Radhikaraje Gaekwad – Textile revivalist, Trustee of Maharaja Fatesingh Museum and Maharani Chimnabai Stree Udyogalaya

A Masters in medieval Indian history, Radhikaraje worked as a journalist with Indian Express, New Delhi prior to moving to Vadodara. Married into the royal Gaekwad family, she is now actively involved in running one of the largest private residences in the world along with family trusts such as the Maharani Chimnabai Stree Udyogalaya, imparting vocational training to lower income women and the Maharaja Fatehsinh Museum Trust, housing some of the most acclaimed works of Raja Ravi Varma amongst others. She is also patron of the Heritage Trust, an independent organisation instrumental in bringing the monumental complex of Champaner on the World Heritage Sites list and is actively involved in preventing the city’s heritage structures from being obliterated. Radhikaraje is currently also working on the documentation of the Lukshmi Vilas Palace and its priceless possessions. Radhikaraje has been researching and archiving the rich history and culture of royal india and has presented her research on prestigious platforms such as Saffronart and Robb Report and India Today Conclave. She is also reviving the lost old weaving techniques of Chanderi and Baroda Shalu- an intrinsic aspect of royal Maratha sartorial traditions. Radhikaraje is director of CDS Art Foundation, Ahmedabad, where she works in aligning artisans with designers and bridging gaps with the end consumer. To raise awareness and funds for her charities, Radhikaraje organised the Palace Heritage Garba, a nine-day traditional dance festival. The event saw a congregation of over 25,000 people everyday and was even conferred the Best Garba of Vadodara, 2019 award. Through the Covid 19 pandemic, Radhikaraje alongside her sister has been able to reach out and aid over 600 artisanal families in Orissa. For this she has also been conferred the HDFC Bank Philanthropist award. She continues her love for writing by regularly contributing to leading dailies and magazines. Radhikaraje is an avid traveler, visiting over 50 countries for wildlife, history and wine! She is perhaps the only Indian woman to do the polar dip in Antarctica!

Eenam Gambhir (IFS) – Joint Secretary G20, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India

Eenam Gambhir, currently Joint Secretary G20 in the G20 Secretariat and Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, is a 2005 batch Indian Foreign Service Officer. In her position in the G20 Secretariat she deals with handling G 20 related issues including the preparations for India’s upcoming G20 Presidency. Eenam was Director (Multilateral Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. She is a 2005 batch Indian Foreign Service Officer. In her position in the MER division in MEA she deals with G 20, BRICS and G 7 related issues. Before this, she served as a Senior adviser on Peace and Security issues in the Office of the President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN HQ in New York. Ms Gambhir has also served in Indian Embassies in Latin American Countries such as Mexico and Argentina and is a fluent Spanish speaker. Ms Gambhir has dealt with issues relating to India’s neighborhood especially Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in different capacities while working in New Delhi from 2011 till 2016. She also served in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York and covered political and peace and security issues till June 2019. Ms Gambhir also worked on UN economic and social issues during her probation time in New Delhi in 2007. Ms Gambhir holds two Masters degrees; namely Masters of Sciences in Mathematics from Delhi University and Masters in Advanced International Security from the University of Geneva. Ms Gambhir is fluent in Hindi, English and Spanish and writes poetry in all three languages.

Shreyas Jayasimha – Founding Partner, Aarna Law LLP(India), Simha Law (Singapore)

Shreyas Jayasimha is an advocate, arbitrator and trained mediator based in India, and is the founding partner of Aarna Law, a boutique counsel led international and domestic dispute resolution practice. Shreyas has conducted several complex trials, has appeared before various High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. He has also represented clients before various international and domestic arbitral tribunals and mediation fora and has represented the Republic of India in significant Investor State Arbitrations. Mr. Shreyas has read law at the National Law School of Indian University and was a Chevening Scholar at the University of Warwick and enrolled as an Advocate in 2000. Shreyas is a member of Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA), Geneva since 2012, is the National Coordinator for the UNCITRAL National Coordinator for the UNCITRAL National Coordination Committee of India (UNCCI) and is a member of Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA) Council. Shreyas is the only India based representative of the ICC- FraudNet which formed the Asset Recovery Group India (AGRI). He has advised on several aspects of technology law including nuclear, space, aviation, blockchain and advised enterprises of all sizes from startups to Indian and Global matters. He has also founded Simha Law at Maxwell chambers, Singapore.

