CEGfi3 : Bala on Weather Data
2022-04-23 08:00 - 09:15 (Asia/Kolkata) | Zoom
In this session titled “Cloudy with the Chance of Data”, Bala will educate and entertain us. Some questions we will discuss include:
Bala Gopalakrishann, a CEG 1992 alumnus, will share his expertise on the Weather Data.
on: Apr 23th, 08:00 AM PST / 8:30PM IST
Zoom at: https://bit.ly/cegfi3
see more notes at: https://cegconnect.com/blog/cegfi3-weather-data/

CEG C-Level Connect Series #11 – Ms. Mythily Ramesh, CEO of NextWealth
2022-05-08 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Ms. Mythily Ramesh, CEG 1986 CSE, CEO of NextWealth, Recipient of the AACEG Distinguished Alumni Award on 225th year
Mythily has more than 30 years of professional experience. She completed her BE in Computer Science from College of Engineering, Guindy, and MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. In her 20-year successful stint in Wipro, she grew from a Customer support executive to a Senior Vice President. Her career spans product management, marketing, business head, and quality.
As a certified Black Belt, she drove the Six Sigma initiative in Wipro, and in her last stint, she was the Senior VP for Wipro BPO and was responsible for pre-sales and solutioning, product management, and transition, platform BPO, BPO Consulting, and procurement BPO operations.
With a passion for entrepreneurship, she was the CEO of a start-up in Wipro called 01markets and built a successful business around e-procurement and was a pioneer in Reverse Auction in India.
In 2006 and 2007 she was adjudged one of the 25 most powerful women in India by India Today and Dataquest. She has been profiled many times in Business Today and Business World as a successful woman IT professional.
In 2010, she started a social entrepreneurship firm NextWealth with three other ex-Wipro colleagues, focusing on creating high-end IT jobs for graduates in small towns, thereby creating a positive social impact. Their mission is to create 10000 jobs in small towns. Currently, NextWealth has six delivery centers from small towns, creating 4000 direct jobs and impacting more than 40000 families.
She currently serves on the board of Karnataka Bank, Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur, and WEP Digital as an Independent Director. She is also a Steering committee member of IIMPACT, an NGO started by IIMA Alumni focusing on educating underprivileged girls children in India. She is also a member of the NASSCOM BPM Council and is heading a task force on “Expansion into Small Towns” to move the industry to operate more and more from small towns and thereby not only ensure talent expansion but also revenue growth.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEGfi4: On EVs and Batteries (May 14th)
2022-05-14 08:00 - 09:00
Battery technology is key for the transformation to Electric Vehicles.
Manu Iyer is an invited speaker. Manu is the founder of Blue Hill Capital. He angel invests in startups. Plus he is the board member for PiBeam Electric, a pioneer in vertically integrated EVs.
CEG Field Insights (CEGfi) is our effort to bring the insights from experienced people and share with CEG members
on: May 14th, 08:00 AM PST / 8:30PM IST
Zoom at: https://bit.ly/cegfi4

CEGfi5: Engineering for a Sustainable Environment
2022-05-21 08:00 - 09:00
A Convenient Possibility: Engineering for a Sustainable Environment
Increasingly the world needs engineers to help create a sustainable environment. This requires efforts from engineers, business, and governments. G. Venugopal (CEG1984) has been working with many people on related initiatives. He will be our speaker on May 21st.
