True measure of contribution of an institution to the society and nation is the achievements of its alumni . Our alumni contributed in a great way towards the cause of nation building and by virtue of their bold vision & innovative skills have made their presence felt in all parts of the world. Let us Build Bridges Across Alumni and contribute in terms of money & expertise to help our Alma Mater in its pursuit of excellence in teaching & research.
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President’s Message
Dear Friends,
You would be glad to know that PECOSA J&K Chapter and PECOSA NCR Chapter were launched on 2 Sep and 9 Sep 2018 respectively. I believe that the formation of these chapters would go a long way in building bridges across Alumni. Efforts are also being made to establish PECOSA Chapters in other important cities as well as overseas. I appeal to our alumni residing in Pune , Bengaluru , Mumbai and Jaipur to organise themselves to form PECOSA Chapters in their regions so as to enhance their participation in the activities of PEC and PECOSA. As all of you know, our alumni have made their presence felt in various parts of the world . They played a great role in the development of Northern states of the country in particular and the nation as a whole in general. As on today our alumni are occupying prestigious positions in Civil Sevices, armed forces, railways, various engineering departments of Central and State Governments, corporate sector and PSUs. Some of them are leading entrepreneurs of the nation. Many of us who went overseas achieved unparalleled success by dint of their bold vision and hard work. I appeal to my fellow alumni all over the world to come forward to strengthen the interface between the institute and alumni by way of helping the institute improve R& D facilities in the institute and by providing internship and employment opportunities to the PEC students. It has been rightly said that nobody bothers about an institution more than its alumni. The 1968 batch has created a huge corpus fund with PECOSA for awarding eight scholarships of fifty thousand rupees every year to the PEC students. Thanks to generous contributions by the alumni, scholarships money has increased from 1.7 lakhs two years ago to around 8.5 lakhs per annum.
We are in the process of creating a modern website with advanced features which should be ready by the end of this year. We are also trying our best to update and validate Alumni date and request the alumni to fill their data on the Google Form PECOSA Connect posted in various WhatsApp and Facebook Groups.
I hope that all of you must have by now come across the Registration Notice for the next Global PEC Alumni Meet Scheduled to be held on 16 Feb 2019 in the PEC Campus. The pass out batches of the years 1959, 1969,1984, 1994 and 2004 would be honoured. This is a great opportunity to participate in the Alumni Meet and relive the college days. It would be our endeavour to make the Alumni Meet joyful . I request all of you to make the Global Alumni Meet eventful by participating in the meet in strength.
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Thanks and regards,
KK VOHRA
President PECOSA
Upcoming Events
16 Feb 2019
Global Alumni Meet – 2019
The Global Annual Alumni Meet of Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University) would be organized by Punjab Engineering College Old Students Association (PECOSA) in association with Dean Alumni, Corporate & International Relations, PEC on 16th February 2019 at PEC Campus Sector 12, Chandigarh.
The objective of Global Alumni Meet is to bring together Alumni from across all streams of PEC so that they can recreate their old college days and network with each other.
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Recent News
Notable Alumni
Shalabh Kumar Shali
B.Tech 1969, Electronics & Communication Engineering
In 1975 he founded the AVG Group of Companies, which designs and manufactures electronic components and products used in variety of industries such as automation and telecommunications. With headquarters in Chicago, AVG Group has operations all over the world. Life Made Ezee Technologies, Pvt. Ltd. is a division of AVG Group that provides home automation solutions in India, and is based in Bangalore, India. All these products are manufactured in USA and sold worldwide.
Additionally, Kumar has served as president or CEO of Circuit International Incorporated, Microfast Controls Corporation, Electronic Support Systems, PEC Reliance, Lika Tandy Corporation, Mc Technologies, and Hi-Tech Systems Corporation. Kumar has also been employed with Nanofast Incorporated and National Controls Corporation.
Subsequently, Kumar founded the National Indian American Public Policy Institute (NIAPPI), a think tank focusing on issues relevant to Indian Americans. In 2013, NIAPPI and Kumar took Chairwoman of House Republican Conference Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Congressman Aaron Schock, and Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis to visit the then-Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat and future Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and invite him to the United States. This Congressional visit, which came at a time where Modi was banned from entering the United States, ended his isolation from U.S. lawmakers and helped Modi establish relationships with US lawmakers.
In 2014, Kumar worked with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to encourage Indian Americans to run for office and get involved politically. He was also named Chairman of the Indian American Advisory Council for the House Republican Conference.
In July 2016, Kumar became a public supporter of the Republican candidate Donald Trump's candidacy in the 2016 Presidential Election, emerging as one of the biggest donors. Kumar cited Trump's stance on Pakistan and Muslims, namely Trump's plan to profile Muslims.
Shalabh Kumar, in his capacity as chairman of Indian American Advisory Council of Trump, created the 'Ab ki Baar Trump Sarkar' campaign which went viral instantly gathering over 2 million views in the first week. Shalabh Kumar became a sensation overnight on social media and TV & print media. He ran multiple digital ad campaigns in favour of Trump through video & social content targeting Indian-Americans and undecided voters in the battleground states.
In August 2016, Kumar was named Chairman of the Indian Advisory Board for the Trump campaign. In this capacity, he designed the "Abki bar Trump Sarkar" ("This time, Trump government") campaign to sway Hindu/Indian voters. Borrowing the slogan popularized by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 2014 campaign, the campaign ran an ad featuring Donald Trump speaking in Hindi and stating his love of India and Hindu people.
Kalpana Chawla
1970, Aeronautical
Kalpana Chawla (March 17, 1962 – February 1, 2003) was born in Karnal, India. She was thefirst Indian-American astronaut and first Indian woman in space. She first flew on SpaceShuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic armoperator. In 2003,Chawla was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She completed her earlier schooling at Tagore BaalNiketan Senior Secondary School, Karnal and completed her Bachelor of Engineering degreein Aeronautical Engineering at Punjab Engineering College at Chandigarhin 1982. She movedto the United States in 1982 where she obtained a Master of Science degree in aerospaceengineering from theUniversity of Texas at Arlington in 1984. Determined to become anastronaut even in the face of the Challenger disaster, Chawla went on to earn a second Mastersin 1986 and a PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado atBoulder.