Krithi Karanth – Chief Conservation Scientist & Director, Centre for Wildlife Studies

Dr. Karanth is Chief Conservation Scientist and Director at the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Adjunct Faculty at Duke and National Centre for Biological Sciences. She has a Ph.D. from Duke, a M.E.Sc from Yale, and, B.S and B.A degrees from the University of Florida. She has completed executive education programs at Harvard, Oxford, and Stanford. As a scientist, her research in Asia spans 23 years, encompasses many issues in the human dimensions of wildlife conservation. She has published 100+ scientific and popular articles. Krithi served on the editorial boards of Conservation Biology, Conservation Letters, and Frontiers in Ecology and Environment. Krithi has mentored over 200 young scientists from across the world. and engaged 750 citizen science volunteers in her projects. As a conservationist, she has designed Wild Seve, Wild Shaale, and Wild Surakshe programs. As a storyteller Krithi has collaborated with painters, illustrators, film-makers, and photographers and written a bilingual children’s book with artist Raghava KK. Krithi has been featured in 3 award-winning BBC Series – The Hunt, Big Cats, and Dynasties, and in documentaries by CBC and PBS. She has co-produced 4 documentaries Wild Seve, Humane Highways, Wild Shaale, and Flying Elephants. In 2020 she co-starred with Kevin Pietersen in Save This Rhino: India by Disney Hotstar and Nat Geo. Krithi’s work has been covered by over 250 international outlets including Washington Post, Time Magazine, BBC, National Geographic, NPR, New York Times, Scientific American. Krithi is National Geographic Society’s 10,000th grantee and a 2012 Emerging Explorer. Her more than 40 recognitions include WEF Young Global Leader, University of Florida’s Outstanding Young Alumnus, INK Fellow, India’s Power Women by Femina, Women of the Year by Elle India, Vogue Women of the Year and Seattle Zoo’s Thrive Conservation Leadership Award. In 2019, she was chosen as a Rolex Laureate, received the WINGS Award for Conservation, GQ Man of the Year and the Beyond Duke University Alumni Award. In 2020 she was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship.

Suneem Ahmad Khan – Medical Officer, CRPF, Srinagar

Dr. Khan is serving CRPF since 2011, having renderred his glorious service in Northern and Central Kashmir so far. Having been decorated multiple times with a DG’s police medal for his operational and administrative forthrightness, Dr. Khan went on to fetch ‘Presidents Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak1 for the year 2017 for the display of indomitable courage while saving lives in an operation in the Downtown Srinagar on 15/08/2016. One of the widely respected professionals with a wide

spectrum of interface with public, Dr. Khan is known for his flair to write on issues pertaining mental health, fake news and propaganda warfare. He is known for his consistent engagement with all sections of the conflict ridden society, especially the youth. Dr. Khan has earned a special niche amongst his peers and superiors for his selfless community services during the September 2014 deluge in Kashmir and the ongoing pandemic of COVID19, where his role in ensuring the best of quality treatment for CAPFs deployed across Valley has been recognised by one and all. An alma mater of ‘Victor Babes’ University of Medicine & Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania, Dr. Khan is a widely travelled man with a linguistic flair and special interest in reading and adventure travel.

Raheel Khursheed – Cofounder, Laminar Global

Raheel Khursheed is a founder, technologist, and journalist whose work has spanned Twitter, Snapchat, CNN, Mercy Corps, The World Bank and Change.org. Raheel is currently the co-founder of Laminar, next-gen no code a video-streaming infrastructure platform. Prior to Laminar, Raheel founded Anthro.ai, which leveraged the expertise of anthropologists, mathematicians, and data scientists to build ethical, machine-based systems that mapped complex landscapes. Raheel also worked as Head of News, Politics, and Government for Twitter India from 2014-2018. While at Twitter he led the conception, development, and roll-out of multiple award-winning civic tech products. Raheel is a globally well regarded technology leader and for his groundbreaking work of democratising information at scale was named a 2017 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard, a 2017 Yale Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellow at Yale, a member of the 2017 class of Asia 21 – Asia-Pacific’s foremost network of young leaders – and a 2018 Draper-Hills Summer Fellow at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. Raheel is passionate about the intersection of technology and social change and is a frequent speaker on these issues across conferences and media outlets globally.

