Category: 2023

Rise Of Indians In Technology

Rise Of Indians In Technology Sector Continues With Dr Parag Agrawal As Latest Engineer To Assume CEO Position Of A Major Tech Company In Us

ASEI continues to cheer for the success of technologists and scientists amongst the indian diaspora. Given we have 12 of the top Tech companies being led by Indians now, we can only be proud and be happy for their success which obviously has come after  a lot of hard work of these successful individuals. Our best wishes! 

Pix 1 Source: www.TOI.in 

RISE-OF-INDIANS-IN-TECHNOLOGY

Here is an excerpt from our best wishes sent as the news broke out earlier today: :

PIx 2 Source: Twitter Feed from ASEI President Piyush Malik

Asha

Top 10 Lessons From Leadership Masterclass With Ceo Coach : Journey To C-suite

Article by Raju Shreewastava

Being an engineer teaches us to be tactical, but leadership is about soft skills. Different roles throughout one’s career span calls for different skills. So when it comes to managing your own career, how do you prepare yourself to move up? What skills should working executives hone as they strive to reach the next level? What do leaders need to become a C-suite executive? This  “masterclass” with a leading CEO Coach Asha Saxena provided the opportunity for engineering managers and  executives to have in-depth conversations about how they can maximize their own individual leadership skills and build high performing teams.

In this Leadership Masterclass Asha simplified the key things any aspiring C-Suite should keep in mind. 

Aug-2021-3

Top 10 Ten things to keep in mind:

  1. Vision
  2. Alignment
  3. Delegate
  4. Customer Focus
  5. Know your Numbers
  6. Measure what Matters – Weekly 1-3 things to measure
  7. Be a Good Communicatir
  8. Clarity and Consistency
  9. Power V/s Influence
  10. Culture – Core Values

My personal favorite quote by her was  “Leaders are lifelong learners”.

Q &A session:

Her experience coaching CEOs of Startups to Fortune 500 companies was very evident during the Q & A session. A varied range of questions were dealt with in a concise but impactful way with examples making it a true masterclass.

Here are notes from some of the very insight responses:

Question : What would be the top few things to keep in mind for the first 30 days of becoming a leader?

Answer: Depending on the size of the organization it would be vary but the high level would look something like below :

  • 30 days – Listening
  • 60 days – Design and strategy
  • 90 days – Executing

Question : What would be your suggestion on how to have tough conversations with non-performing or challenged employees/managers reporting to you?

Answer: It is important to deliver a tough message but the approach taken would determine the chance of success. Mixing the response with positive appreciation in the success area would be helpful to get the message delivered across. This would need one to be very observant to catching people doing the right thing while ensuring the appreciation is authentic.

The event was moderated by Vatsala Upadhay , Piyush Malik ( ASEI president) and Aina Aliieva and streamed live on YouTube and Clubhouse

If you missed the session , the YouTube recording  is a must watch for anyone aspiring C-suite.

About the Speaker

Asha Saxena is a strategic, innovative leader with a proven track record of building successful tech businesses for the last 25 years. With a strong academic background, creative problem-solving skills, and an effective management style. She has been instrumental in building business models for success.

Asha Saxena is a CEO Coach with CEOCI, the leading coaching firm for growth-focused CEOs and entrepreneurs, where we follow a practical and proven methodology to help CEOs and their teams perform at their very best and achieve their business goals.

This article is an event summary of the Leadership Masterclass with CEO Coach Ash Saxena was held  on 10th July 2021 as a FREE interactive event for ASEI members  hosted by ASEI. Raju Shreewastava is an ASEI Silicon Valley chapter member and founder of silicon valley company Big Data Trunk helping clients accelerate innovation through corporate training. He is the author of two books and has been in the data and analytics space for the past 2 decades.
YOUTH CORNER FEATURING YOUNGEST VC TAARINI KAUR DANG

Youth Corner Featuring Youngest Vc Taarini Kaur Dang

Eighteen-year-old Taarini Kaur Dang is an author, high schooler, TEDx Speaker, and the Founder and Managing Partner of the venture capital firm Brave14 Capital, for which she has raised $870k in funding.

Yeah, I know: that’s a lot to accomplish as an 18-year-old! And so, on the July 4th weekend, we sat down and dove into the different things that have made her the person she is today. Taarini’s drive for entrepreneurship was sparked when her parents shared their own stories of their entrepreneurial journey with her when she was just 6 years old. Taarini was fascinated by the impact you can have on others as an entrepreneur.

