Theme: Perspectives

TEDxNITKSurathkal is meant to reach out to the students and faculty of NITK, Surathkal, an institute of engineering located in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, India. Being one of the premier institutes to study engineering in India, the college attracts some of the brightest minds in the country and has a vibrant and dynamic student community.

The theme Perspectives encapsulates how we would like to expose our audience to new and innovative ways of thinking and to perceive the systems around them in a different manner.

Silver Jubilee Auditorium, NITK Surathkal
NITK
Srinivasanagar
Surathkal, Karnataka, 575025
India

Akash Gaurav

Blockchain Entrepreneur

Akash founded India’s first blockchain company, Auxesis Group during his undergraduate studies at IIT Bombay. Auxesis today is counted among The Top 100 Most Influential Blockchain Companies in the World. Under his supervision, Auxesis has set up a Blockchain Lab in India with a dedicated team of entrepreneurs and researchers. They work together on innovations in blockchain technology to find solutions to problems faced by the masses in developing countries like India. This publicly available Blockchain infrastructure aims to act as a value chain for the Indian economy by enabling trust, transparency and efficiency in various business processes.

Ashrita Vemuganti

Actress, Classical Dancer, TV personality

Ashrita gained familiarity with audiences across India when she played the part of Devasena's sister-in-law in the S.S. Rajamouli epic, Baahubali 2. Learning dance from the age of five, Ashrita has been a part of many dance productions, picking up the nuances of emoting along the way. The dancer has forayed into other media to experiment and widen her reach. She has anchored TV programmes, beginning with Geetanjali music show for TTD, Viswanadamrutham for ETV, interviewed director K Viswanath for Vanita TV and is currently part of Poojaku Velaye series on SVBC.

Chakshu Gupta

Computer Engineer

Chakshu Gupta is a Ground Software Engineer at TeamIndus. TeamIndus is the only Indian entrant amongst the last 5 teams in the Google Lunar XPrize competition. They are building a privately funded Spacecraft and a Rover to land on the Moon, a mission planned for early 2018. Being part of this audacious journey since 2016, Chakshu’s typical day at work includes developing softwares for TeamIndus’s Mission Control Room –from planning, analysis, mapping out timelines, program design reviews to performing integrated system analysis for power, thermal and trajectory designs, this Aerospace engineer juggles it all. An alumnus from LNMIIT, Jaipur she strongly believes in Abdul Kalam’s words, “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough”. Designed to be inclusive and an open mission, TeamIndus is inviting everyone to join their journey, making it truly #HarIndianKaMoonshot.

Charan Singh

Economist

Dr. Charan Singh is full time visiting faculty and former RBI Chair Professor (Dec 2012 to Dec 2016) at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India where he teaches comparative monetary policy; and policy issues on the Indian economy. Earlier, he was a Senior Economist at the International Monetary Fund, Washington DC from Aug 2009 to Nov 2012 and Research Director at the RBI from 1997–2009 where he had joined in 1984 as a Research officer in the Economic Policy Department. He is now serving as Director on the Board of National Housing Bank, Delhi and NABARD Financial Services Ltd, Bangalore.

Michael Foley

Product Designer

A design student from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Michael Foley joined Titan Industries as a product designer. After spending more than a decade with Titan, where he is credited with designing the hugely popular Titan ‘Edge’ and ‘Fastrack’ watches, he set up his own design studio, Foley Designs, in 2006. Over the last eight years, the Bangalore-based designer has stamped his aesthetic sensibilities on a body of work which, more likely than not, has a place in many Indian homes, sometimes even without their owners’ knowledge. Foley has designed water purifiers for Hindustan Unilever and the understated but elegant packages for ITC’s Fiama Di Wills range of personal care products. He has built an impressive client list, which includes Microsoft, Godrej, HP, Wipro and Mindtree. He also conceptualised and created the baton for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Revathi Roy

Social Entrepreneur

In love with driving from a young age, Revathi counted the days till she turned 18, and then enrolled for driving classes, which were a rarity in the 1970s. Revathi’s passion manifested in multiple ways and primary among them was ForShe (pronounced for-she), the first women taxi service in Asia. Revathi is CEO of India’s first all-female hyperlocal delivery startup, Hey Deedee. Hey Deedee mobilises women from low-income communities, trains them to drive two-wheelers and has them undertake last-mile delivery for companies like Amazon, Pizza Hut, Subway and logistics provider Shadowfax among others. Roy is a serial entrepreneur who has been working towards empowering urban poor women since 2007. Awarded the ‘Women Transforming India Award’ in 2016 by NITI Aayog, Revathi, at 56, still enjoys driving, and as a seasoned driver and entrepreneur has weathered heavy storms.

Sridhar Rangayan

Filmmaker

Sridhar Rangayan wears many caps – of a filmmaker, writer, activist and festival director. He has consistently strived to give a voice to social issues in India through his films, writings and public speaking for over two decades. His award winning films 'The Pink Mirror', 'Yours Emotionally', '68 Pages', 'Project Bolo', 'Purple Skies' and 'Breaking Free' present hard-hitting social issues with warmth, compassion and humor; and are at the forefront of India’s emergent queer cinema movement. His latest film 'Breaking Free' won the National Award for Best editing (non-fiction) and was also selected for the prestigious Indian Panorama by Directorate of Film Festivals, Government of India.

Sriram Gopal

Hydroponics researcher

Sriram Gopal is the founder of Future Farms, a company focusing on the nascent field of hydroponics and aquaponics and in developing farming technologies suited for tropical climates. In the current scenario of depleting water resources world over, hydroponics has an advantage over traditional farming since it consumes about 90 per cent less water, requires no pesticides, and provides better yield. Sriram is pinning his hopes on an urban farming revolution, where the new-age farmers would be people who would be comfortable handling the computers and sensors that are part of the hydroponic set-up, and rooftops in the cities would be the harvest field.