Keynote Speakers

Day 1: 6th June 2022

Inaugural Session

(9.00 am -10.00 am)

Special Guest

Special Guest

Guest of Honor

Prof. Pradip Kr. Bala

Director-in-charge,

IIM Ranchi

Prof. P. K. Bala is the Director In-Charge of IIM Ranchi. He earned his B.Tech., M.Tech. and Ph.D. from IIT, Kharagpur. His area of expertise is Data Mining & Predictive Analytics, Social Media & Cognitive Analytics, Data Warehousing & Big Data Analytics, Text, Web & Social Network Analytics, Machine Learning & Recommender Systems, and Natural Language Processing.

Prof. Shailendra Singh

Former Director

IIM Ranchi

Prof. (Dr.) Shailendra Singh is a distinguished academician, visionary institution builder and illustrious management guru. He has more than 35 years of vast and varied experience in research, teaching, training, administration and consultancy post his Ph.D. Currently, he is serving as a Professor (HAG) and Dean (Research) at the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow. Recently, Prof. Singh completed a 5-year tenure as the Director of the Indian Institute of Management Ranchi (2017-2022). Prior to that, he was a Professor (HAG) in the area of Human Resource Management and Dean (Research) at the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow. Previously, he has served as the National Convener of CAT, Chairman of crucial departments like Admissions, Fellow Programme in Management, and Financial Aid & International Linkages at Indian Institute of Management Lucknow. He was elected as the President (2013-14) and as a Fellow (2018) of National Academy of Psychology India. Prof. Singh earned MA in Psychology from the University of Allahabad and Ph.D. in Organizational Behaviour from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. His Ph.D. Dissertation titled "Executives under Stress: Explorations in the Structure and Dynamics" won the Indian Council of Social Science Research Publication Grant Award. Prof. Singh has delivered various lectures, presentations and keynote addresses at premier universities, institutes and business schools around the world which include IITs, IIMs, IIITs, NITs, NLUs, Banaras Hindu University, University of Delhi, University of Cambridge (UK), Aston Business School (UK), University of Kelaniya (Sri Lanka) to name a few.

Dr. Satinder Singh Rekhi


CEO, R Systems

Dr. Satinder Singh Rekhi founded R Systems in 1993. Dr. Rekhi has over 35 years of experience and is one of the leading figures in the Information Technology industry. Prior to joining R Systems, Dr. Rekhi held senior management positions with HCL Technologies and DISC (now Synergex) in the United States, Singapore and India. He completed Master of Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento, and has attended several senior management programs at the University of Berkeley and Harvard Business School. Dr. Rekhi graduated from the prestigious IIT, Kharagpur, India, with a bachelor’s degree in technology. He recently sponsored a new centre at his alma mater, the “Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness” which will research on the science behind happiness. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate (D.Phil) from Amity University. Presently, Dr. Rekhi is designated as Managing Director on the Board of R Systems International Limited.

Patron


Prof. V. K. Tewari


Director


IIT Kharagpur

Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari is the Director of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, Prof. Tewari did B.Tech. (Hons.) in Agricultural Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1979, M.Tech. in Farm Machinery and Power Engineering in 1981 and Ph.D. in Engineering in 1985. Prof. Tewari joined the Institute as a faculty member in 1990 where he rose to the rank of Professor in Farm Machinery and Power Engineering in the Dept. of Agricultural and Food Engineering. He was associated with JEE from 2003-2006 and was the All India Organizing Committee Chairman of JEE from 2005-2006. Many of his pioneering initiatives such as the design of question papers are being followed even now.

Theme 1: Mindfulness and Relaxation at Workplace

(10.30 am -12.30 pm)

Moderator


Prof. Saamdu Chetri


Visiting Professor

Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness

IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Saamdu Chetri, was born in a cowshed in rural Bhutan and has a PhD in commerce. After working for 25 years in private and development sectors, and five years in PMO of the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Y Thinley, he then instituted the Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan as one of the founding members and headed it for six years, as its Executive Director under the aegis of HRH Princess Kezang Choden Wangchuck. He has been teaching, consulting and speaking at various international and national occasions on mindfulness, ecology, governance and GNH happiness, among others, in the House of Commons in the British Parliament, Senators of Philippines, visiting Parliamentarians from other countries to Bhutan, in more than dozen universities and colleges in the world and more than 10 universities and colleges in India as well. Recently he addressed international conferences over Skype in the University of Prague; Annual Psychological Conference in Austria; NGOs meet in Italy and GNH practitioners in Australia. He is currently a vising faculty in the Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness, IIT Kharagpur. He is a strong advocate of the organic movement, climate change, environment, a practitioner of mindfulness, and learner on happiness. He is a pilgrim of love and compassion.