By the time she was in 8th grade, she started an entrepreneurship club, wherein students were assigned different roles based on their strengths. Learning about entrepreneurship, she was flabbergasted by the comparatively few number of women in the field. She also learned more about disadvantaged women and the lack of VC funding through non-profit organizations such as TIEcon and movements that represent marginalized communities, like the Jakara Movement. All of these events lead to the founding of the venture capital firm Brave14.

However, starting out, she, like many others, would sometimes lose motivation for her work. Her proposals and ideas would be misunderstood or shot down. Even loved ones would be indifferent to her ideas and vision. But what kept her going was her commitment to help other marginalized communities. It is her hope for these communities that propels her forward and inspires her to keep going, especially when the days get tough.

Through her work with her venture capital firm, her association with non-profit organizations, and her Instagram account @classywomenn, she inspires other women to pursue entrepreneurship. From time to time, she has also taken advantage of networking opportunities available through various organizations, which helped her gain more diverse perspectives and refine her presentation skills and the way she spoke about venture capital. That’s why she recommends joining organizations like ASEI, which provide a platform for tech professionals and youth to network and gain inspiration from other industry leaders.

Her advice for youth today is to keep fighting. Continuing to pursue your passions; showcase the fact that you are worthy and capable. She says, “you have no idea how that will impact your life. You may not have all the bells and whistles in the early stages of your journey, but your ability to consistently move forward on your idea keeping the end in mind is the first and most important gateway to success.”

*********************************************************

 

This article is based on conversations ASEI president Piyush Malik and ASEI youth coordinator Aditya Guthey, a Silicon Valley chapter member and a career coach have had with Taarini Kaur Dang  for ASEI Youth Corner via Youtube on 7/4 and on Clubhouse 7/24.

 

ASEI has a partnership with Moonpreneur – a Silicon Valley based startup that accelerates youths’ path from STEM education to entrepreneurship. They are offering summer internships for ASEI youth members as well in summer 2022. Click to avail special offers for ASEI community

 

ASEI Engineer Of The Year 2013 Padmasree Warrior Speaks With Us!

ASEI Engineer Of The Year 2013 Padmasree Warrior Speaks With Us!

In the Indo-American community, who doesn’t know Padmasree Warrior? Well at least in the silicon valley, her name is synonymous with womanpower.

For those who are from a different generation or my not be familiar, let’s give a brief introduction.

Padmasree Warrior is the Founder, President and CEO of Fable, a mobile-first company that brings stories for everyone, anywhere. Previously, Padma was the Chief Executive Officer of NIO U.S., Chief Development Officer and Board Member of NIO Inc., a manufacturer of smart, electric and autonomous vehicles. In this role she scaled the company from start-up to a successful IPO NYSE:NIO in 3 years.

Padmasree Warrior has been widely recognized for her creative, visionary leadership. Forbes has named her one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” for three years running. In 2013, The International Alliance for Women gave her the World of Difference Award. In 2012, Business Insider called her one of the “25 Most Influential Women in Wireless”. The Wall Street Journal has called her one of “50 Women to Watch.” Fast Company included her among the “100 Most Creative People in Business.” The Economic Times listed her as “the 11th Most Influential Global Indian.”

Originally from south India, after graduating from IIT Delhi, she came to the US for her masters at Cornell. Padma has been a member of Microsoft’s board of directors since December 2015. She is also a board member at Spotify .She was a member of the Gap Inc. board from 2013 to 2016[23] and the Box board from 2014 to 2016.

Apart from numerous commercial accolades and those from ASEI, she was recognized by National Association of Asian American Professionals NAAAP with a Lifetime achievement award NAAAP100 in 2021

 

In our Engineering Tales Episode 7 last week, Padma spoke with ASEI members and complemented us on continuing to inspire the next generation of technologists amongst the indo-american diaspora. She thanked ASEI for her 2013 Engineer of the Year award. Then she shared pertinent learnings from her career especially embracing change:

“Throughout my career, I have journeyed as an engineer to a technology executive to a CEO, not only changing roles along the way, but also industries—from Motorola to Cisco to Nio, and now Fable.”

As she has embraced change herself along the way, she also observed an evolution of how people learn and interact with one another, which inspired her to think about how we 1) apply technology to bring humanity back to each of us, and 2) make mental wellness through reading a priority.