CEG Field Insights (CEGfi) is our effort to bring the insights from experienced people and share with CEG members
on: May 21st, 08:00 AM PST / 8:30PM IST
Zoom at: https://bit.ly/cegfi-5

CEG C-Level Connect Series #12 – Ms. Praveena Rai, COO, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
2022-06-05 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Ms. Praveena Rai, CEG 1990 ECE, COO, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
Ms. Praveena Rai is Chief Operating Officer of NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). An ex-banker, she is now responsible for running the business, including products, operational and technical delivery. Passionate about payments and technology as drivers of economic value, she helps NPCI attain its strategic objectives of offering a simple, secure, and seamless digital payment experience to consumers and users across the ecosystem – that can lead to the rapid digitalization of India.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #13 – Dr. Mouli Vaidyanathan, CEO Solarpod
2022-07-17 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Dr. Mouli Vaidyanathan, CEG 1985, Production Engineering, CEO of Solarpod
Dr. Mouli Vaidyanathan is a technology and engineering leader with 30 years of experience in engineering, materials science, mechanical engineering, data analytics, semiconductor, and renewable energy. Have led and worked with small to large diverse teams and was responsible for over $1B in revenue. He is currently serving as the president and CEO of SolarPod. He grew the company from a start-up to a sustainable business.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #14 – Ms. Shobana Radhakrishnan, Sr. Director of Engineering, Google TV
2022-08-14 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Ms. Shobana Radhakrishnan, CEG 1996 EEE, Sr. Director of Engineering, Google TV
Shobana Radhakrishnan is a Senior Director of Engineering leading next-generation media personalization at Google. Prior to this, she has held various leadership roles at
Roku, Mindflash, Symantec, Netflix, and Yahoo working across a wide range of consumer products, including Geocities, Data Protection & Security, and Streaming
Media.
She has been invited to speak at various international conferences, including Amazon AWS Reinvent, QCon, Grace Hopper, and Streaming Media Connect.
She has been honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from CEG in 2020, Silicon Valley Business Journal Women of Influence Award in 2022, and a Silicon Valley Best CIO Award finalist in 2015.
Shobana graduated at the top of her class from CEG, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in EEE in 1996, and has a master’s in Computer Science from the University.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #15 – Girish Ramdas, Co-founder and CEO, Magzter
2022-09-25 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Girish Ramdas, CEG 1996, Mech, Co-founder and CEO, Magzter
Girish Ramdas is the Co-founder and CEO of Magzter, a New York-based startup that has been making waves in the global digital publishing business. In 9 years Magzter has crossed 70 million users from more than 150+ countries with 1,000s of magazines, newspapers, and books from more than 4,500 publishers worldwide.
He has more than 24 years of experience in cross-platform publishing, including print, mobile, and Web development. During this period, he has co-founded and run three successful start-up businesses. He has enabled magazine companies to go digital and helps them monetize their content across the digital world. Girish’s deep industry experience in online, mobile, and publishing ecosystems has made him an expert in acquisition, marketing and monetizing digital content across platforms globally.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #16 – Mr. K Guruswamy MBE, CEO, Penlon Ltd (UK)
2022-10-29 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Mr. K Guruswamy MBE, CEG 1992 ECE, CEO, Penlon Ltd in the UK
Around 30 years of experience and vast learning in various environments in the Medical devices industry- Large Multinational Corporation, Indian companies, Growth stage Global Companies, and Entrepreneurship. I have had a breadth of experience from growing Businesses for large companies to setting up a completely new Hitech business from scratch to revenue stage out of India for global markets and currently leading a Global organization based in the UK through a major transformation leading to a successful M&A.
I also have a Unique Experience of transitioning from a successful corporate employment career to Entrepreneurship and back to employment with a successful stint which has had a significant impact on the way I have led and managed businesses. I worked with GE Medical systems in India ( Wipro GE) for over 12 years at various leadership
positions across functions –Right from Sales, Distribution management to Global product management roles
Moved on to co-found a Med tech start-up called Perfint healthcare and a couple of senior colleagues from GE. We developed and took to the global market a unique and cutting-edge Robotic navigation and Treatment planning system for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment. We created multiple IP’s in this process and won several awards within and outside of India, including the R&D award from DST, India, from Dr. Abdul Kalam. We also raised funds successfully from prominent PE funds.