Jayna Kothari – Senior Advocate & Executive Director, Centre for Law and Policy Research

Jayna Kothari is a Senior Advocate and practices in the Supreme Court of India and the Karnataka High Court. She is also the co-founder and Executive Director at the Centre for Law and Policy Research, Bangalore. Jayna graduated from University Law College with a B.A. LL.B degree and read the BCL at Oxford University. She was awarded the Wrangler D.C. Pavate Fellowship in Cambridge University. Jayna’s research and practice interests include constitutional law, gender and sexuality law, disability rights and discrimination law. She had argued in the Supreme Court in the recent constitutional challenges to Section 377 and adultery which were both decriminalized. She also argued the Independent Thought case in which the Supreme Court recognized child marital rape as a criminal offence. Jayna has worked extensively around transgender rights and equality and CLPR is one of the pioneering organisations in the country working on issues of discrimination of the most marginalized groups and the enforcement of their constitutional rights. CLPR has drafted India’s first Equality Bill 2021, a civil law to address discrimination on the grounds of gender, sex, caste, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation and other grounds. Jayna’s book “The Future of Disability Law in India” was published in 2012 by Oxford University Press.

Vivek Lal – Chief Executive Officer, Sasakawa-India Leprosy Foundation (S-ILF)

Vivek Lal is a medical doctor with postgraduation (MD) in Community Medicine from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS, New Delhi). He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sasakawa-India Leprosy Foundation (S-ILF). He has over 15 years of public health experience involving advocacy, planning, implementation and research. He has earlier worked with World Health Organization (WHO), Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) and German Leprosy and TB Relief Association (GLRA) and successfully managed large-scale projects enabling care and support for persons affected with poverty-related diseases like leprosy, filariasis and tuberculosis. He is a member of the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP) Technical Commission, member of the Task Force on Criteria for Elimination of Leprosy, Global Leprosy Program, WHO, member of Operational Excellence Working Group of Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) and member of the Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network’s (NNN) Disease Management, Disability and Inclusion (DMDI) Working Group. He has contributed to scientific learning through publications and paper presentations in international and national conferences and is the recipient of Professor Cairns Smith Scholarship for disseminating approaches towards zero transmission of leprosy. Vivek has a passion for leprosy and driven by a mission to address the needs of persons affected by leprosy in a holistic manner, focused on both medical and social aspects of the disease. Vivek has a flair for languages and enjoys swimming, badminton and music.

Punit Lalbhai – Executive Director, Arvind Ltd

Punit Lalbhai is Executive Director at Arvind Ltd. He leads Arvind’s manufacturing businesses, which include textiles, advanced materials, and engineering. Arvind is a flagship company of the $2 billion Lalbhai group. He also leads sustainability, innovation and corporate social responsibility at Arvind. Punit is passionate about aligning business and sustainability goals. He is involved with projects that involve working with approximately 90,000 farmers to grow cotton sustainably (Arvind’s main raw material). He is deeply involved with Arvind’s leading work on circularity, recycling and carbon mitigation. He works on a project to provide supplementary education to municipal school-going children in Ahmedabad, India. He is passionate about education and serves on the boards of Ahmedabad University and CEPT University. Punit has a bachelors’ degree from University of California, Davis in conservation biology; a masters in Environmental Science from Yale University; and an MBA from INSEAD. He is involved in conservation, and serves on the boards of Wildlife Trust of India and Tiger Watch. Punit has been a practitioner of Heartfulness Meditation since 1998, and has been a volunteer trainer for the practice since 2012.

