research articles in national and international journals. He is also on advisory board of various national and international organizations and journals. He has more than 43 years techno-commercial experience in biotech industry in various areas like QC, production, projects planning & research. At present his major responsibility is manufacturing of Bacterial combination vaccines mainly Pentavalent and Hexavalent vaccine. He has extensively worked on microbial and bioengineering aspects of vaccinology and also has got expertise on technology transfer. He has widely traveled worldwide. He is listed amongst 15 influential figures in the Asian Vaccine Industry.

Dr S D Ravetkar, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India says that the company has put programme in place to achieve the ambitious plan to offer new vaccines

Serum Institute of India Ltd., is the worlds no. 1 producer of Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, HIB, BCG, Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccines. It is estimated that about 60% of the children in the world receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India Ltd.

Key focus in the coming year will be enhancing further capacities of above vaccines for which state of art plants are under various stages of completion. The growth has its own problems and challenges. Planned programme has been put in place for handling these issues.

Major thrust is also given on further strengthening quality systems by adding Process Analytical Technology (PAT) in various stages of manufacture of vaccines. More focus is given on incremental innovation than only on disruptive innovation. The technical team building by establishment of new training center is given major thrust.

Serum is also working with various Universities and Research Institutions in country and overseas, in Europe and U.S. to leverage advantage of mutual strengths in knowledge building. The development of critical knowledge mass is thus at center of various activities.

With robust pipeline of various newer vaccines in offing structured programme is carried to reduce time to market. Products on the horizon are many like Rota and Pnemococcus and HPV vaccines. This in itself is a gigantic task of putting new R & D incubators and going through entire process of germination of idea till commercialization.

Innovation is also being implemented in supplying various new vaccine administration systems and for effective measurement thereby validation of cold chain management.

These efforts will help make vaccines available at affordable cost to infant population in world. With acquisition of Bilthoven Biologicals in Netherlands Serum Institute of India Ltd., is looking for entry in Western regulated markets, In years to come as our vaccines are already manufactured in world class environment confirming to International FDA.

Shawn Manning Managing Director and Founder (Akesios Associates Limited)

Bio

Dr Shawn Manning is a Managing Director with Outcome Capital and manages its European operations in London. Outcome Capital is an independent investment banking firm committed to enhancing the corporate and shareholder value of innovative life science companies. Prior to joining Outcome Capital Manning founded Akesios Associates, a specialist advisory firm providing financial strategy, representation and commercial development advice to Life Science companies, with a current focus on IPOs, M&A and portfolio strategy. He has a keen interest in strategy, modelling and outcome optimisation, with a particular focus on oncology, neurology, antibodies, vaccines and the potential strategies impacting the transmission of infectious disease.

Dr Shawn Manning has over 25 years of international Life Sciences experience, including over 12 years as a rated equity analyst (with Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, SG-Cowen/ Société Generale, Bridgewell/ Landsbanki and Singer Capital Markets), covering ‘Big Pharma’, speciality/emerging pharmaceutical, and biotechnology stocks. Over 2006-2012 he helped develop one of the City of London’s leading Life Science Corporate Advisory franchises, his research and advice supporting the raising of over £400m in new funding for Life Science companies. Before entering the City, Manning spent 5 years consulting to the pharmaceutical industry, and managing Datamonitor’s Healthcare practice. In this capacity he worked alongside major European, US and Japanese pharmaceutical companies, leading consultancy projects focusing primarily on strategic product positioning, including portfolio, opportunity and pricing analysis. Manning originally specialised in infectious disease, and holds a Doctorate from the University of Oxford (Hertford College), and a BSc (Hons) and ARCS from Imperial College, London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a member of OBN’s Advisory Board and Chairman of OBN’s investment Special Interest Group (iSIG).

Manning is Managing Director at Outcome Capital LLP is a multifaceted technology and life sciences investment banking firm that provides middle-market growth companies with an innovative client-specific approach to private equity and merger and acquisition advisory services. We are passionate about innovation with a mission to facilitate significant positive impact on our companies. We are interested in companies that possess a portfolio of transformative assets, a bold vision and a desire to achieve excellence. We take pride in our ability to enhance value and assist our clients with aligning business objectives with strategic opportunities and transactional expertise.