After this, I joined BPL medical technologies in India ( Goldman Sachs Invested company)to head International business and Strategic initiatives, as a part of which I moved to the UK to head Penlon, which was owned by BPL thru a Goldman investment. I led the company thru a major transformation which included the most historic Ventilator Challenge project in March 2020 to produce and supply around 11,500 Ventilators to the UK govt in just about 12 weeks working with a Consortium of UK Automotive and Aerospace companies. This was considered the 2nd most successful healthcare project in the UK during the Pandemic and received several accolades. I personally have been awarded the most coveted MBE ( Member of the Excellent Order of British empire) title award from the Queen. I have also led the successful M&A process for Penlon to give a good exit to BPL & Goldman and led a smooth post-M&A integration with the new owners.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #17– Ms. Sangeeta Banerjee, Co-Founder & CEO of Adda
2022-11-26 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Ms. Sangeeta Banerjee, CEG 1999 EEE and Co-Founder & CEO of Adda
Born in suburban Howrah (West Bengal), San did all her schooling in Kendriya Vidyalayas in Kolkata, Delhi, and Chennai. 1999 EEE CEGian she worked with TCS, completed MBA in Louisiana State University (LSU), worked with Capgemini in the USA, and got married to Venkat Kandaswamy – also CEG EEE (98). They decided to relocate from the USA to India in 2005. In 2008 Venkat took a sabbatical from Thoughtworks and started building ApartmentADDA. San continued in SAP for a year, doing customer demos on weekends. In 2010 San joined their startup full-time and has been serving as the co-founder and CEO. ADDA is a category creator for community mgmt SaaS in India and profitable with 1M+ paying users across 4 countries.
San loves 2 wheelers- rides superbikes and cycles to work three weeks per month. She is a Bharatnatyam student and lives in Bangalore with Venkat, their 14-year-old son, mother-in-law, 2 cats, and 1 dog.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #18– Mr. S Somasegar, Managing Director, Madrona Ventures Group, USA.
2022-12-21 20:30 - 21:30 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Mr. S Somasegar, CEG 1986 ECE and Managing Director of Madrona Ventures Group, USA.
BSoma Somasegar is a Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group, joining Madrona in 2015 after nearly twenty-seven-years at Microsoft where he most recently was Corporate Vice President of the Developer Division. Additionally, Soma was the executive sponsor for global development at Microsoft and oversaw Microsoft’s Global Development Centers in China, India, and Israel. Soma has been an active angel investor both in the region and globally. With investments spanning across both enterprise and consumer segments, Soma has focused on early stage investments across a wide range of technology areas. At Madrona, he is focusing on machine learning / artificial intelligence, intelligent applications, developer centric next-generation cloud platforms and tools, and multi-sense user interfaces.
Soma holds a master’s degree in computer engineering from Louisiana State University and a B.S. in electronics and communication engineering from Guindy Engineering College, Anna University in Chennai, India. Soma also has an Honorary Doctorate from his alma mater, Anna University.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #19– Mr. Krishnakumar Natarajan, Co-Founder, Mindtree and Managing Partner, Mela Ventures
2023-01-22 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Mr. Krishnakumar Natarajan, CEG 1979 Mech, Co-Founder, Mindtree & Managing Partner, Mela Ventures
A leading authority in the global IT sector, Krishnakumar Natarajan co-founded Mindtree in 1999 and
has played critical roles in building the company’s innovative approach to delivering IT services and
solutions to global 2000 enterprises. As Executive Chairman, he built a $1B revenue company with
Market Cap of over $2.5B. His critical skill is to help Enterprises navigate the ‘Digital transformation
agenda and help business transformations by which enterprises enhance customer experience and
deliver Industry-leading growth.
Krishnakumar ’s efforts as a business leader have been recognized worldwide, winning him several
laurels. Businessworld & Forbes ranked him among India’s most valuable CEOs in 2016. He
won Bloomberg UTV’s award as the CEO of the Year in 2010 and Business Today’s CEO of the year award
in 2014. Chief Executive Magazine recognized him as one of the twelve global leaders of
tomorrow. EY honored him with Entrepreneur of the year 2015 in Services. His efforts resulted in
Mindtree winning the “Most promising company of the Year” in 2013 by CNBC TV18.
A 40-year IT industry veteran, Krishnakumar served as Chairman of the National Association of
Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), where he worked to strengthen the Indian IT industry
to build a globally competitive ecosystem. He now serves as the Chairman of the Nasscom Foundation.