Ali Khan Mahmudabad – Assistant Professor of Political Science &History, Ashoka University

Ali Khan Mahmudabad currently teaches political science and history at Ashoka University (India). He received his Mphil and PhD from the Univ. of Cambridge and before this he studied Arabic at the Univ. of Damascus in Syria and did a double BA (Hons) from Amherst College in America. Ali has been writing a column in Urdu for the national daily Inqilab in India for 10 years and has also been writing columns and editorials for various English newspapers and magazines. His first book was published by Oxford University Press in January 2020 entitled ‘Poetry of Belonging: Muslim Imaginings of India 1850-1950.’ In June 2021, Penguin (India) will publish his translation of a novel- Aghaaz-e Sahar or The Break of Dawn-, which is set in 1857. Ali also spends time lecturing in schools, colleges and universities as well as advising policy think-tanks on a wide-range of subjects including political, religious and security related issues in South Asia as well as greater West Asia (the Middle East). He speaks and conducts research in a number of languages and has appeared on English, Hindi and Urdu television programs and radio shows. He is a member of the Samajwadi Party and was their national spokesperson during the 2019 national elections. Currently, Ali is spearheading a project to revive a post-graduate Madrassa in Lucknow which is more than 100 years old. He envisions the Madrassatul Waizeen becoming a knowledge hub to counter misinformation about Islam and also hopes to make it a centre for inter-faith dialogue. Ali is a trustee of the Sitapur Eye Hospital and is president of the Shoulder 2 Shoulder Foundation, which is a not for profit foundation set up in order to promote intra-faith as well as inter-faith harmony. He has spent the last 6 years working to preserve the cultural traditions of the town and region he is from and is running projects to digitise pre-modern manuscripts, preserve regional cuisine and document oral history.

Dawar Ashraf Mir – Projects Lead, Indian steel and Metal Industries and M.A Mir & Co.

Dawar Ashraf Mir is a second generation entrepreneur. After working in the Middle East as a marketing professional he joined his family business in the year 2014. He leads his family business which is into manufacturing of steel super structures, bridges and buildings. In the last five years he has travelled across the Kashmir valley and managed to build public infrastructure in the remotest areas. Mir has managed to work at the grass root level which has given him a deep understanding of the issues faced by people. Mir has now equipped himself to start his new venture in the field of horticulture. He is in the process of establishing progressive horticulture-based farms which would create sustainable economic and skill ecosystems around it. He has done a Master’s degree in Marketing from RHUL,University of London, Bachelors in Commerce and Diploma in Liberal Arts from Symbiosis Collage of Arts and Commerce, Pune. Mir is passionate about social work. He has been the Ex. Ambassador to Youth parliament of Jammu & Kashmir. He has represented Kashmir at First National Human Rights convention, HRLN and managed many Not for Profit campaigns for HIV awareness, women empowerment etc. Mir enjoys reading poetry and prose. Poems of poets such as Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz fulfil his daily palette. He aspires to find more time to read so that he may begin to write more.

Kavita Narayan – Technical Advisor, HRH/Health Systems for Public Health

As one of the youngest and first Indian Fellows of The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), Kavita has more than eighteen years of combined experience as a hospital and health systems architect and thought leader in the United States and India. Kavita currently serves as Technical Advisor to the National Human Resources for Health Cell, an internal think-tank for People for Health reforms that Kavita worked to establish in 2016 within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Her relentless championing since her return to India for recognition and regulatory reform of Allied Professionals to enable a more equitable, efficient health system, has resulted in the passage of the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare professions Bill 2021 in the Rajya Sabha. Once enacted, this Act is expected to create local and global opportunities for 56+ types of healthcare professionals. Her other critical policy contributions have been in the areas of skill development strategy for the health sector, the establishment of the National Medical Commission, ongoing reforms in Nursing among several others. In 2018, under her technical leadership, India systematically quantified and reported its 7 million+ health workforce for the first time on the WHO platform, enabling a major favourable shift in the global labour outmigration policy. From rebuilding villages in Khardi, Maharashtra to Kerala’s flood-affected panchayat, working on nutrition, education and health in Gurgaon’s slums to building a hospital for rural Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, Kavita’s mission is to constantly enhance social impact by active personal grass roots engagement alongside large scale policy reform. In 2010, after the birth of her son Yaj, their family decided to move back to India after her stint as Chief Operating Officer for the Emory Healthcare and Hospital Corporation of America partnership venture. Kavita is also a professionally trained Indian classical vocalist, Bharatnatyam dancer, an ardent student of yoga and Hindu scriptures, spiritualist and adventure enthusiast who enjoys trekking up Everest Base camp as much as jumping into the icy Ganges. She is married to Pradeep Parameswaran who heads Uber for the Asia Pacific region. Together, they strive to raise twelve-year old Yaj and nine-year old Yaagini as mindful, conscious and compassionate inhabitants of planet earth.