Dr. Ha Vinh Tho

Program Director

Gross National Happiness Centre, Bhutan

Dr. Ha Vinh Tho is the Program Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan. He is an international speaker on Gross National Happiness (GNH), Happiness and Well-being, and moving beyond GDP. He has been the head of training, learning and development at the International Committee of the Red Cross. He has trained humanitarian professionals working in war zones and emergency response in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Dr. Ha Vinh is the founder and chairman of Eurasia Foundation, a humanitarian NGO developing educational programs for children and youths living with disabilities, as well as ecological projects in Vietnam, and is a Buddhist teacher (Dharmacharya) in Vietnamese Zen Tradition (Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh). He is a visiting fellow in adult education and humanitarian work in several Universities (UCL/ Belgium, Geneva/ Switzerland, Schumacher College/UK, Mind and Life Institute/USA, Presencing Institute/USA). He has published several books and numerous articles on Gross National Happiness, Engaged Buddhism, and adult education.

Registrar and Professor

Kaziranga University

He has completed his PhD from Osmania University and MFA from Kakatiya University. Currently he is serving as the Registrar of Kaziranga university, Assam. He has spent 10 years in Industry (Financial Services) and 17 years in Academics. He has been professionally engaged with prestigious institutions like ITM Vocational University, GE Money Bank (Atlanta), Siva Sivani Institute of Management (Hyderabad) and Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India.

Dr. Richa Chopra

Senior International Faculty,

The Art of Living

She completed her PhD from Gauhati University with the thesis titled “Impact of The Art of Living Courses on The Marital Adjustments of Indian Women”. Her research interests are in areas of Consciousness Studies (West and East), Contemplation and Human Development. She practices as a psychologist and a Yoga instructor and is the Founding Head-In-charge at Sri Sri University.

Theme 2: Creativity and Innovation

(3 pm - 5 pm)

Moderator


Prof. Vijai Nath Giri


Professor

Humanities and Social Science

IIT Kharagpur

Prof. Vijay Nath Giri, a Professor of Communication studies at the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT Kharagpur. He has received several awards and distinctions such as DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Reinvitation Programme (2007), Post-Doctoral Research, Institute of Media and Communication Science, Ilmenau University of Technology, Ilmenau, Germany. His areas of research include organizational, interpersonal and intercultural communication, communication styles, conflict management, communication, happiness & well-being. He has also worked on gender, self-disclosure, self-esteem and communication styles and published several papers in national and international journals. Currently he is exploring the different pathways related to workplace happiness.

Dr. Tia Kansara


Sustainable Design Expert

Co-founder, Kansara Hackney

CEO, Replenish Earth Ltd

Dr. Tia Kansara is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and future city sustainability evangelist. She is the youngest entrepreneur to receive the Royal Institute British Architects honorary fellowship and hailed amongst the Top 100 most influential leaders in Tech by the Financial Times and Inclusive Boards. Tia is an insightful and passionate leader, dedicated to global transformation through investing in nature. She believes in an economic system with global unity, creating and fostering environments that sustain all life. She holds a Ph.D. from University College London, Energy Institute on designing future cities and energy evaluation. Her publications in peer-reviewed journals cover topics ranging from sustainable cities to human performance, and she presents her findings at conferences internationally and through social media. She has lectured at New Delhi School of Planning; Musashi Institute of Technology; KEA University; McGill University; University of British Columbia; School of Architecture and Planning to name a few. Tia is the co-founder of Kansara Hackney Ltd, the first ISO-certified sustainable lifestyle consultancy, and CEO of Replenish Earth Ltd, a cause and a collective action to protect the global commons. She is also the UCL Bartlett’s Ambassador to the Gulf region and advisor to the Economic Times of India as well as an economist and future cities thought leader with clients including Coca Cola, Bloomberg, the European Commission, Forbes, Formula One, MIT, and Siemens among others.

Dr. Lipika Dey

Chief Scientist and Head, Analytics and insights practices, TCS Research and Innovation

She completed her Masters in Mathematics followed by a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. After working as a faculty in IIT Delhi in the early years of her career, she shifted into exploring areas of web intelligence and text mining at Tata Consultancy Services. She has been working there for the last 15 years in the capacity of a Principal Scientist. She is also associated with ACM as a Peer Mentor and works towards inculcating awareness about STEM among female students. She has served as the Program Chair for COMPUTE 2017 and General chair for CoDS - a premium conference on Data Science in India in 2019.