Jaspal Singh Bhatti
B.Tech 1978, Electrical Engineering
Jaspal Singh Bhatti (3 March 1955 – 25 October 2012) was an Indian television personalityfamous for his satirical take on the problems of the common man. He is most well known forhis television series Flop Show and mini capsules Ulta Pulta which ran onDoordarshan,India’s national television network, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was also known asthe “King of Comedy”.In 2013, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan (posthumously), India’s third highestcivilian award.Born on 3 March 1955 at Amritsar, Bhatti graduated from Punjab Engineering College,Chandigarh as an electrical engineer. Bhatti married Savita Bhatti on 24 March 1985, and hasa son, Jasraj Bhatti, and a daughter, Raabiya Bhatti. His Wife Savita Bhatti was chosen in2014 Elections as a Candidate of Aam Aadmi Party from Chandigarh, but she opted out.
Mr. Arvind Bali
B.Tech 1982, Mechanical Engineering
Director & CEO, Videocon Telecom and Connect Broadband ARVIND BALI as DIRECTOR & CEO currently heading Videocon Telecom in its maiden journey of becoming the most admired brand with enriching lives of millions & guiding the organization to ride the next wave of telecom growth in India. Videocon Advanced Communication Lab was established by QTL (Connect Broadband & Videocon Telecom) at PEC Electronics and Communication Department. The prestigious lab facility in the institute was inaugurated by our alumnus Mr. Arvind Bali. An accomplished BUSINESS LEADER with 30+ year’s expertise in management of various business streams ranging from TELECOM, PLANT & OPERATIONS, MANUFACTURING & UTILITIES with globally respected outcomes. He possesses capabilities of transforming under-performing organizations with powerful analytical skills, potent communication capability & strategic vision.
Pamela Kumar
1983, Electronics
Incubating “CLOUD COMPUTING INNOVATION COUNCIL” Pamela completed her Bachelor of Engineering from Punjab Engineering College in Electronics & Electrical Communication & her Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University, USA. She has also completed her Executive Program in Management in the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India. She was the first ever appointee from India in the IEEE Standards Association – Board of Governors, as the Member at large for 2011/12. She also held the position of Chair for IEEE Computer Society and Chapter Coordination & membership development for the IEEE Bangalore Chapter. Pamela brings with her an experience of 27+ years in the semiconductor, computers and communication industry. She holds 3 patents in the area of networking accelerators. Prior to TI, she worked with C-DOT in Bangalore and at AT&T, Bell Labs in USA. Since February 2013 Pamela has been working on incubating the CLOUD COMPUTING INNOVATION COUNCIL of India as an open forum to bring together technology experts across industry, Academia and Government to collaborate and innovate around Cloud Computing Technologies to enable rapid deployment of cloud computing as well as accelerate the emergence of the Indian ecosystem as a global leader. From June 2007 to Feb 2013, Pamela held various positions in the IBM India Systems and Technology (STG) Lab. As Director of the Technology & Semiconductor Lab and later the Storage and Networking lab she helped establish globally integrated labs working on cutting edge technology and product development in the areas of nanotechnology, processor & ASIC technologies as well as mid-range and high-end scale-out NAS storage and FCoE networking solutions. Prior to IBM (1999 – 2007), she held various positions at Texas Instruments (TI) India.
Praveer Sinha
Btech 1984, Electrical
Praveer Sinha is the CEO & Managing Director of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TATA Power-DDL) a Public Private Partnership (Joint Venture) of Tata Power and Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi. Mr. Sinha has nearly 34 years of experience in Generation and Distribution sector. He has been responsible for developing and setting up Greenfield and Brownfield Power plants in India and abroad. Apart from this, he has actively contributed in bringing about huge socio-economic development and empowerment programs for youth and children in these project sites. He is a proud recipient of : • Adjudged CEO OF THE YEAR in 2013 and 2015. • Honoured at ‘India Power Awards-2015Best State Power Utility Awards-2016, Asian Power Awards 2016. • National Award for Promotion/ Facilitation of Roof Top Solar Programs TPDDL works towards promotion of Distributed Energy resources including Roof Top solar projects, Energy Storage programs, Automated Demand Response and Electric Vehicle charging systems, applicable both in the urban and rural environment. Under Mr. Sinha’s leadership, TPDDL is ranked 61st amongst 100 Best Companies to Work for in India; also declared 2nd Best in Energy, Oil and Gas Industry, Bestowed by GPTW. TATA Power-DDL has received National Award for adopting Effective cost Management Techniques, Bestowed By: 11th National Award for Excellence in Cost Management, Social Responsibility Award in Platts 2014 Global Energy Awards. and “National Award” for Innovative Training practices : 2013 -14 instituted by Indian Society for Training & Development (ISTD) among several other. Mr. Sinha is also a member of prominent committees for reforms in Power Sector like ‘Committee on Financial Viability and Restructuring of Discoms’ and ‘Committee to Review the National Electricity Policy’, Member of the Apex Committee on National Smart Grid Mission, etc. He has been unanimously elected as the Chairman and Director of the Smart Utilities Group (SUG) and a India Smart Grid Forum respectively, which promotes the Vision, Direction and Focus to address challenges in improving the performance of Distribution Utilities by adoption, assimilation and deployment of state-of-the-art technologies which are scalable in the Indian context.
Rajinder Kumar Kaura
Btech 1973, Electrical
Er. Rajinder Kumar is the driving force of Bergen Group of Companies. Having vast experience & expertise in the field of electrical and electronics, he is an alumni of Punjab Engineering college and NORAD. Presently he is the Chairman cum Managing Director of Bergen Group of Companies and has 30 years experience in Sales and After Sales of Capital Machinery in the field of PCB and PCB Assembly & New Project Implementations. Mr. Kaura has 15 years experience in Power Sector, expertise in BOS for complete Solar Farms, Rural Electrification - designing as well as installation and commissioning. He is professionally Affiliated to different companies- SESI(Solar energy Society of India)-Vice President, IPCA(Indian Printed Circuit Association)-Past President(2002-2004), Founded EDCI(electronic Designer’s Council of India) and Patrons of EDCI events, Promoter Director- Electronic Skill Development Council in Electronics Sector & a Member Executive of –ELCINA. He is having big contribution in setting up industry in the field of- Electronics(Nokia, Bharti Telecom, Videocon), Solar(Indosolar, Moser Baer, Emmvee Solar), Automobile Industry(Continental, Bosch) & Smart Card Industry(MSP, APK identification). His major social contribution was with the help of NORAD, village electrification for more than 35 villages in J & K, Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh.