Zainab Patel – Director, Inclusion & Diversity, KPMG India

Born in Mumbai, Zainab is a transgender person & is one of the petitioners in the National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India case on transgender rights. She holds an MBA in Human Resources & was the National Manager Health & Human Rights at UNDP country office in India. Her areas of interest are wellness, health & social development issues. She comes with over 20 years of national & international work experience. Currently Zainab serves as the director: inclusion & diversity for KPMG in India, she is also a coach, facilitator & supports companies in various industries in change processes towards more diversity in leadership. She has in-depth knowledge & expertise in the design, implementation of programs, strategies that foster diversity, equality & inclusion on LGBTI issues & gender. Zainab is well-versed with supporting the development of required Policy & Operational Guidelines, Trainings, provides analysis & research to support Mobilizing, Fostering & Strengthening Strategic Partnerships. She also serves in various national and international bodies as an advisor on technical issues pertaining to health, human rights and social protection. She has been exposed to insightful partnerships across multiple types of organizations like, the United Nations, external partner institutions (including governments), National Human Rights Institutions, private sector, academia, NGOs & CSOs, gives her the strengths of versatility, leadership & skills of a facilitator.

G V Ravishankar – Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India

G V Ravishankar is a Managing Director at Sequoia Capital India. He currently serves on the boards of BYJUs, Capital Float, Eruditus Learning, Faces Cosmetics, Five Star finance, Finova Capital, HomeLane, India Shelter Finance Corporation, Indigo Paints, K12 Technoservices, Prataap Snacks (NSE:DIAMONDYD), Rebel Foods, Rupeek, Suburban Diagnostics and Turtlemint. He has also served as board member/observer of companies like Indigo Paints (BSE: INDIGOPNTS), Via (sold to NASDAQ: EBIX ), Manappuram (NSE: MANAPPURAM) and Equitas (NSE: EQUITAS). Prior to this, GV worked at McKinsey & Company and at Wipro Technologies. GV has an PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad where he received the President’s Gold medal and holds a BE in Computer Science and Engineering from NIT Trichy. GV is the recipient of the Midas Touch award by Economic Times Startup Awards 2020 and is also the recipient of IIM Ahmedabad’s Young Alumni Achiever’s Award, 2019-20 in the Corporate Leadership category.

Larsing L D Sawyan – Managing Director, Centre Point Group Enterprise 

Larsing Sawyan is an entrepreneur who has contributed immensely to the field of Hospitality, Sports, Music and Entertainment in North East India . He is the Managing Director of Centre Point Group Enterprise, a creative business house having its origins and headquarters in Shillong, Meghalaya with diverse enterprises ranging from Architectural Design , Construction, Retail , Football , and a flagship chapter – Hoteliering. After graduating from St Joseph’s College of Commerce in 1999 , Larsing started a Heritage Boutique hotel by restoring the Summer Palace of the royal family of Tripura in 2002. Subsequently , he dedicated a lot of his time in branding Meghalaya tourism and promoting a vibrant progressive culture for tourism in a state that had experienced two decades of socio political turmoil and insurgency . In 2003 , he was a founding Vice Chairman and Currently the Chairman of the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum an organisation that has promoted and developed tourism in Meghlaya . Larsing was also instrumental in setting up a boutique luxury resort called Rikynjai in Umiam lake near Shillong that was awarded the SATTE – INTACH ( Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage)  award for heritage architecture. Larsing has also contributed to the development of football in the country. His Football Club , Shillong Lajong FC was the first club from the North East region of India to qualify for the Indian National League in 2009. He also cofounded Indian Super League club North East United in 2014 . Larsing has served as an executive member of the All India Football Federation from the age of 31 . He is was also  Vice President of the All India Football Federation for two terms . He was  also the Chairman of the Development Committee. Larsing is also a founding member of the North East Leaders Connect an organisation comprising of leaders from different fields from the 8 North Eastern States of India .

