American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI) is hosting the 33rd Annual National Convention focusing on Global Engineering & Technologies (GET-2020). This virtual convention will be held starting on December 5th and end on Dec. 6th, 2020 from 1 pm to 4 pm (EST). The objective of this event is to provide a forum to promote and share advancements related to the latest cutting-edge innovations and technologies across various engineering disciplines. The convention is expected to be virtually attended by scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders across the USA and globally. This two-day event will feature keynotes and multiple interactive sessions with prominent business and technology leaders, scientists, media personalities, educators, policymakers, and investment bankers.

The convention will have multiple interactive sessions led by deep subject matter experts providing information and insight on many topics related to the convention theme. Speakers include Viome CEO Naveen Jain, Palo Alto Networks Senior VP & GM Anand Oswal, Prof. Solomon Darwin of UC Berkeley-Haas Center for Corporate Innovation, Halliburton Chief Data-Scientist Dr Satyam Priyadarshy; Surbhi Kaul, GM & Head of Product, Juniper Networks; Space & Robotics Scientist Dr. Sreeja Nag at NASA/BAERI & Nuro.AI, Eclipz Chief Information Security Officer Matthew Rosenquist, Thermo Fisher Scientific VP & Global CTO Manoj Prasad, Autodesk Chief Information Officer Prakash Kota, IBM Fellow Rama Akkiraju, Magna International  VP Deval Desai, SBD Automotive North America Director Jeffrey Hannah, McKinsey & Company Associate Partner Akshay Desai and Quantum Computing VP Robert Sutor, SpringML Senior Vice President, Piyush Malik.

There will be a Youth Technology Exposition (YTE) for young scientists and students from High School to Undergrad engineering during this virtual ASEI National Convention. The objective of the YTE is to provide a forum for young engineers, students and budding scientists to showcase their projects in science, engineering and technology topics that can have an impact on our world.

The convention is put together by ASEI President Jwalant Lakhia along with Convention Co-chairs Rakesh Patel and Bhavesh Joshi. The Convention Technology chair is ASEI Michigan Chapter President Vatsala Upadhyay. ASEI Silicon Valley Chapter President Piyush Malik is serving as the Convention Content Chair.

The convention will end with a finale awards ceremony session on December 6th at 3.30 pm (EST). where eight outstanding achievers and those who contributed to ASEI growth and society at large will be honored. This year’s outstanding achievement awards go to the following:

ASEI Lifetime Achievement Award – Naveen Jain, CEO, Viome and Chairman, Moon Express.

ASEI Entrepreneur of the Year – Jyoti Bansal, Serial entrepreneur and a Silicon Valley technology visionary

Engineer of the Year Award in Mechanical/Solar Energy– Prof. D. Yogi Goswami, Ph.D, PE, Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida and in Product Engineering and Operations Management – Deval Desai, Vice President & India Country Head, Magna International

ASEI will also honor four others for their dedicated service to ASEI:

ASEI Service Excellence Award – Rakesh Patel, Former President and Current Treasurer, ASEI; Hari Bindal ASEI Founders Award – Vatsala Upadhyay, ASEI Michigan President, and Leadership and Contribution to ASEI – Rakesh Guliani and Sunita Dublish , ASEI Silicon Valley Chapter

ASEI President Jwalant Lakhia said, “ASEI is very pleased to recognize all awardees for their dedication, hard work, and exemplary contribution in their respective fields. We plan to continue with our annual tradition of acknowledging those who have made outstanding contributions in Technology and Engineering and those who have done extraordinary work to support ASEI”

ASEI Board Member Dr. Thomas Abraham served as Awards Committee Chair. Dr. Abraham said that ASEI is a great organization providing a broad platform for the Indian origin engineers, technologists and scientists and it provides wide networking opportunities for all engineering professionals as well as makes them engaged in new technologies. “ASEI resources can be pooled to benefit in India’s development,” Dr. Abraham added.

AWARDEES 2020

ASEI Lifetime Achievement Award – Naveen Jain, CEO, Viome and Chairman, Moon Express

Naveen Jain is an entrepreneur driven to solve global grand challenges through innovation. He is the founder of several successful companies including Moon Express, Viome, Bluedot, TalentWise, Intelius and InfoSpace. Moon Express is the only company in the world to have the permission to leave earth Viome is focused on disrupting healthcare with the goal of “making illness elective” by identifying microbial biomarkers that are predictive of chronic diseases and to adjust the microbial imbalance through personalized nutrition. Naveen Jain has been awarded many honors for his entrepreneurial successes.