Rakesh Sharma
MBA 1978, Management
Rakesh Sharma superannuated from Philips as Sr. Director in April 2015, after a career spanning 35 years in India and overseas. At Philips key roles have been Global Head of Marketing for two business unitsbased in The Netherlands, Head of the Domestic Appliances Business; Head of Strategy, New Business Develop-ment and Mergers &Acquisition in India. Since superannuation he has worked as consultant with Philips on the demerger of the company, currently working with TERI as Advisor – Innovation, Ventures & Business Developmentand with PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh as Consultant - Centre of Excellence in Industrial & Product Design, and on the Advisory Panel for Design Innovation, Ventures & Startups. Education, Training: MBA – University Business School, Punjab University - 1978 BE, Mechanical Engineering – University of Technology (Punjab Engineering College), Chandigarh - 1976
Rakesh Yadav
BE 1970, Aeronautical
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Rakesh Yadav , an alumnus of 1970 batch of Aeronautical , was commissioned in IAF in Jul 71 in Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) branch .He was allocated Russian fighters stream and over years became one of most experienced officer of MiG 21 fleet.Commencing from Engineering Officer of 4 Sqn , he was part of Foxbat 3 Mach MiG 25 induction team .His main assignments include Senior Engineer of a front line fighter - 3 Sqn,Chief Engineering Officer of forward most fighter base ,Stn Cdr Highground Chandigarh and Principal Director of entire Russian fleet of IAF etc . For his meritorious services he was decorated twice by Hon'ble Rashtrapati with AVSM n VSM besides numerous commendations .
Sanjiv Bhavnani
Btech 1983, Mechanical
An engineering Graduate from PEC, Chandigarh with Post Graduate Diplomas in Management and Information Technology and a vast experience of over 30 years working with leading companies. He started his career in 1983 with Blue Star Ltd, as a project engineer & quickly moved up the corporate ladder as a Senior Exective at CMC Ltd, the Vice Preisdent( Marketing) at the French transnational- Tech nova Information Systems, culminating at Meera & Co. Ltd as CEO in 1990. Going on to start Infotecnics in 1991, he built it into one of the most respected, recognized and fast growing System Integration companies in india by 2002. He was also a Director of Image Analyser Ltd (UK); a Director of Opentech Thai Network Specialists Ltd(Thailand) and Chairman of Cyberworks Visesh LLC(USA). He was awarded the “Udyog Rattan”in 2007 and was included in the “International Who’s Who Proffessionals”and Madison Who’s Who’for his outstanding contribution to the Indian IT Industry. He founded Mentorpreneur Advisors in 2009 and Continue to mentor over a dozen Indian SME & start ups as well as several large transnational in their business. He is Director of Mentorpreneur Venture Capital Pvt Ltd, TelEXcell Infranet & Net Edge Info techniques.He recently launched RIM Guru Infotecniques LLP as the first commercial launch. He is frequent speaker on Entrepreneurship at several Management Institutes & Engineering colleges and also mentors the winner of the national Tata First Dot contest.
Dr. Vijay Vasandani
B.Tech 1983, Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Vijay Vasandani
Dr. Vasandani graduated from PEC in 1983 with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. After a brief stint at EIL as a management trainee, he went to United States for higher studies. In the U.S. he received two Master’s degrees in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech.
Dr. Vasandani started his career at IBM as a solution architect and was a primary contributor to the architecture of their first-generation Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) product which is marketed as ENOVIA today. His team was responsible for delivering the UNIX and Windows versions of this enterprise software which was identified by industry analysts, at the time, as the “Recognized Leader” in the PLM space. He also laid the foundation for a web interface and CAD integrations for this product which were released later. IBM recognized Dr. Vasandani’s valuable contributions to their PLM product suite by giving him several awards including the “Outstanding Innovation Award” for technical leadership, “Market Driven Quality Award” for excellence in quality of services and “The Invention Achievement Award” for his technical patents.
In 1996, Dr. Vasandani became an entrepreneur and as the CEO of his own company, Axiom Systems, he assumed full responsibility for the company’s vision, strategy, and operations. He orchestrated all aspects of the business including setting strategy, creating business units, commercializing products, scrutinizing financials, developing alliances, and instilling new processes and procedures to ensure profitability in all years of operation. He sharpened market focus and created a consistent image of Axiom Systems as a “Trusted Partner” and an “Enterprise Technology Company” capable of delivering high quality PLM solutions and services.
Axiom Systems, under his astute leadership was recognized as a premier partner of IBM and Dassault Systèmes and provided engineering design process transformation advice to many Fortune 500 companies including Sikorsky Aircraft Corp (United Technologies), Lockheed Martin, Pratt and Whitney, Newport News Ship Building, Gulf Stream Aerospace (General Dynamics), Parker-Hannifin, Space Systems – LORAL, MIDREX, Tesla and Walt Disney Imagineering to just name a few.
In 2006, Dr. Vasandani negotiated the sale of Axiom Systems to the satisfaction of all Axiom Systems’ shareholders. He then went on to use his business acumen to lead an effort to consolidate the U.S., European and Indian operations of NobleTek, a spinoff of the acquiring company, to set up their worldwide engineering practice.
Dr. Vasandani is currently the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for a startup, GoProcure, where he is the thought leader for innovative SaaS based B2B procurement solutions. He also serves on technical advisory boards where he gets the opportunity to pursue his passions and evaluate emerging, disruptive technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for business applications.
Dr. Vasandani has been a resident of the U.S. state of Georgia since 1986 and an avid fan of the Atlanta Falcons. He does not miss any opportunity to cheer the Indian Cricket Team either and fondly cherishes memories of the D.P. Azad training camps in Sector 16 stadium where he had the fortune to play with Kapil Dev and Yograj Singh as a teenager. He currently lives in the Suwanee suburb of Atlanta with his lovely wife, Dr. Geetanjali Vasandani, an internist at Grady Hospital. They both are proud parents of two wonderful adult daughters Natasha, an industrial engineer, and Nimisha, a Pharmacy student at UGA.