Carl Sterritt Founder & CEO (Shield Therapeutics)

Bio

Carl Sterritt, with approximately 20 years’ of management and executive level experience in pharmaceutical development and commercialisation in both large and small company settings, Carl has led the Company as its CEO since he co-founded the Group in 2008 together with Dr.Christian Schweiger.

Carl Sterritt held senior management roles at United Therapeutics and Encysive Pharmaceuticals, working on innovative therapies for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Carl joined United Therapeutics to establish the company’s European operations in preparation for the marketing approval of Remodulin®, running the subsidiary for six years. In collaboration with physicians in Germany, he was responsible for and holds patents related to United Therapeutics’ decision to develop and commercialise treprostinil; now successfully commercialised in the US as Tyvaso™. Carl was instrumental in the successful commercial launch of Thelin™ and the rapid growth of Encysive’s European operations. Carl founded the Group after Encysive was acquired by Pfizer Inc. for more than $300m.

Since founding Shield Therapeutics plc – a successful and growing specialty pharmaceutical company commercialising novel prescription therapies – Carl has raised close to £70m and led the team that has successfully developed Shield’s two leading assets, Feraccru® and PT20, recently resulting in the approval of Feraccru and completion of Shield’s IPO on the LSE. During this time Shield has also taken PT20 – a treatment for hyperphosphataemia – through a 1st pivotal study, leaving one study to be completed before a marketing authorisation application.

With an under/postgraduate background in life sciences and an MBA from Henley, Carl has approx. 20 years of experience in pharma. Trained in the large pharma environment, he quickly moved into orphan and specialty medicines, working for United Therapeutics as a core member of the Company’s commercialisation team that launched Remodulin® in the USA, after which he established and led the company’s European operations for 6 years. In collaboration with physicians in Germany, he was responsible for and holds patents related to the development and commercialisation of an inhaled form of treprostinil – now commercialised as Tyvaso™. This was followed by a period at Encysive Pharmaceuticals, leading European commercial operations and delivering the successful launch of Thelin™ another treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. The company was acquired by Pfizer for over $300m in 2008, following which Carl left, eventually establishing Shield Therapeutics.

A creative, lateral thinker with proven entrepreneurial flair and a clear record of delivering shareholder value. Key strengths include business leadership experience, creation and delivery of effective business strategy, as well as effective communication and relationship building capabilities.

Outside of work Carl enjoys spending time with his family, socialising and participating in or watching a variety of sports.

Patrick Baddeley Corporate Partner (Penningtons Manches LLP)

Bio

Patrick Baddeley a partner in our Oxford corporate team and specialise in a range of corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, funding rounds, joint ventures and reorganisations, plus non-transactional advice in relation to corporate constitutional issues.

Many of my clients are technology businesses, particularly in the life sciences industry. I am a member of the firm’s technology and life sciences group and I sit on the Advisory Board of OBN, the UK’s leading membership organisation which supports the UK’s emerging life science companies.

I am also highly experienced in the design and implementation of share based incentives for employees of corporate clients. I am a member of the Share Plan Lawyers group. I have a long-standing interest in India and am a member of the firm’s India group.

Penningtons Manches LLP is a leading UK law firm which provides high quality legal advice tailored to the needs of both businesses and individuals. With offices in the City of London, Basingstoke, Cambridge, Godalming, Guildford, Oxford and Reading, as well as in San Francisco, it has 115 partners and over 600 people in total. It aims to address the specific objectives of each client through its broad market insight and technical expertise, and offers a personal service founded on a strong team ethic.

The firm has established a strong reputation in a variety of sectors including technology, life sciences, education, social housing, retail and international wealth. The main areas of legal services provided are real estate, dispute resolution, corporate and commercial, private client and family.

Clients range from owner managed businesses and start-ups to multi-national corporations, public companies, professional partnerships, banks and financial institutions. The practice’s commitment to excellence is backed by a track record which dates back 300 years.