ASEI Entrepreneur of the Year – Jyoti Bansal, Serial entrepreneur and a Silicon Valley technology visionary

Jyoti Bansal is a serial entrepreneur and a Silicon Valley technology visionary. An alum from IIT Delhi, he believes passionately in software’s ability to change the world for the better. In 2008, he founded AppDynamics, an application intelligence company that was acquired by Cisco for $3.7 Billion. Since then, he founded BIG Labs and is CEO & Co-founder of Harness, and CEO & Co-founder of Traceable – a software cybersecurity company. Also, he founded Unusual Ventures, a new $400 Million venture capital fund focused on helping early-stage technology entrepreneurs. 

Engineer of the Year Award (Mechanical/Solar Energy) – Prof. D. Yogi Goswami, Ph.D., PE, Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida

Dr. Goswami is the Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida. Professor Goswami is the Editor-in-Chief of the Solar Energy journal, and Progress in Solar Energy. He is an author or editor 16 books and more than 300 refereed technical papers. He is a recipient of many distinguished awards for his outstanding work. Dr. Goswami is a recipient of the highest energy-related awards of ASME, ASES, ISES and AAES and more than 50 other awards and certificates from major engineering and scientific societies.

Engineer of the Year Award (Product Engineering and Operations Management) – Deval Desai, Vice President & India Country Head, Magna International

Deval Desai serves as Vice President and India Country Head at Magna International, a global automotive supplier that designs, develops and manufactures components and systems for the world’s leading automakers. In this position, Desai is responsible for digital marketing, strategic business development and continued expansion in India, and serves as one of the senior representatives for Magna in India.

ASEI Service Excellence Award – Rakesh Patel, Former President and Current Treasurer, ASEI

Rakesh Patel is an engineer, entrepreneur, board advisor, and IT consultant for the various domains of emerging technologies. He has been working as a Global IT compliance at General Motors for the past 8 years. Previously, he has provided IT consulting to IBM, Chrysler, EDS, HP, Ford, and various other industries. Serving as Board Member, Vice President, President and currently as Treasurer, Rakesh has also been serving as executive and board member at various professional and non-profit organizations. Rakesh has an Engineering Degree from India and MS in management technology from the University of Phoenix.

 Hari Bindal ASEI Founders Award – Vatsala Upadhyay, ASEI Michigan President

Vatsala Upadhyay is the IT Systems Architect at Seco Tools. She has almost 30 years of experience in collaboration solutions and CRM applications across multi-platforms. Master’s in computer applications from BIT, Mesra with Executive MBA degree, she has professional certifications in Project Management, ITIL, Scrum, and Six Sigma. Vatsala is extremely passionate about life and values each moment as a beautiful gift. She has been a national level volleyball player back in India and is a techno-geek, who believes that there is a solution for every problem, we need to just look deep enough.

Leadership and Contribution to ASEI – Rakesh Guliani and Sunita Dublish , ASEI Silicon Valley Chapter

Rakesh Guliani is Vice President at Park Computer Systems and has served as director at ASEI Silicon Valley chapter focusing on  STEM  and internship initiatives. With education and background in software engineering and entrepreneurial experience of building a job board and application tracking system, he drives innovative solutions, coaches leaders to be successful, and develops strong, diverse teams. Attracting, retaining, mentoring, and developing talent is his key strength. 

Sunita Dublish is a web developer with front-end as well as back-end skills and more than 15 years of experience in web development. She believes in creating great experiences for end-users. She has worked at start-ups, nonprofit and for-profit companies. She has a Computer Science degree from IET, Lucknow. She also serves and has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. Sunita has served as ASEI Silicon Valley volunteer for a few years and is now Director IT.

 About ASEI

The American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI) is a not-for-profit organization that 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 by a handful of visionaries. Today, the organization also has chapters in Michigan, Southern California, Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.aseiusa.org.

 Note to Editor – If you need more information, please contact Dr. Thomas Abraham at 203-329-8010 or [email protected]