Kamar Aulakh
B.Tech 1980, Civil Engineering
Kamar Aulakh works with Velos, Inc; clinical trials management information systems as its Chief Operating Officer. Aulakh comes with an extensive background as engineer, entrepreneur and business leader in technology and healthcare. Aulakh has substantial corporate experience. He was President and CEO of Quark, Inc., a leading developer of software solutions. As entrepreneur, Aulakh founded companies in the U.S., Switzerland and India
Shikha Arora
Btech 2000, Electrical
She is a successful entrepreneur, having built a successful technology company, MAZ Digital, headquartered in NewYork, United States; running for almost 5 years. The company is primarily in the domain of Media tech and provides a bouquet of DIY tools for publishers to take their publications onto smart devices like ipad, iphone, android devices, apple watch, apple tv etc. As the CTO and Founder of MAZ, she had the honour of being invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the "Startup India" event held by Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on January 16th 2016. She was also, recently invited by Doordarshan National to discuss the startup ecosystem in India, and share her personal story as an entrepreneur. She is of the opinion that entrepreneurship begins in school, and students should be rightly informed, and inspired at these platforms, to pursue their dreams and not settle for less.
Gaurav Moudgil
B.Tech 2004, Civil Engineering
Educational Credentials
Gold Medalist PEC 2000-2004
Recepient of Dr Awtar Singh & Teji Fellowship for UC Berkeley
MS in Structures, Mechanics & Materials from University of California at Berkeley
Student Leadership Team at International House at Berkeley
Silver Medalist - Mathematics for National Talent Search Competition at K12 level in New Delhi
Partner - Global C
GLOBAL C is a Project Management & Development Advisory Company based out of Gurgaon and having presence Pan India & Projects Experience of Spain, Maldives & African sub-continent. Global C has rich expertise in management of all forms of Urban Infrastructure development including Hospitals, Townships, Hotels, Commercial complexes, Office Building, Institutional buildings, Data Centres, Structures for Diplomatic Missions, Cinemas, Clean room facilities, Auditoriums and associated ancillary developments and many more.
Global C was started in 2006 by a team of professionals with an outlook to provide reliable & mathematics based project management & advisory services. Traditionally in the Indian Construction Sector such services were either being provided by Project Architects or Retired Industry professionals from PSUs/ Govt Enterprises , Specific Sector Professionals or in some cases Confidants of Clients(s). Further numerous MNCs in property management also were exploring Project Management Verticals due to their Experience in process management & Software driven project control. Aim of GLOBAL C was to amalgamate Professional Technical Experience with Process Controls. Global C is based out of Gurgaon and has an office in Madrid, Spain for it’s new international operations & clients based out of Europe & Africa.
AWARDS
GLOBAL C has been covered by Consultants Review, Insights Success, NBMCW, Silicon India , Construction World as emerging & amongst the Top Promising Project Management Companies of India in numerous surveys.
Project Awards
Member of Indian Green Building Congress & Indian Association of Structural Engineers·
PMC for Best Project in North for Social Housing, Avalon Gardens at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.
PMC for LEED Gold Rated Corporate Office of Sandhar Technologies at Gurgaon, Haryana.
PMC for LEED Platinum Rated Nayati Medicity at Golf Course Road, Gurgaon.
PMC for UIDAI data Center – GNDC2 for WIPRO technologies at Greater Noida, UP
PMC for Flagship 351 Bedded Multi-Specialty Hospital for Nayati Healthcare & Research at Mathura, UP
Tarunjit Singh Butalia
Btech 1987, Civil
Tarunjit Singh Butalia, a Dublin man of the Sikh faith, is the 2016 recipient of the Luminosa Award for Unity presented by the Focolare Center for Education in Dialogue. The Focolare movement payed tribute through this award to Butalia’s decades of work in interreligious dialogue and peacemaking, as well as for his scientific contributions to environmental sustainability. Noting Butalia's contributions to the field of interreligious relations, the Focolare movement recognized a special trip taken at the invitation of Pope Benedict XIV in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace, when Butalia visited the Vatican as one of only five Sikhs invited from around the world. His efforts to facilitate stronger ties between these faiths was reflected by his initiating high-level dialogue between the U.S. Sikh community and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Butalia also serves the boards of Religions for Peace — USA, the North American Interfaith Network and the Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations. In Columbus, he is part of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio.
Sandeep Bakshi
B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering
Sandeep Bakhshi (born 1960/1961) is an Indian banker, and the CEO of ICICI Bank.
Bakhshi earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, and has a postgraduate degree in management from XLRI - Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur.
Bakhshi, an employee of ICICI since 1986, was appointed as COO in June 2018.Prior to this, he was the managing director and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance since August 2010.
Mohit Anand
B.Tech
Mr. Mohit Anand has been Managing Director and Managing Director of India & South Asia Business at Kellogg India Private Limited since August 2017 and serves as its Member of Asia Pacific leadership team. Mr. Anand served as Global Vice President of Unilever, where he spearheading the water purification category. He served as the Global Vice President for Unilever's tea brand Lipton. Prior to joining Unilever, he spent 15 years in Procter & Gamble. He has been a Director of Kellogg India Private Limited since August 2017.
Kellogg India has hired Mohit Anand as its managing director for its India and South Asia business. Anand succeeds Sangeeta Pendurkar who resigned after a six year stint at Kellogg India. Anand will also be a member of the Kellogg Asia Pacific leadership team. ET was first to report about this.
Anand joins Kellogg from Unilever where his last assignment was the global vice president spearheading the water purification category for the company based out of London.
Commenting on the development, Amit Banati, president, Kellogg Asia Pacific, said, “We are pleased to have Mohit join Kellogg to lead our India and South Asia business. Mohit is an excellent leader with deep India, Asia Pacific and global experiences across a number of categories and I am excited to have him join us and build on Kellogg India’s legacy.”
Speaking of his new role, Anand said, “I am excited to join a company that has created love over breakfast tables for over a century. The India breakfast & snacks market, in particular, is constantly evolving with the dynamic consumption trends and entry of several players. I am looking forward to the ways of further unlocking the potential of the category through nutritious foods that Kellogg offers.”
