ASEI to honor Engineers, Scientists and Community leaders at ASEIcon2023, celebrating 40 years since inception
The American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI), a 501 c3 non-profit, is hosting ASEIcon2023 – it’s 35th National Convention focusing on NextGeneration Engineering Innovations. The awards banquet following the convention will be held on September 30th, 2023 at Hotel Radisson, Southfield, MI.
This convention co-chaired by Rakesh Patel and Muthu Sivanantham will consist of keynotes as well as parallel tracks covering Automotive, Mobility, Infrastructure and Energy. It is being hosted by the ASEI Michigan Chapter and is a milestone event of significance as it is returning to the birthplace of ASEI in its 40th year after several years of being hosted in other chapters.
After an open public solicitation where both ASEI members and non-members were eligible to nominate in different categories, a rigorous vetting process by the ASEI awards committee ensued. As a result, this year’s outstanding achievement awards go to the following individuals:
ASEI Lifetime Achievement : Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud
ASEI Entrepreneur of the Year: Dheeraj Pandey, Founder & CEO, DevRev
ASEI Scientist of the Year : Dr Nina Tandon, CEO, Epibone
ASEI Engineer of the Year- AI: Rama Akkiraju, Vice President, NVIDIA
ASEI Engineer of the Year- Transportation & Sustainability: Dr Praveen Vayalamkuzhi, CEO MobilityVision
ASEI Service Excellence Award : Surbhi Kaul, Vice President, Juniper Networks
Hari B. Bindal ASEI Founder’s Award : Muthu Sivananthan, Energy & Materials Industry Solutions Leader, Dassault Systèmes
ASEI President Piyush Malik said, “ASEI is a great organization providing a broad platform for the Indian origin engineers, technologists and young scientists providing wide networking and learning opportunities for all technology & engineering professionals. On behalf of ASEI, I am very pleased to recognize & congratulate each awardee for their dedication, hard work, and exemplary contribution in their respective fields.”
Further Details about the ASEI award winners:
ASEI Lifetime Achievement |
Thomas Kurian CEO, Google Cloud |
Thomas joined Google in 2018 as the CEO of Google Cloud and through remarkable efforts has led it to profitability and fastest growth amongst public cloud providers. Prior to Google, Thomas spent 22 years at Oracle, where most recently he was President of Product Development. His nearly 30 years of experience have given him a deep knowledge of engineering, enterprise relationships, and leadership of large organizations. |
ASEI Engineer of the Year – AI |
Rama Akkiraju Vice President, NVIDIA |
Rama Akkiraju, VP of AI & Automation at NVIDIA IT, previously held leadership roles at IBM for two decades as IBM Fellow, Master Inventor and the CTO of IBM Watson AI Operations. Rama was recognized by Forbes’ as ‘Top 20 Women in AI Research’ in 2017. ‘USA Industry Innovator of the Year’ and ‘AI Industry Leader of the Year’ are only a few among the many industry awards received by Rama over the years. Rama was a featured speaker at ASEI’s 33rd National Convention in 2020 |
ASEI Entrepreneur of the Year |
Dheeraj Pandey CEO, DevRev & Board member Adobe |
Dheeraj is a serial entrepreneur, Founder & CEO at DevRev and a board member at Adobe.Prior to this, he founded and led Nutanix as CEO & Chairman for 10 years. Previously, Dheeraj was the VP of Engineering at Aster Data (now Teradata), where he helped build the product and its engineering team from the ground up. Dheeraj’s entrepreneurial spirit has been recognized with a number of prestigious awards including Dell’s Founders 50 and the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year. |
ASEI Scientist of the Year |
Dr Nina Tandon CEO, Epibone |
Nina Tandon is the co-founder and CEO of EpiBone, a biotech company that grows bone and cartilage for skeletal reconstruction. With decades of experience as a scientist and entrepreneur, Nina is known for her TED Talks, has published in Forbes magazine, and was featured on the Netflix series “Human: The World Within.” Recognized for her accomplishments as a female scientist and entrepreneur, Nina was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company Magazine; an Ernst & Young Winning Woman; and Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, among other awards. Nina holds a Master’s in Bioelectrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and two advanced degrees from Columbia University – an MBA and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. |
ASEI Engineer of the Year – (Transportation & Sustainability) |
Dr Praveen Vayalamkuzhi CEO, MobilityVision |
Dr. Praveen, an engineer-turned-entrepreneur, possesses extensive international experience in transportation safety research, with a focus on engineering and education measures. As the Founder and CEO of MobilityVision Inc. he leads a science-driven organization dedicated to safe and sustainable mobility. For his impactful contributions he has received honors like the Rising Star of Safety 2022 by the National Safety Council and Forty Under 40 in 2022 by the Association Forum. His pioneering transportation safety research earned him the title of Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 2023, contributing to social advancement. |
ASEI Service Excellence |
Surbhi Kaul Vice President, Juniper Networks |
Surbhi’s leadership role at Juniper centers around enhancing customer experiences through the integration of Juniper’s Experience-First Networking initiatives across every facet of the customer journey. With over two decades of impactful leadership in product design, development, and strategy within Fortune 500 companies, Surbhi is a seasoned professional who has spearheaded visionary product and engineering teams at tech giants such as Google, YouTube, Netflix, and Cisco. Surbhi has not only served ASEI as its National Board member and on several ASEI committees, over the past ten years she has served several other community and alumni non profits. |
Hari B. Bindal ASEI Founder’s Award of the Year |
Muthu Sivanantham Industry Solutions Leader; Dassault Systèmes |
Muthu has been serving ASEI for the past 3 years as the President of the Michigan Chapter. Professionally, he is responsible to provide game-changing Industry solutions to Energy, Materials & Manufacturing customers, act as their trusted advisor and promote Digital Twin Solutions in the Industry. Muthu is a passionate Technology Leader focused on sustainability, climate tech, and carbon free energy with a special eye for advanced nuclear power. He has over 28 years of Industry experience serving customers from Automotive, Aerospace and now the Energy Industry with a strong acumen in Digital Manufacturing and Product Lifecycle Management. |
Table : ASEIcon2023 Awardees
Registration to the conference & ASEIcon2023 Award Ceremony is available here.
The evening of Sept 30th, 2023 will consist of a banquet dinner and entertainment program celebrating winners of the prestigious ASEI annual awards and revival of the corporate excellence recognition program (CERP). The CERP awards sponsored by GMS Registrar, DEP and GHD will also be awarded by their management.
About ASEI
The American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI) is a 501 c(3) non-profit aiming to foster engineering and scientific temper in the next generation of technologists, engineers and scientists amongst the Indian diaspora for the past 40 years. Through a variety of strategic programs such as UniversityConnect, MentorConnect, YTE, CorporateConnect and more, ASEI provides a platform for networking, career advancement, community service, mentoring and technology exchange for professionals, students and businesses in the United States and abroad. Members are guided by several objectives, including the creation of an open, inclusive, and transparent organization; providing positive role models, awarding scholarships, and remaining socially responsible. ASEI was founded in 1983 in Detroit, Michigan. Today, the organization also has chapters in Dallas, Southern California, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit: https://aseiusa.org
Media Contacts: Dr Thomas Abraham, Chair Media Relations [email protected], 203-329-8010 or Piyush Malik, President, ASEI 510-304-9890, [email protected]