Social enterprises and Philanthropy are other Key interests of Krishnakumar. Along with his wife Akila,
he runs their foundation, “Mela,” which is focused on helping high-potential rural girls to attain
professional qualifications and helping Senior Citizens age gracefully.
He is also a regular speaker at international IT industry conferences and a faculty member at
management schools worldwide. He is also on the Boards of a few well-known Organizations.
He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering, Chennai,
India, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Xavier Institute, Jamshedpur, India.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #20 – Mr. Jeyandran Venugopal, CEG 1998 Mech. and Chief Technology and CHief Product Officer (CPTO) of Flipkart.
2023-02-19 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Mr. Jeyandran Venugopal, CEG 1998 Mech. and Chief Technology and Chief Product Officer (CPTO) of Flipkart.
Jeyandran Venugopal is CPTO at Flipkart.In this role, he is tasked to strengthen the team, tech investments and help implement new technologies with a specific focus on building future capabilities across product and engineering.
Prior to this, Jey was the CTO at Myntra. As CTO, he lead the Technology, IT and Infrastructure teams at Myntra. He focused on leading a highly talented engineering organization to deliver exciting innovation, execution and engineering excellence charter for Myntra. He was tasked with finding ways to constantly delight Myntra customers with break-through products. In addition to being the CTO, he had a brief stint as a CPO.
Prior to this, Jey has donned many roles in the consumer internet space as a technologist across both, startups and big companies, and in both US and India markets, for 17+ years. Jey started his career at Amazon.com in Seattle as a Software Engineer and built and managed several e-commerce backend systems. Later, he moved to India as a founding member of Amazon’s India Development Center at Bangalore. As part of the India leadership team, he helped setup and scale the India center for Amazon and worked in Amazon’s Web Services division building API products at this time. After this, Jey joined Yahoo’s India R&D center and helped establish the Search Engineering division and later led several platform products for Yahoo such as the content management platform, video platforms, Geolocation Services and others. As a Global/Corporate VP of Engineering and as a part of the core leadership team at Yahoo, Jey was part of the administrative leadership team for the India center. Post this, Jey was the Founder and CEO of a digital healthcare startup (EClinic 24/7) and raised funding and built a product that won industry accolades including as the Nasscom Emerge 50 Award.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEGFI6 - 4th Industrial revolution
2023-03-05 07:30 - 08:30 | Zoom
Industry 4.0 is fast becoming the game changer in manufacturing. It changes the value chain in manufacturing. It brings in new opportunities for many sectors hitherto not a part of this value chain.
Mr. V. Venkataraman graduated from CEG in 87 (Mech). After a 8 year stint in L&T, he started a manufacturing unit and ran it for 25 years. In 2018, he then founded a startup Embridge Solutions to develop cost effective industry 4.0 solutions. The focus is to bring this technology to SMEs at a very affordable price and provide this as a service on cloud platform.
CEG Field Insights (CEGfi) is our effort to bring the insights from experienced people and share with CEG members.
Time: March 5, 2023 7:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) / 9PM IST
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81147161463
Meeting ID: 811 4716 1463
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Bit.LY link as: bit.ly/cegfi-6

CEG C-Level Connect Series #21– Dr. G Ravikumar, Registrar I/c at Anna University, Chennai
2023-03-19 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Dr. G Ravikumar, CEG 1987 Civil & Registrar I/c at Anna University, Chennai
Dr. G Ravikumar graduated from CEG in 1987 in Civil engineering and he is the registrar at Anna University, Chennai. He created the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in many
engineering Arts &Science Colleges in Chennai. Initiated Entrepreneurship Development Cells (EDCs) in CEG, ACTech, and MIT with EDC library, Entrepreneurship Forum for Girls (EFG), Entrepreneurship Club of Organic Farming, etc.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #22– Ms. Priya Iyer, CEO and Board Member, Concertiv, USA
2023-04-23 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Ms. Priya Iyer, CEG 1990 CSE
CEO and Board Member, Concertiv, USA
Priya Iyer is the CEO of Concertiv, a procurement-as-a-service provider assisting mid-market financial services firms in saving time, cutting costs, and mitigating risks. With over 25 years of experience in the software industry, she is an entrepreneurial CEO known for building industry-leading SaaS platforms and delivering exceptional value to stakeholders. Priya has received numerous accolades, including the 2014 New England Entrepreneur of the Year and recognition as a top woman leader in SaaS.