She further shared the inspiration behind her current venture, as the founder and CEO of Fable – a social reading app platform. She also added that Indian-American Titans of Industry—like Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, and Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo—curating book recommendations which you can find on Fable.

She invites all ASEI members to read along with her in her own club, or join one of the many other free clubs you can find in the Fable app.

Additionally, she mentioned that they have amazing Career Development Book Clubs, which are designed to help you get to the next professional level, and are reimbursable through your company. In these clubs, you’ll study must-read books, get coaching from world-renowned leaders and authors, and connect with like-minded professionals, all on your schedule. You can learn more about these clubs at fable.co/career-development

In closing, Padma left us with her top 3 pieces of advice to young students or budding engineers and the importance of building networks through organizations like ASEI:

Invest in upskilling and reskilling yourself – (eg making career coaching available through our Career Dev clubs)

  • Seek new opportunities – don’t wait for the perfect job to land in your lap
  • Growth mindset – be curious and expand your areas of expertise

We are thankful for Padmasree Warrior in continuing to be a friend of ASEI as much as being a role model for not only all women of color but all Asian American Professionals.

Join Padma in your reading journey with her featured club on Fable for free to learn about her career journey as well as leadership tips.

 

 

 

2023

NEWSLETTER 2023 ISSUE#1

Dear ASEI Community

Hope you are as excited about the new year as I am. ASEI turns 40 this year and that’s a big deal!

As we say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, reflecting on the past, I’m filled with gratitude for all that we have achieved. Despite the challenges, we have also experienced many joys and moments of growth. While plenty of details have been shared via our monthly newsletters and mailings in the past 12 months, let me share a few highlights today.

2022 started with a bang for us with a well-attended and successful ASEI 34th National Convention with Aerospace Symposium, YTE, and CXO Summit and the National Awards event in Q1’22. In Q2’2022, in addition to high powered meeting with India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, we hosted a Cybersecurity Summit with 20+ speakers that were covered widely by media outlets

We continued with our flagship MentorConnect program this year and paired up 25+ senior ASEI Life members who are engineering executives with early career engineers and aspiring engineering leaders. Here’s a fireside chat from one of the MentorConnect events.

In the second half of this year, we started holding in-person events again including successful University career programs in Washington DC, Silicon Valley, and Dallas as well as the New Mobility Summit in Michigan. Of course, we continued to partner with other organizations such as TiE & PanIIT in Silicon Valley, Orange county food bank in SoCal, NCWIT, STEM startups like Igebra in India, FalconX accelerator & Moonpreneur in silicon valley for internships and Asian American groups like GOPIO, Indiaspora, ISSIP and NAAAP to further our mission through partnerships.

Our Indo-US collaboration objectives were met with several opportunities to interact and collaborate with Consul General Dr TV Nagendra Prasad, Consul General Amit Kumar and Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu as well as Indian Cabinet Minister Hon. Piyush Goyal

Our expansion this year led to the formation of the Dallas Chapter and several UniversityConnect Career events across chapters in addition to Engineering Tales, Webinars, Youth Technology Exposition events and Virtual YouthCorner showcasing promising Indo-American Youth Ambassadors. Finally, our social media presence and growth with Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin expanded into Clubhouse social audio in addition to monthly newsletters with a reach of over 6,000. One of our posts even went viral with over 211,000 views!

As we enter this new year with the recent good news of formation of ASEI Foundation (a 501 c(3) non profit -which means your donations and contributions to ASEI are now deemed tax deductible) lets set intentions and goals that will bring us closer to our dreams and aspirations. Let’s focus on the positive and embrace all that the future  holds. I look forward to your ideas and active engagement. We have a lot of exciting things to look forward to as we start celebrating our 40th year of ASEI’s formation.

Thank You!

Piyush Malik
President ASEI
ASEI at the 66th Annual Michigan Science Fair

ASEI at the 66th Annual Michigan Science Fair

ASEI has been one of the supporting professional organizations at the Science Fair of Metro Detroit since a few years.
The Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit, established in September 1956, is a nonprofit organization established to give students in the seven county area (Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties) an opportunity to develop and exhibit science fair projects.

Event Name : ASEI at the 66th Annual Michigan Science Fair

Event At : Virtual & Huntington Place Convention Center, Detroit MI

Address : 1 Washington Blvd Detroit Michigan 48226

Event Date : Mar.15.2023

Contact : Muthu Sivanantham

Email : [email protected]

ASEI at the 66th Annual Michigan Science Fair