Dr. Ravi Segal
B.Tech
Dr. Ravi Segal, a graduate of PEC Chandigarh has a rich experience of 30 years in Energy industry. He started his career with BHEL as an Engineer Trainee. While his tenure at BHEL, he got deeply interested in finer aspects of energy and power sector and pursued his Ph.D. in Power systems Stabilizers from IIT, Delhi. He is currently working as MD, GE Energy consulting–India region. Dr. Segal has a diverse experience of various roles in GE varying from Sales to Consulting to various leadership roles. He is currently engaged in techno-economic evaluation and policy recommendations for rural electrification solutions involving renewable sources such as biomass and wind. His present interests also involve the promising field of Grid Scale Energy Storage Devices which holds a great promise for the future once the trend of distributed generation and Micro Grids catches on.
Having read a case study on best practices in GE in 1st term, class of IPMX was excited as well as full of curiosity about business and practices of GE, India. Focusing his talk on what GE has been doing, Dr. Segal spoke about business and diversifications of GE, India since it widened operations in Energy sector in 1996.
He talked about the transformation of GE from capital sector to Core sectors such as Aircraft Engines and Healthcare. It was an enriching experience for IPMX, as we had read “What” GE did, and we got the “Why and How” perspective of business decisions of GE.
With the context of Energy Security for the country and a seemingly countering goal of overcoming Environmental challenges currently facing the world, there was a healthy discussion regarding the viability and optimal mix of Renewable Generation vis-à-vis Thermal Sector-the current mainstay of country’s generation profile. Dr. Segal’s insights effectively helped us appreciate the amalgamation of technology and business that forms the core of Energy Sector.
It was a highly informative and encouraging session for all of us. We thank Dr. Ravi Segal for taking out time from his busy schedule to interact with IPMX Class of 2016.
Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia (Badshah)
BTech 2006, Civil
Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, better known by his stage name Badshah. He was born in Delhi. He did his schooling from Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura, Delhi where he used to perform on his school choir. Prior to becoming a full-time musician he received education to become a civil engineer from PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh during which he was exposed to new Punjabi music and has stated that if he had not become a rapper, he would "have been an IAS officer. Presently he is a popular Rapper singer, songwriter & musician. He rose to renowned for his song Saturday- Saturday, Abhi to party shuru hui hai & Dj Waley Babu.
Ajay Puri
Electrical 1976, Electrical
Ajay Puri is Director and board member responsible for global operations of a British MNc MetTube Sdn. Bhd based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has been involved in transforming and globalization of fiercely competitive business through incubation of leadership technologies and premium brand positioning by creating unique customer - shareholder- employee value across 4 continents. Previously in 1991, as Group President and CEO of Mitsubishi, Toyotomi licensee he was involved in setting up entrepreneurial new businesses. In 1986 he was Director of United Technologies - Carrier in India as part of Asia pacific operations initial core start up team. He started his career with Voltas then moved to Usha Breco as their General Manager. Ajay's work experience with global MNCs spans wide ranging engineering industries including components, consumer durable, industrial products, mega projects, life time value integration involving strategic mega deals. He has managed successful greenfield start ups, turnarounds and globalization. His Passion is to fuse team aspirations, technology, service and marketing ideas focused to create customer long term contract locks for sustainable and enhancing shareholder value. Forging long term value-partnerships, ingraining culture to deliver more with less in ephemeral complex future is his area of expertise. Ajay was honored with "Rajiv Gandhi excellence award" for outstanding services, achievements and contributions to India in 1996. In 2000, he was honored with inclusion into International Who's who by who's who historical society based in USA. Ajay has keen interest in yoga, spirituality, playing and listening to music, dancing, painting, art, playing table tennis and cricket.
Manmohan Singh Kalsi
1970, Mechanical
Dr. Kalsi earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College in India in 1967. He came to the United States to pursue his graduate studies which were also in the field of Mechanical Engineering, and chose the University of Houston. While at the University of Houston, Professor Gabriel Fazekas had an outsized influence on Dr. Kalsi’s research, and eventual career path. Dr. Kalsi earned his master’s degree in 1970 and began a career in industry. While working full time, he continued his graduate studies at the University of Houston earning his Ph.D. in 1975. Dr. Kalsi worked in the valve design and manufacturing industry for 10 years before starting his own business. The last position he held was the Manager of R&D at a major valve company in the Houston area. In 1978, Dr. Kalsi founded Kalsi Engineering, Inc. to provide design, analysis, and testing services for mechanical equipment to the oilfield, petrochemical, and nuclear power industries. Kalsi Engineering, Inc. is recognized worldwide for providing technically rigorous solutions to some of the most challenging valve and sealing problems in these industries. Based upon insights gained from his graduate research, Dr. Kalsi developed a hydrodynamic rotary seal for harsh applications in the drilling industry. Over the years, other innovations have dramatically expanded the performance, reliability and life of the Kalsi-brand rotary seal product line. Dr. Kalsi continues to maintain a very strong relationship with the University of Houston. He is currently the Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board and a member of the Engineering Leadership Board of Cullen College of Engineering. Dr. Kalsi has continued over the years to donate to numerous scholarships that have supported undergraduate and graduate engineering students at the University of Houston. Recently, Dr. Kalsi and his wife, established an endowed professorship in honour of his Advisor, Professor Gabriel Fazekas. Dr. Kalsi visited PEC during PEC Global Alumni Meet – 2017 and said that he always felt that one of his unfinished businesses is to go back and give it to the institute who made it all possible for him, which provided him with the fundamental first class education second to none. He also emphasised that to make it work we need to be committed to restore this institute to the old glory and surpass that old glory.
Col. (Retd.) Sanjeev Kaul
Civil 1978, Civil
Col (Retd.) Sanjeev Kaul, is a Security Technologist and author of six books. Being a government servant with a technology background and a good experience of office automation and networking systems service, Col. Kaul realised how the identification of an individual is at risk. With a passion to work in this field and invent an ‘Exchange cum Interface’ in India, he researched over a decade & created a technology keeping Indian conditions in mind, to help secure the country technologically. Col. Kaul's ‘ideated and research platform’ would be a dynamic identification system carrying out identification as well as verification simultaneously without any human interference. The device is basically a compatible hardware machine - Palmetrix. Col Kaul has given a befitting name - ‘Chanakya Chakra’ to his innovative project, which once implemented, will be a National-International Interface based on Dynamic Identification System called DID.
