Alumni in the news, May 21

Distinguished Alumnus Award conferred to Sri. Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman the Akshaya Patra Foundation & President, ISKCON – Bangalore by IIT Mumbai. The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, on its Foundation day, bestowed the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2010 to Sriman Madhu Pandit Dasa (a.k.a Madhusudan Sivasankar), Founder Chairman, the Akshaya Patra Foundation and President of ISKCON – Bangalore.

The institute recognised and honoured Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa for “his contribution to humanitarian services and organic farming”, said the citation. This is the highest honour the Institute bestows on the Foundation Day. The institute honours five alumni every year and the others who received the Distinguished Alumnus awards this year along with Madhu Pandit Das are Dr Nitish Thakor, Professor, John Hopkins University, R.Chandra Shekhar, IAS, Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Government of India, Adil Zaimulbhai, Managing Director, Mckinsey India and Colin H Gonslaves, Founder, India Centre for Human Rights and Law.

He completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT-Mumbai in the year 1981. Having found the path that answered his quest for the Absolute Truth, right after his days in IIT-Bombay, Madhu Pandit Dasa dedicated his life to serving the mission of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He has nearly three decades of self less work behind him.

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Dhalla has a distinguished academic background and recently served as the technical director of the polymer science and technology team at GE’s John F. Welch Technology Center in Bangalore, India. In his new role he will lead the center’s efforts to expedite research and industry innovation in water treatment and industrial wastewater reuse to help address global and regional water scarcity issues.

Dhalla will play a key role in liaising with regional government agencies and universities on collaborative efforts relating to technology development, while ensuring that GE’s technology efforts in Singapore are aligned with the company’s business focus.

Prior to his role in Bangalore, India, Dhalla was the technical director of GE’s chemistry and characterization team. Since joining GE in 2000, he established and led technical centers of excellence in both materials and process technologies.

After completing his five-year integrated master’s degree in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, Dhalla earned a doctorate in chemistry from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. After a post-doctoral stint at Penn State University, he was a research fellow at the Bristol-Myers Squibb PRI in Princeton, N.J., and a senior manager in the research and technology division of Ciba Specialty Chemicals in Mumbai, India.

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Eko announced the appointment of Harish C lodwal as Chief Technology Officer. Harish C Lodwal was the Chief Technology Officer of IndiaMart.com and his 12-year career covered a wide range of research, technology and business management positions. IIT Bombay Graduate, Harish has worked with D. E. Shaw, CSC and Sun Micro Systems. In the newly created position of CTO, he will report directly to Abhishek Sinha, Eko CEO and co-founder.

He has a profound understanding of the business value of technology differentiation and has hands on experience in development and operation of financial processes and products. Additionally, he has a strong track record of adding value to technology companies through active participation in leadership positions.

Harish C Lodwal said on his appointment:" Based on its expertise in enhanced experimentation, Eko is very well positioned to be a leading micro banking company. It is an exciting time to join this young but experienced company and help propel its path breaking platform"

Matteo Chiampo, COO of Eko, commented:" Adding an industry expert like Harish Lodwal is empowering our Executive team. He has been actively involved in a broad range of technology innovations at various Firms. He has an impressive firsthand experience in bringing new technologies into today's environment."

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