Before Concertiv, Priya led Vee24 and Anaqua, Inc., achieving impressive growth and success in both companies. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science, as well as an MBA from MIT Sloan. As an Entrepreneur in Residence at Babson College, she serves on various boards and panels, and frequently speaks at business schools in the Greater Boston area.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEGFI-7 – Open your minds to ONDC
2023-05-21 20:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
#India is embarked on an ambitious plan to create an open and fair e-commerce marketplace. Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a revolutionary technology to lower prices for consumers, increase competition, and give small businesses a better chance to succeed.
Vimal Kumar (CEG 2002), the founder at JusPay has seen it from the frontlines. He will share insights on emerging opportunities and challenges in the world of ONDC. CEG Field Insights (CEGfi) is our effort to bring the insights from experienced people and share with CEG member
CEG Field Insights (CEGfi) is our effort to bring the insights from experienced people and share with CEG members.
—–
Time: May 21, 2023 07:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82900987836?pwd=[REDACTED]

CEG C-Level Connect Series #23– Dr. Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy, Senior Associate Professor, Marketing at Great Lakes Institute of Management.
2023-06-03 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Dr. Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy, CEG 1992 Mech and Senior Associate Professor, Marketing at Great Lakes Institute of Management
Dr. Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy is a highly accomplished marketing expert, academician, and author. Currently the Area Chair (Marketing) at the Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai and a Senior Associate Professor, she boasts a professional career of 27 years with 16 years in sales and marketing, and 11 years in academia. Prior to academia, she held high-ranking positions in major companies like Unilever and Nippon Paint. As an academician, her areas of interest include marketing management, sales and distribution, new product development, and integrated marketing communications.
She has won numerous accolades, including the Women Achiever Award, Distinguished Woman in Management, and the Best Professor-Marketing Studies. She’s also published three books and numerous articles, primarily focused on mid-life career choices and challenges, particularly for women. She’s an active member of several professional organizations and heads the ‘Centre for Women’s Leadership’ at Great Lakes, Chennai, focusing on empowering women in the workplace and academia.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #24 – Ms. Charu Srinivasan, Corporate Vice President of Engineering, Azure Core and Cloud and AI IDC Site Leader, Microsoft IC.
2023-07-16 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Ms. Charu Srinivasan, CEG 1990 CSE, Corporate Vice President of Engineering, Azure Core and Cloud and AI IDC Site Leader, Microsoft IC.
Charu leads the Azure Core engineering organization for Compute and Cloud Native technologies driving
impact across Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery, Azure Migrate, System Center, and Azure Arc. Charu is
also the site leader for the Cloud + AI organization in the India Development Center (IDC) and an active
member of India and IDC leadership teams leading various organization-wide initiatives such as
innovation excellence, diversity & inclusion, and building the next gen of leaders.
Charu Srinivasan holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Anna University and a master’s
degree in computer science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. As a thought leader in
technology and innovation, Charu represents Microsoft in industry and government-led forums. Charu is
a member of the G20 Empower working group on Women in STEM and FICCI Science, Technology, and
Innovation (ST&I) committee. She is a Board member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
National Committee on Technology and helped create the founding vision for CII’s Centre of Excellence
on Digital Transformation.
Charu is on the board of Bryt Learning which partners with budget schools in India to deliver high-quality
premium education. She is passionate about socio-economic change in India through education and
helped found the Asha for Education, Seattle Chapter – a non-profit organization and works with
community partner organizations to amplify their social impact as part of Social Venture Partners,
Hyderabad Chapter.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #25 – Mr. Raj Prakash, Co-Founder & CEO - Zifo RnD
2023-08-27 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Mr. Raj Prakash, CEG 1990, ECE, Co-Founder & CEO – Zifo RnD

Raj, a Life Science Tech Entrepreneur and Co-founder of Zifo, has successfully grown the
company into a thriving establishment with over 2000 employees and offices in 11 countries,
including the USA, UK, Canada, Switzerland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, China,
Singapore, and India. Zifo’s customers include 12 of the top 15 global bio-pharma companies
in numerous global locations.