Gautam Thakar – Global CEO, OLX Autos

Gautam Thakar is the global CEO of OLX Autos, part of the $150B+ Naspers group. In this role Gautam leads a worldwide organization of more than 4,000 employees across Asia, Africa, Latam, and the United States with a mission of building the worlds most trusted marketplace for cars by disrupting how cars are bought and sold. Gautam has deep experience in pioneering digital marketplaces and a track-record of driving innovation operating in a global multi cultural environment. Over the last 25 years , he has managed teams in over 15 countries and has lived in India, Philippines and the USA. He started his career at P&G where he was a brand manager for detergents in the Asia business. After P&G , he was a part of the founding management team of baazee.com which pioneered ecommerce in India. Baazee was was acquired by eBay in 2005 after which Gautam was country manager of eBay India. He then moved to California as a Senior Director for Marketing for eBay’s International markets. Thereafter Gautam took over as CEO of Shopping.com, which eBay had acquired for over $600M, and was responsible for operations in the US, Germany, UK, France, Australia and Israel. He relocated to Washington DC for his next stint as CEO of LivingSocial; a venture backed local services marketplace that was eventually sold to Groupon. Gautam moved back to India in 2018 as CEO of Star Sports (acquired by the Walt Disney company) before joining his current role. Gautam enjoys mentoring and advising start up founders and has worked as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Revolution Ventures and is a Venture partner at the NextGen Venture partners. Gautam has a Bachelor of Commerce and Economics from the Sydenham College and an MBA from IIM-Lucknow where he was awarded the Citibank leadership award. Gautam loves sports (he is teaching his 6 year old daughter tennis, his 10 year old son cricket and and learning badminton from his wife). He is on track to meet his bucket list goal of visiting 50 countries and his more recent creative explorations include sketching and short story writing.

Sameer Brij Verma – Managing Director, Nexus Venture

Partners

Sameer is an early-stage venture investor in ~50 startups. He is currently a Managing Director at Nexus Venture Partners, where he opened & leads their Bangalore office. At Nexus, he has led investments in Postman, Unacademy, Infra.market, Hasura.io, Zolo, Ultrahuman, Aerotime.ai, Venwiz, Rocketlane, Joveo, Zomato, Quandl (NASDAQ), Goodera, MayaData, Jumbotail, MyUpchar, Goals101 & Indix (Avalara). Prior to Nexus, Sameer was the founding member at Reliance Capital’s early stage venture capital fund (Reliance Ventures) where he led investments in PayTM (stake acquired by Chinese internet giant), HealthSpring (Columbia Pacific), Tessolve Semiconductor (Hero Electronix), Dhama Innovations (buy-back), Greendust, Stoke (Mavenir Systems) & EBand Communications (CarrierCom). Sameer founded Breakthrough Capital, a public market equity-focused investment entity managing his personal capital. He is also the Founder & Managing Partner at BroadBridge Capital Management, his vehicle to invest into public special-situation / turnaround opportunities. His operational expertise is product management, business development, sales acceleration, recruiting, follow-on fundraising, and scaling. He is on the advisory board of The Digital Fifth, an Advisor to AngelList India, Advisory Board member of Village Global, an Advisor to Microsoft Ventures India and voted as a “40 under 40 Alternative Investment Professionals” in India by IAAIF. He is also a Global Panel Member at MIT Technology Review and a Kautilya Fellow (Class of 2020). Sameer has served in operating roles at UTStarcom, Inc, Ericsson, and American Wireless BroadBand, as a Product Manager, Solutions Architect, and Network Architect. A life-long learner, Sameer earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering as an International & Founders Scholar from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. While at IllinoisTech, he also interned at Hughes Software Systems, UTStarcom, Spectranet and did undergraduate research work for National Science Foundation / Ed-Kaplan Foundation, Molex and IIT Research Institute (IITRI).