Penningtons Manches has a broad international focus and provides an integrated service for corporates, individuals and their family members wherever they live or do business. Many of its lawyers play leading roles in a range of international bodies.

Patrick Baddeley, a Penningtons Manches corporate partner, acted for Enterprise Therapeutics, a company formed in May 2014 and based at the Sussex Innovation Centre, University of Sussex. Patrick specialises in the life sciences industry and sits on the Advisory Board of OBN, the UK’s leading membership organisation which supports the UK’s emerging life science companies.

Enterprise Therapeutics’ focus is the discovery of novel disease modifying medications that target key drivers of respiratory disease pathology and progression in cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe asthma. These include targeting the underlying mechanisms of mucus congestion and lung dysfunction.

The additional funding will consolidate and accelerate the drug discovery and target identification programs initiated by the company earlier in 2015.

Funke Abimbola GENERAL COUNSEL & COMPANY SECRETARY (ROCHE (UK & IRELAND))

Bio

FUNKE ABIMBOLA is Managing Counsel (UK & Ireland), UK Data Privacy Officer and UK Company Secretary for Roche, leading the legal team that supports Roche’s pharmaceutical operations in the UK, Ireland, Malta and Gibraltar. She also has a commercial role as England Deployment Lead on a high priority, Roche market access project.

Roche is the world’s largest biotech company.

A practising solicitor for almost 15 years, Funke graduated with an honours degree in law from Newcastle University in 1994. She is qualified to practice law both in Nigeria and in England & Wales.

She is a recognised legal expert within the UK life sciences sector, has received multiple awards and other recognitions for her work and is listed in several international legal directories as an expert in her field.

Importantly, Funke is a notable diversity champion and campaigner within the UK legal industry and has received awards and other recognitions for her diversity work, all of which is done in her spare time on a voluntary basis.

A renowned public speaker, she speaks regularly at legal and diversity conferences in the UK and abroad. She speaks to and advises state school students as part of Speakers for Schools and also supports University students as a Professional Ambassador for Aspiring Solicitors, an organisation devoted to breaking down entry-level barriers for future solicitors from under-represented groups. She is a champion and regular speaker for WILL (Women in Law London), the largest network supporting pre-partnership women solicitors working in private practice and in-house. In addition, she established Women Leaders in Life Sciences law, what is believed to be the first international network dedicated to supporting the pipeline of female lawyer/leaders working within the life sciences industry. She is also personally sponsoring a research-based report on the social mobility issues within the legal profession, due to launch in September 2015.

She is an experienced and expert mentor and sponsor, especially to female and BME students and solicitors. As one of the UK’s leading female pioneers in law, she was recently appointed as a Professional Champion to the First 100 Years project, a ground-breaking project dedicated to building up a digital library celebrating 100 years of female lawyers in the UK.

A proud working mother to a 12 year old son, Funke juggles the demands of her career with home life and advises working mothers on how best to achieve the elusive work/life balance.

Funke is passionate about the law, diversity, education and the healthcare sector. She is also a keen fundraiser for various charities including Cancer Research UK and has twice served as a school governor and a board director.

Ajay Agrawal Managing Director Europe (Ignite Capital Partners, Inc.)

Bio

Dr. Ajay Agrawal, Ph.D., serves as the Managing Director of the Worldwide organization of collaborations in the pharmaceutical industry, London and Director of business development at Lipoxen Plc, AIM-listed company, in London. Dr. Agrawal serves as a Director of business development at Almac Sciences UK and a Special Advisor on healthcare for commonwealth British council, London. He served as the Head of Business Development for Lipoxen Plc (now Xenetic Biosciences, Inc.) since August 2008. Dr. Agrawal has extensive experience in the biotech & pharma industry worldwide. Dr. Agrawal has almost 20 years’ experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry worldwide. He founded PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals plc in 1995. Dr. Agrawal is an entrepreneur and advisor to the number of companies worldwide. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of four international biotechnology journals from the USA. He serves as a Director of Manipal Acunova Limited. He serves on the Board of Directors of Clinovo Ltd UK. Dr. Agrawal serves on the editorial advisory board of four international pharmaceutical journals from the USA. Dr. Agrawal served as a Non-Executive Director of ImmuPharma plc from April 27, 2007 to October 23, 2015. He serves on the editorial advisory board of three international trade journals, Current Drug Delivery, Infectious Disorders- Drug Targets and Recent Patents on Drug Delivery and Formulation, Bentham Press, California, USA. Dr. Agrawal has been a consultant to a number of companies in the sector, including Genovac GmbH (Germany), Qiagen (Germany), Aldevron (USA), PHT Pharma (Italy) and Karo Bio (Sweden). He holds a PhD in Chemistry and has conducted his post-doctoral research in the faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada and at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