Dinesh Khanna
Civil 1970, Civil
Perhaps one of the best sportspersons of Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, Mr. Dinesh Khanna was born in a well to do family of Fatehgarh Churian, District Gurdaspur. He took to Badminton at the age of five. India’s glory at International Badminton Tournaments during the 1960s was due to players like Mr Dinesh Khanna. Till date, he is the only Indian player to have won the Asian Badminton Championship. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1965 for excellence in badminton. His other significant achievements include Bronze Medal in Kingston Commonwealth Games 1966, Indian National Title in 1966 and Semi Final of All England Championship 1966. He was seeded third in this event in 1967. He played for the country in the Thomas Cup for five series from 1963 to 1976. He also captained the Indian badminton teams on various occasions during this period. He was aware of the problems of sports persons with regard to limited career opportunities and financial problems. His proposal to recruit and train promising sports persons was accepted by the senior management of IOC (where he worked for almost 36 years). As a result of this policy, many sports persons brought laurels to the country (e.g. P. Gopichand, Aparna Poppat, K. Srikanth, P. Kashyap, Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu, Jawala Gutta, Ashwini Ponappa (Badminton), Varinder Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Pujara Rahane, Rohit Sharma (Cricket), Rohan Bopana (Tennis), A. Sharath Kamal (TT), eight Olympians in Hockey, four Olympiad players in Chess, etc. He joined Indian Oil Corporation in 1966 as an Assistant Engineer and rose to the level of General Manager during 2001-2003 and thereafter, as Joint Secretary and Secretary, Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), as General Manager on deputation with PSPB. Post retirement, he was Government of India Observer for Badminton during 2008-2014. He was responsible for selection of Indian Badminton team probables for 2010 Commonwealth Games. During these Games, the Indian Badminton Team gave its best ever performance winning two Gold, one Silver and one Bronze.
Dr. Satish Kumar
Aerospace Engineering 1980, Aerospace
Dr. Satish kumar, 1980 batch PEC alumunus was awarded the coveted PadmaShree in science and engineering, India’s 4th highest civilian honour at the Republic Day this year, on 26th January 2016 by Government of India. Dr. Kumar is currently serving as director general, missiles and strategic systems, is a distinguished aerospace scientist of national repute with outstanding contribution to missiles and strategic systems. Dr. Satish Kumar did pioneering work in the field of supersonic combustion in India and its related test facility at DRDL, Hyderabad in collaboration with premier institutes, which culminated into a major hypersonic technology development program of India. He also served as an outstanding scientist and director of TBRL of DRDO. With 40 research papers and 2 patents to his credit he is a fellow of Aeronautical society of India, life member of Astronautical Society of India and Combustion Institute of Indian Section and a fellow of Society of Shock Wave Research, India. He has previously been bestowed with the Technology Award by Ministry of Defence, Prime Minister’s special award for development of strategic weapons, performance award by DRDO.
Gaurav Dhillon
B.Tech
Gaurav Dhillon is the chairman and CEO of SnapLogic, an enterprise application and dataintegration software development company that helps organizations connect business applications and Web services. An early investor in SnapLogic, Gaurav joined as CEO in 2009.Gaurav is also the chairman and founder of online movie site Jaman. In May 2007, Gaurav was recognized by VarietyMagazine in its Fest Zest 60 List “Faces to watch for the Cannes Film Festivals 60thAnniversary.”Gaurav was the co-founder and former CEO of Informatica Corporation, a company whosemarket cap exceeded a billion dollars, 2006, on the Nasdaq. Over 12 years, Gaurav led Informatica from a startupidea to a global, public software company – ultimately forging a broad acceptance of the visionhe pioneered.Prior to Informatica, Gaurav held management and engineering positions at Sterling Softwareand Unisys Corp. At Unisys, he became one of the youngest system architects in thecompany’s history.He is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.
Kairon
BTech 1970, Civil
Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon (born 1959) is a politician from Punjab. He belongs to the Kaironpolitical family and is currently the longest serving minister in the state of Punjab. He is thegreat-grandson of Nihal Singh Kairon, grandson of Pratap Singh Kairon, son of SurinderSingh Kairon, son-in-law of Parkash Singh Badal, nephew of Harcharan Singh Brar andbrother-in-law of Sukhbir Singh Badal. He is a four-time Member of Legislative Assembly inthe Punjab Legislative Assembly from the Patti Constituency. He has served thrice as aminister. He has held the portfolios of Excise and Taxation, Food and IT.He holds a BTech degree from Punjab Engineering College and an MBA from Northwestern’sKellogg School of Management. He has two sons, Dilsher Kairon and Jai Kairon.
Yogesh Lohiya
B.Tech 1973, Production & Industrial Engineering
After graduating in Production Engineering in 1973, Worked in Atlas Cycles Industries Ltd. and
joined the Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd (OIC) in 1977. Rose to become the youngest General
Manager of OIC in 2002. In 2007, the high powered Committee of the Government of India
hand-picked for the position of CMD of General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re).
Designated as Chairman of GIC Housing Finance Co. Ltd and GIC Asset Management Co. Ltd.
Served as Director/Member on the Board of several insurance/reinsurance Companies in India
and abroad like LIC; Register of Shipping; ECGC Ltd.; Asia Reinsurance Corporation, Bangkok;
East Africa Reinsurance Co.; Nairobi; KenIndia Assurance Co. Ltd, Nairobi; Governing Board of
National Insurance Academy, Deputy President of Insurance Institute of India etc. Opened
branches in London, Dubai, Kuala-Lumpur and obtained Eventual Reinsurers status in Brazil.
GIC Re become 15th largest Reinsurance Company in the world in 2011 from 28 in 2008.
After superannuation from GIC Re, joined IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Co. Ltd. in 2013 as
MD and CEO.
At present, founder MD of Trinity General Insurance Company Limited to start a top level
insurance company from scratch
Appointed member of expert committee on Reinsurance (from 2017) and Member of
Reinsurance Advisory Committee (from 2018) by IRDAI. Asia Risk Transfer Solution, Singapore
appointed on its Board in 2018.
Chairman of Insurance Committee of PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Member of
Insurance and Pension Committee of FICCI, Assochem and CII.