Raj is passionate about accelerating research by providing the right tools and services to
Scientists and Researchers. He plays a pivotal role in steering the company’s strategic vision
and overseeing its growth trajectory. His role has helped foster a curiosity driven culture by
encouraging and supporting employees to explore new ideas and approaches. Raj values
curiosity, exploration, and experimentation at Zifo.
He has been recognized as one of India’s Most Trusted Leaders (2023). He has also been
acknowledged as the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year (2017) by the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII). Zifo has been listed as one of the fastest growing companies for 10 consecutive
years by Deloitte. The Great Place to Work Institute has consistently recognized Zifo as one of
the best places to work for five consecutive years (2016 to 2020) under his leadership.
Raj is charter member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), a worldwide association of
entrepreneurs and he is a part of Stanford GSB’s SEED Program.
He is a vibrant man who is passionate about wildlife and movies. He lives with his wife and
two sons in Chennai. He holds an Electrical engineering degree from the College of
Engineering, Guindy, Chennai.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #26 – Mr. Mr. Shankar Ram, Chairman of TiE Global
2023-09-30 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Guest Speaker – Mr. Shankar Ram, CEG 1975, Mech, Chairman, Board of Trustees, TiE Global & Chair, Food Finders

Mr. Shankar Ram has cemented his legacy as a serial entrepreneur since 1983, with a string of successful ventures and exits to his name. Over the years, he has founded multiple companies, providing employment to hundreds worldwide and serving an impressive roster of multinational clients that includes DHL, UPS, Epson, Toshiba, Volkswagen, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Target, Starbucks, Mattel, Levis, Espirit, PWC, Deloitte, and E&Y. His business acumen has led to notable exits with UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Hitachi Information Systems, and Ernst & Young. Beyond his entrepreneurial ventures, Mr. Ram is a dedicated mentor, advisor, and board member. He has sat on the boards of public companies and commercial banks and currently holds positions on the boards of several startups. In the non-profit realm, he’s actively involved with TiE Global, an organization aimed at fostering entrepreneurship, Food Finders, Inc., committed to alleviating hunger by rescuing food, and Guindy1975 Trust, which supports college-bound students. On the investment front, Mr. Ram has positioned himself as a prominent angel investor both in India and the US, boasting a portfolio of over 100 companies. He’s part of the leadership team at TiE Global Angels, the Managing Member of TiE SoCal Angel Fund 2020 & II, a partner at SoCal Venture Partners, a limited partner at PointOne Capital, and an esteemed member of both TiE India Angels and Guindy Angels.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #27 – Ms. Shyamala Soundari Kuppusamy, Senior Director, Product and Engineering, Lowe’s Companies Inc
2023-10-29 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Ms. Shyamala Soundari Kuppusamy, CEG 2008, Manufacturing,
Senior Director, Product and Engineering, Lowe’s Companies Inc

Shyamala is an experienced Product Management and Strategy leader with an entrepreneurial spirit. She has extensive experience in E-Commerce, Marketplace strategy, Digital Marketing, and Mobility. She has led strategic initiatives in major retailers such as Lowe’s, Macy’s , Bloomingdale’s, Toys ‘R’Us, Sears & Kmart, Alfuttaim Retail, Sainsbury’s across multiple geographies – USA, UK, UAE & India.
Recognitions:
• CEG Distinguished Young Alumni – 2023
• Product Management Executive of the Year 2021 -American Business Awards
• Business Journals’ Women in Business 2021
• Fortune Most Powerful Women Next Gen 2019
• Stevie Awards – Women in Business Gold 2016
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEGfi8 : Yogic breathing for Mental Wellness
2023-11-17 18:00 - 19:00 | Zoom
The world is replete with mental health issues. Breathing helps. Rooted in the ancient practices of Pranayama, yogic breathing can lead to healthier and happier lives. We are fortunate to have Vairavan Ramanathan from CEG ECE 94 to guide us. He will share the background, science, and show an approach for mental wellness.