Ajay Agrawal is a member in Public-listed Company, Immupharma plc London in London with operations in France and Switzerland. Also, member of the remuneration and audit committees. Won “the New Economy Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Awards for 2010″ for the best European drug development company, and for “best technology award” at the AIM awards, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers Oct 2009. Earlier, also won “Breakthrough of the year award” on our $500 million licensing deal with Cephalon at the “European Mediscience Awards 2009.

Ajay Agrawal is also is an advisory member for Ignite Capital Inc., in relation to the best method to become publically traded, either by IPO, reverse merger or S-1 and 20F Filers. Transactions we have been involved both in the USA and offshore include LBO’s, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings of both private and public companies.Seeking undervalued assets and IP with substantial upside.

He has also participated in a diverse range of financing structures including but not limited to senior and asset based and cash flow debt, mezzanine and convertible debt and common stock/ preferred equity. We provide advices in relation to the most efficient use of capital and have access to a substantial array of capital providers: accredited investors, full service investment banking firms, commercial banks, venture capital firms, fund managers, hedge funds, SBIC’s, offshore funds, PIPE funds, family offices and private equity sponsors.

Chris Oglesby Chief Executive Officer (Bruntwood)

Bio

Chris Oglesby grew up in Manchester from the age of four, attending Cheadle Hulme School, before studying at the London School of Economics and City University, London. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Property Valuation and Finance and joined the investment team in the City of London Office of St Quintin (now CBRE), before returning north to work for Bruntwood in 1991. He qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1993 and set up Bruntwood’s Manchester city centre office, adding an in-house sales and marketing team, before taking over the reins of the company as CEO at the end of 1999.

Chris Oglesby’s company is a family-owned and run company, Bruntwood has always operated with a strong set of values, founded on its belief that the success of the company comes from the success of its customers and the communities in which it operates. This commitment to cities has led to Chris playing an active and often leading role in many public and private sector initiatives and partnerships. He has been a board member at CityCo (Manchester’s city centre management company), the Piccadilly Partnership, Corridor Manchester (the city’s major knowledge economy initiative focused on its universities and hospitals) and the Irwell City Park initiative along the boundary between Manchester and Salford. In Liverpool and Leeds, he has taken his experience of best practice in local area partnerships and instigated the set-up of the Commercial District and West End Partnerships respectively in each city.

Bruntwood is nationally recognised for its support of cultural and community initiatives, donating 10% of its annual profits to charitable causes. Chris is a Trustee of The Oglesby Charitable Trust, which works with more than 40 community based charities a year, and is a board member of Onside, a new charity which is developing a series of youth centres across the North based on the successful Lads and Girls Club model pioneered in Bolton.

Chris has a strong belief in continued personal development. He was a member of the Academy of Chief Executives from 1998-2002 and has been a member of the Young Presidents Organisation since 2000, holding several officer positions over the years including Chairman in 2007/8. He also attended the Owner President Management Programme at Harvard for three years, graduating in 2007.

Chris Oglesby, Bruntwood CEO and MSP Chairman, said:“Through our acquisition of Alderley Park, we have a unique opportunity to create a diverse innovative community of bioscience businesses which is internationally respected for the quality of its work and as a sustainable business model. With our partners and the community of exceptional scientists who choose to remain at the Park, we will build a flagship for a vibrant life sciences industry in the North of England.”

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Past events

bioConclave 2018

Corporate Legal Innovators 2018

Education Innovation Conference (EIC2018) – London