A prolific writer, have authored several books on various issues related to the Insurance sector
and have also presented papers on a variety of subjects at seminars in India and Abroad.
Several of these have been awarded.
Vanya Mishra
Electrical Engineering 2012, Electrical
Vanya Mishra is the winner of Femina Miss India in March 2012. She is currently doing her under graduate program in Electrical Engineering from PEC. Vanya represented India at the Miss World 2012 pageant in Dongsheng Fitness Center Stadium, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China on 18th August 2012. She won the Miss Social Networking and Miss Beauty with a Purpose title. She was also crowned Dabur Gulabari Miss Rose Glow 2012, Bharathi Vidyapeeth Femina Miss Photogenic 2012, Maybelline Femina Miss Colossal Eyes 2012 and Dabur Femina Miss Beautiful Skin 2012 in the subcontests of Pantaloons Femina Miss India.
Varun Berry
Btech 1984, Mechanical
Mr. Varun Berry joined Britannia Industries Limited as Vice President & Chief Operating Officer on 1st February, 2013 and has been the Managing Director of Britannia Industries Limited since April 1, 2014. He has an experience of over 27 years with premier companies like Hindustan Unilever and Pepsico, both in India and overseas and a successful track record in leading start ups, turnarounds, joint ventures and growth businesses. Recipient of Forbes India Leadership Awards 2017 for 'Best CEO-Private sector'
Vijay K. Dhir
PHD 1972
Vijay K. Dhir (born 1943) is the Dean of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, since March 2003. He is also a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, joining the UCLA faculty in 1974.[1] He is the principal investigator of the Boiling eXperiment Facility - Nucleate Pool Boiling eXperiment (BXF-NPBX), which was conducted in micro-g environment on the International Space Station to understand bubble growth, detachment and subsequent motion of single and large merged bubbles boiling in micro-g environment.[2]Dhir was born in India, where he received his B.E. and M.Tech. degrees (Punjab Engineering College and Indian Institute of Technology). He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1972 from the University of Kentucky.
Vinod Aggarwal
Btech 1973, Electronics
Vinod Kumar Aggarwal, presently, a telecommunication consultant, is a renowned business and management expert. He was born in Amritsar 1952 and has been topper throughout. Gold Medalist Punjab University, Higher Secondary Part I, 1967, DAV Higher Secondary School Amritsar; Silver Medalist Punjab University, Higher Secondary Part II, 1968, DAV Higher Secondary School Amritsar; Silver Medalist Punjab University, Pre-Engineering, 1969, DAV College, Amritsar. He became Electronics and Communications engineer, PEC, Punjab University 1973, Gold Medalist, First amongst all branches of engineering, University record holder, 90.44% marks. He is MBA, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, North Carolina, USA 2001 and was declared best student of program. He joined Philips India Ltd. as R&D engineer in Professional Electronics and worked there for 21 years as R&D Manager Professional Electronics and General Manager Telecommunications. Thereafter, he was Executive Vice President with Siemens for Public Communications for over 11 years and Director ( Public Operators & Defence) with Nokia Siemens Networks for over 3 years. He served as Chairman and Managing Director, Orckit-Corrigent Telecom for 4 years. He has handled businesses over US $ 400 million annually and is widely travelled in Europe and USA. During Philips and Siemens tenures, he won several awards for innovations and business excellence.
Vinod Sood
Btech 1984, Electrical
Vinod Sood is currently Managing Director at Hughes Systique Corporation (HSC), an Engineering R&D services and solutions company. Vinod is a veteran of hi-tech software industry with a career span of 30 plus years. Mr. Sood has recently been awarded National Award -1st Prize for Outstanding Export Performance in The Medium Enterprises Category by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on 27th June 2017 i.e. on the UN Day for MSMEs. He was also presented “The Pioneer” Award by the Government of Haryana at Digital Haryana Summit on 15th September 2017.The Award is in recognition of the contributions made by HUGHES in laying the foundation stone for the growth and development of IT Sector in Gurgaon. Hughes was the 1st IT company to set up its Engineering R&D centre at Gurgaon in the early 1990’s. Vinod is Co-Chair of NASSCOM Northern Regional Council and member of NASSCOM Engineering and R&D council and on AMCHAM ICT Committee. Vinod also was member of the National Committee on IT & ITeS of CII. He has been instrumental in actively promoting Industry and Academia collaboration. He is on the Advisory Committee of the Institute of Informatics and Communications, University of Delhi and played a key role in setting up of IIC. Vinod was Chairman of RMC-CORE in Network Engineering, a unique initiative of TIFAC, Department of Science and Technology for promoting collaboration between Government, Academia and Industry. Vinod is involved in guiding and mentoring young entrepreneurs and startups and is on the Advisory Boards of some of these startups most notably OYO. A TiE Charter member, he is on CII, NASSCOM and TiE juries to identify emerging startups and innovative product companies. He is frequently invited as a speaker and often quoted in media.
Vishal Kaul
Btech 1997, Civil
PEC alumnus Vishal Kaul (1997; Civil) has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of Ola, India’s mobile app for transportation. Vishal, PepsiCo veteran, has been with the company since the start of his career in 1999. He has held key leadership positions across operations, sales and marketing in his career spanning 18 years within the company. Vishal was most recently the General Manager of PepsiCo Foods for Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. As COO, Vishal will head Ola’s operations, strengthen Ola’s market leadership, expand its reach to nooks and corners of the country and widen the base of Ola’s customers and driver-partner fraternity, in line with its mission to build mobility for a billion Indians. Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO and Co-founder at Ola, said, “I’m thrilled about Vishal joining Ola to lead our operations. Vishal’s energy is palpable and I have really enjoyed my interactions with him since we began interacting a few months ago. He is a passionate and experienced business leader with a demonstrated ability to drive business towards growth and profitability. His intuitive understanding of consumer businesses, ecosystem management experience and market understanding is invaluable. I look forward to partnering with him as we expand our reach and build Ola to serve the needs of every single Indian.