Vairavan is a certified yoga teacher. He has been practicing Yoga tantra and meditation for over 25 years. Professionally he is currently working as Director, Head of Trade Transformation Asia Pacific, Bank of America, Singapore. He is also an active volunteer with Brahms centre ( mindfulness and mental wellness NGO) in Singapore helping people from different walks of life on mental wellness.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86419442508?pwd=[REDACTED]
CEG Field Insights (CEGfi) is our effort to bring the insights from experienced people and share with CEG members.
-Murali Krishnan (1992 CSE)

CEG C-Level Connect Series #28 – Mr. Kal Raman, President, Bolt.
2023-11-25 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Mr. Kal Raman, CEG 1989 EEE & President, Bolt.
Kal Raman is President at Bolt, leading the Engineering, Product, and Customer Experience teams. Raman is an ecommerce industry veteran, serving in executive roles at Amazon (S-team), Samsung, Groupon, and Walmart. He was previously the CEO of GlobalScholar and Xome. Raman has also led many other companies and served as a board member/advisor at BigCommerce, Feedvisor, and Solana Labs.
Raman holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Anna University in Chennai, India. Kal currently resides in Seattle, Washington with his wife, two children, and Maltese puppy.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #29– Mr. Rohith Nathan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar, Greater Chennai Police
2023-12-30 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Mr. Rohith Nathan, CEG 2010, Mech, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar, Greater Chennai Police
Rohith Nathan IPS is currently DCP Anna Nagar in GCP, Tamil Nadu police. He has served in several places such as Nagapattinam, Hosur (Krishnagiri), Sivagangai and Chennai city. He has held many responsibilities such as SP Railways, Chief Vigilance Officer – Aavin, SP Crime Branch CID & Cyber Crime, SP Narcotics Intelligence etc.
He also has a masters in police management and an MSc in cyber forensics and information security, he has recently started work on his PhD as well.
He is fond of innovation and was the first officer to pilot facial recognition technology in Tamil Nadu. He submitted the architecture for contact tracing to Ministry of Home Affairs which led to the app we all know as Aarogya Sethu, he was also the first person to introduce toll gate monitoring technology in the country and his pilot is now being implemented in Tamil Nadu and across India as well. He helped set up the grief counselling helpline for suicide prevention during COVID 19 pandemic at the state Covid war room.
He is passionate about public service and till today guides students from Tamil Nadu for the UPSC Civil Sevice Exam interview.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #30– Mr. Manjunath Chennerappa, Consul General of India in Houston, USA
2024-01-20 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Mr. Manjunath Chennerappa, CEG 1999 Mech and Consul General of India in Houston, USA.
Manjunath joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2004. Before assuming charge as Consul General of India in Houston in July 2023 he was
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi heading the Global Estate Management Division.
In his earlier diplomatic assignments, he has worked in Indian Missions abroad in Moscow, Astana, Colombo and at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in New
In various capacities, York handles political, commercial, Development Cooperation and Multilateral work among others.
In his stints in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, he has served as Officer on Special Duty to External Affairs Minister and Director in UN Political and Americas
Divisions and as Joint Secretary heading the Establishment Division and Rapid Response Cell.
A UN Disarmament Fellow of the Year 2012, he is interested in Peacekeeping and Security Council matters. Executing medium to large scale construction projects, he
has specialized in Project Management.
Manjunath is a Mechanical Engineering graduate and Distinguished Alumni Awardee from the College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai. Prior to joining the Service, he briefly
worked in TVS Motor Co Ltd, Hosur, and is also a non-matric Alumni of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
He is married to Ms. Arpana Manjunath, an Educator, and they have two sons.
He speaks Russian apart from English, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #31 - Murali Krishnan, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer (CPO) of RapL Inc.
2024-03-02 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Mr. Murali Krishnan, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer (CPO) of RapL Inc.
Murali Krishnan is now the co-founder and Chief Product Officer (CPO) of RapL Inc. RapL delivers the platform and tools to help companies build next generation teams. He has two decades long tenure at Microsoft followed by stints as VP at Starbucks and a couple of software startups.
