For me, entrepreneurship is giving the best possible product to the public with due consideration to the utility of product and that too at affordable costs. 

CYCLONE (CYCLe to save ozONE)

Venture Partners: Mr. A. S. Khilnani, Mr. Mohammed S. Rajani

B-Plan Presentation: Khilnani A., Rajani S., Desai P., 2011. CYCLONE (CYCLe to save ozONE), Cleantech challenge at Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharaghpur, India. The B-Plan was ranked among top 10 at national level.

Presentation: Khilnani A., Desai P., 2012. Public Bicycle Rental System for a precinct of Mumbai: South Mumbai, at 5th Urban Mobility India Conference, New Delhi, India. 

Engineer in me saw how problem of air pollution in Mumbai can be overcome by use of bicycle as a means of transport for shorter commute but entrepreneur in me tried to bring this alternative transport into reality with the help of two co-students. We came up with the idea for CYCLONE. Aim of this venture was to provide customized bicycles on rent 24x7 for use by the population of Mumbai to commute short distances with freedom and flexibility. This service was based on the lines of successful bicycle rental schemes in the cities of London, Montreal and Paris. 

Even though we din't get enough funding to launch CYCLONE, during the process I discovered one more facet of my personality. Following this venture, I did carry out few other trading related ventures along with my friends on the campus of Sardar Patel College of Engineering and one venture related to construction of temporary roof in Mumbai, India. I did generate some profit; knowing the importance of primary education, I used part of this income to fund half-school tuition of one of my friends who happened to be a banana seller.

Patents

• Sergyeyenko, O. P., Jiang, J. Y., ..., Desai, P. S., et al., Stanley Black & Decker Inc, Laser level cooling, Patent pending (2023)  

• Higgs III, C. F., Desai, P. S., Faweya, O., Fregly, B.J., & Naseri, A.B., William Marsh Rice University, Machine Learning model for design of osseointegrative and stress-shielding resistant 3D printable orthopedic implants, Patent pending (2020)

• Higgs III, C. F., & Desai, P. S., Carnegie Mellon University & William Marsh Rice University, System and method for design of rapid excavating and wear-resistant drill bits, Patent pending (2019)

• Higgs III, C. F., & Desai, P. S., Carnegie Mellon University & William Marsh Rice University, Machine learning enabled model for predicting the spreading process in powder-bed three-dimensional printing, Patent pending (2017)