Yogendra Garg
Btech 1988, Mechanical
Yogendra Garg is a 1990 Batch Officer of IRS (Customs & Central Excise). He is currently heading Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs Centre of Excellence at New Delhi. CoE is a wing to carry out Tax research and suggest measures to bring in excellence in Indirect Tax Administration. In addition, he is also Additional Director General GST engaged in formulation of GST Policy. He has spent long years in Policy formulation in Department of Commerce and in Department of Revenue. He was closely associated with the SEZ Policy formulation and was heading the CBEC Working Group on GST during 2012-13. He has been Co-convener of GST Sectoral Group on Textiles & Footwear as also Member of GST Standing Committee on Capacity Building & GST Single Interface Committee. He is currently Member Secretary of GST Law Review Committee. He is an alumnus of Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh ( Mechanical: 1984-88) and IIM Bengaluru (1988-1990). He started his professional career as Management Trainee with Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Mumbaibefore joining the Government in December 1990. He started his Government career from Ratnagiri in 1992 in an Anti Smuggling formation and has held many positions in the last 25 years. Notable amongst these are Asst. Director, Revenue Intelligence, Development Commissioner Kandla SEZ, Director SEZ Dept. of Commerce, Director TRU, Commissioner Customs Mumbai, Commissioner CX at Faridabad and Gurgaon etc.
Yogesh Kumar
1973, Aeronautical
Yogesh Kumar, a distinguished alumnus from PEC Chandigarh and IIT Chennai, is a renowned technologist in the field of Aircraft and Aircraft systems. During his career (all in R & D) at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) a leading Aerospace Organization, he has successfully led a number of major R& D programmes; namely, The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, The development of Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), Upgrade of ‘Jaguar’ aircraft. He was also responsible for design and development of flight control system test rigs for the Boeing-787 Dreamliner in the year 2005-2006. Yogesh Kumar is the proud recipient of National/International awards- Noel Derr Gold Medal – 1987, National acclamation Prize – 1988, National Aeronautical Prize – 2000, Scientist of the Year Award – 2001, International Project Management Award – 2005 considered an ‘Oscar’ in Project Management, Life Time Achievement Award – 2006, Rashtriya Gaurav Award – 2010. Author of about 24 Scientific and Technical papers and over 40 keynote addresses and lectures to reputed organizations, he has also authored a Book titled “Lead and Execute- Art of Managing Large Scale Projects”. It was formally launched by Chairman HAL on 18th Dec. 2014 at HAL Management Academy, Bangalore. He is fellow, Aeronautical Society of India and Member, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Sunil Saigal
Civil Engineering 1978, Civil
Sunil Saigal, is an Indian-born American engineer. Saigal obtained his bachelor’s degree (Civil Engineering) at Punjab Engineering College,Chandigarh, India in 1978, obtaining a masters in Structures from Indian Institute of Sciencein 1980, and obtained his PhD in 1985 from Purdue University, United States. Sunil Saigal is a former dean of the Newark College of Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Shri J.C. Nakra
1981, Mechanical
Shri J.C. Nakra has assumed charge as Chairman & Managing Director of Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) w.e.f. February 12, 2018.
In a career spanning over 36 years, Shri Nakra has worked in a wide array of domains including Projects, Construction & Marketing. He joined EIL in 1983 in Construction Division (Offshore). Subsequently, he served in various capacities in Marketing and Project Divisions. Sh. Nakra has steered the Marketing initiatives of EIL for business development in India and abroad and has also led Project teams for implementation of major projects.
A Mechanical Engineering Graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh (1981 Batch), Shri Nakra also possesses a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.
Prior to assuming charge of C&MD, he was holding the position of Director (Projects) in EIL.
Anup Chandra Pandey
M.Tech 1979, Civil Engineering (Transportation)
Anup Chandra Pandey (1979, Mechanical) has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh (UP) administration. He is replacing Rajiv Kumar for the post who is retiring on 30 June. Mr. Anup Pandey is a 1984 batch IAS officer. He has spent a long time in UP, working on various levels and has a clean image and impeccable record.
Monte Ahuja
1970, Mechanical
Monte Ahuja is a self-made entrepreneur, philanthropist, avid golfer, and consummate family man. He graduated from PEC in 1967 (mechanical) and from Ohio State University in 1970 with a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Moved to Cleveland in 1972 and while working full time earned MBA Degree from Cleveland State University in 1975, graduating with honors (Beta Gamma Sigma). He then, established his new business, Transtar Industries, a distributor of quality automotive transmission parts. His beginnings were meager: 2 employees and a very small warehouse. Thirty years later through methodical planning, hard work, and with a bold vision Monte developed Transtar into the largest distributor of automotive aftermarket transmission parts in the United States. Later, he sold the business in 2010. Currently he is the Chairman, CEO of MURA Holdings LLC, an investment company. Awards & Recognitions: Transtar earned dozens of awards for its outstanding growth and community involvement, including the Arthur Anderson 2000 Leadership Award, the Inside Business NEO Success Award, the Association of Corporate Growth Deal Makers Award, Governor's "E" Award (twice) for excellence in export and runner-up for the National Entrepreneur of the Year competition, sponsored by INC. Magazine and Ernst & Young in 1995. Several awards received personally include: • Distinguished Alumni Award from Cleveland State University, in 1990; • George Dively Award by the Harvard University Business School, in 1999; • Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business, from Cleveland State University, in 2001; • Ellis Island Medal of Honor for outstanding American Citizens, in 2001; • International Executive of the Year Award by the World Trade Center of Cleveland, in 2002; • Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio State University, in 2003; • Inducted into the Inside Business Magazine, Northeast Ohio Business Hall of Fame, October 2003 (cover page included). • Appeared on a TV series as one of the most distinguished NRI's from India, produced and telecasted by a major Asian Indian TV Channel (ZTV). Community Involvement: Served as Trustee of the Cleveland State University Board for nine years (1991-2000) and its Chairman of the Board for six years. In 1999, CSU named the new Business School building ‘Monte Ahuja Hall', as its new home for the College of Business Administration. Currently serving as a member of the board/trustees for the following organizations: • University Hospital System of Cleveland (Chairman* ~ 2007-2011) • BioEnterprise Corp. (Board Member) Previously served with: • The Musical Arts Association • The Greater Cleveland Partnership • Greater Cleveland Roundtable • The National Conference • World Trade Center Advisory Council • Ohio Export Promotion and Trade Council (education committee) In 2011, University Hospitals named its new hospital "Ahuja Medical Center" honoring the Ahuja family. Also in 2011, Cleveland State University named its business college ‘The Monte Ahuja College of Business’.