Murali is a happy graduate of CEG with BE in CSE and enjoyed his hostel days there. He rejuvenated the Computer Society of Anna University in the early 90s and was the President in 1990-1991. After CEG, he received an MS in Computer Science from University of Wisconsin. He is a Competent Toastmaster and was President of a local Toastmasters club.
He mentors, advises, and invests in dozens of startups. He leads early stage startup investments at Guindy Alumni Angels and Women Entrepreneurs Socal Angels Fund (WESA).
Murali loves running, biking, hiking, reading, and helping others. He is the founder of CEGO (CEG Outdoors group) to engage and cheer CEG alumni to get outdoors and stay healthy. He lives in Bellevue, WA, USA with his wife and two children.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEG C-Level Connect Series #32 - Mr. Karthik Regunathan, CEO of Chopserve
2024-03-31 20:00 - 21:00 | Google Meet
Program Details

Mr. Karthik Regunathan, CEG 2006 EEE and CEO of Chopserve
Karthik is an alum of CEG EEE 2002-2006 batch. Post IIM Lucknow, and building a career as a Product Manager with Headstrong, and redBus – Karthik is now the CoFounder and CEO of ChopServe – a multi-channel meat and seafood retail chain with 100+ outlets in India, and UAE.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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CEGfi9: Explore and Learn
2024-04-21 07:30 - 20:30
The world is vast and beautiful. We learn a lot exploring this world. I am excited to have Deepa Ramesh from CEG CSE 92 to guide us.
She will share about her hikes in the mountains and valleys. She has traveled almost all the continents.
We will hear about what was great and how it helps one gain better balance in life.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86419442508?pwd=[REDACTED]
CEG Field Insights (CEGfi) is our effort to bring the insights from experienced people and share with CEG members.
-Murali Krishnan (1992 CSE)

CEG C-Level Connect Series #33 - Dr. Shantha Mohan Adjunct Faculty, Integrated Innovation Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
2024-04-28 20:00 - 21:00
Program Details

Dr. Shantha Mohan, CEG 1971 ECE and Adjunct Faculty, Integrated Innovation Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
Dr. Shantha Mohan, an alumna of Tepper Business School, Carnegie Mellon University, is an adjunct
faculty member at Carnegie Mellon Integrated Innovation Institute who teaches “Leadership & Teams”
and “Strategies for Your Industry Career” to master’s students in software management and is also a
mentor and project guide.
She is a global software engineering leader and entrepreneur with a proven track record of growing and
mentoring technical teams and generating customer ROI globally. Retail Solutions Inc., the company she
co-founded, is a leader in retail analytics in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) domain. She ran
product development for the company and was responsible for scaling the product development team
worldwide and delivering multiple analytic applications. Before Retail Solutions, Shantha had over 20
years of experience focusing on mission-critical systems to support semiconductor and other high-valueadded manufacturing. At Consilium, now part of Applied Materials, she managed the development of three generations of manufacturing execution systems. Such software systems are mission-critical, highly scalable, and highly available, and companies such as Intel and Infineon depend upon them for
their manufacturing.
Outside CMU, Shantha mentors start-ups and students from CEG and CMU. She provides career advice
to new graduates and those making career transitions. She is a member and volunteer of the Society of
Women Engineers (SWE). Shantha is also a member of The Carnegie Mellon Women’s Association
(CMWA) and is active in the Barbara Smith Women’s Mentoring Program. Her book “Roots and Wings –
Inspiring stories of Indian Women in Engineering” was published in 2018. She co-authored
“Demystifying AI for The Enterprise,” published in 2021. Her most recent book on leadership,
“Leadership Lessons with The Beatles,” was published in May 2022 by Routledge Press/Taylor & Francis.
The Indian edition of the same is published this year.
Shantha is a CEG Distinguished Alumnus 2020 and a Distinguished Toastmaster.
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Host – Mr. Vish Viswanathan, CEG 1985 Mech, CEO, Anikode Management Consultants
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Technical Support – Mr. Partha Sarathy, CEG IT, 2021
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