Prof. Manas K Mandal


Distinguished Visiting Professor

IIT Kharagpur

Former Director General, DRDO

Prof. Manas Mandal’s research contribution to the field of psychological science spanned over 40 years with primary focus on affect processing in the brain. While at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Prof. Mandal pursued the domain of behavioral neuroscience in normal human behavior, in which he explored the difficulties faced by the left and mixed (clumsy) handers in the society. As the Director of Defense Institute of Psychological Research (DRDO), he engaged himself in a large number of activities towards the human performance development of the community of armed/paramilitary forces (National Security Guards, CRPF, etc.).

Day 2: 7th June 2022

Theme 3: Happy Leadership Strategies to Inspire Teams

(9.15 am- 11.15 am)

Moderator

Prof. Shailendra Kumar Varshney

Chairman, Partha Ghosh Academy of Leadership, IIT Kharagpur

Associate Professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, IIT Kharagpur

Associated with School of Energy Science & Engineering (SESE) and School of Nano-science and Technology (SNST) as a faculty member. He also worked as an Adjunct Faculty, School of Electrical Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (autumn 2016-2017). He has received prestigious postdoctoral fellowships such as Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral fellowship in Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany and DAAD fellowship at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. His main research interests are Quantum communication and quantum photonic devices, free-space optical communication (under-water, indoor), and Cavity nonlinear dynamics.


Dr. Trilok Singh

Vice-Chairman, Partha Ghosh Academy of Leadership,

Assistant Professor Grade-I

Energy Science and Engineering , IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Trilok Singh is an Assistant Professor in the School of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, where he is developing Novel Organic-Inorganic halide perovskite absorber layer for high efficiency next generation solar cells. He was a post-doctoral fellow in Prof. Sanjay Mathur's group at University of Cologne, Germany. During his tenure (11/2011 till 4/2015) at University of Cologne he extensively worked on the synthesis of metal oxide thin films via Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and systematic modification/engineering of thin films properties for their application in solar energy driven water splitting.

In mid of 2015 he joined Prof. Tsutomu Miyasaka group at Toin University of Yokohama, Japan through JSPS fellowship where he worked on the synthesis of lead and lead free based Organic-Inorganic halide perovskite for photovoltaic application. His research interests include integrating micro- and nanotechnology to develop innovative methods to solve energy generation problems. His interests also include design, fabrication and development of high efficiency flexible solar cells for various energy applications.


Dr. Partha Ghosh


Founder,

Boston Pledge,

PG Academy of Leadership

Professor, Tufts University

Partha S. Ghosh, based in Boston, is a renowned strategist and an innovator of Business and Economic models - Dr. Ghosh holds B. Tech from IIT Kharagpur, Masters’ in Chemical Engineering and MBA from MIT, Cambridge and AMP from Harvard. He had a long career of 12 years with McKinsey & Company; of that last 6 years as a partner. Among his other previous positions, he was the Chairman & the Chief Mentor of Boston Analytics, a firm specializing in providing precision analytical services/financial modeling tools. He was also the Chairman of the Board of Advisors of M&A/Strategic Alliance Advisory firm Access International Partners, and Chairman of Business Intelligence firm Intersoft K.K based in Tokyo.

He was involved as a faculty resource with MIT & Harvard University on strategic management /policy design and leadership, and Tufts University on Globalization & Innovation. He is currently in an advisory role with multiple organizations worldwide.

Mr. Ajeet Saxena


Former civil servant, Founder, Capsule on Corporate Spiritual Responsibility

Mr. Ajeet Saxena – born in UP, grew up in the foothills of the Himalayas spending his early childhood in and around Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh. He did his Bachelor of Engineering from IIT, Roorkee. He went on to do his MBA through the National Management Programme of the Government of India, after joining the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) through the Civil Services Examination of 1982.

Although trained as a Civil Engineer, he found himself temperamentally misfit in the work culture of the Civil Engineering departments. Hence, he switched over to Civil Services. He retired as the Principal Chief Commercial Manager of Southern Railway.

Having been exposed to all the major religions of India - right from his early childhood with equal openness and intensity, he has picked up the best and the most relevant from the Core of all the religions and assimilated it as what he calls ‘Applied Spirituality’. His capsule on Spirituality – termed as ‘Applied Spirituality for Pentium Generation’, is for the youngsters - worldly men and women, and consists of ‘Tips and Clues’, for maintaining one’s purity while living the normal life of householders in this big bad world - as against the hobby, easy option and status symbol of pursuing ‘Abstract Spirituality’ - suitable for the recluses living safely in the Himalayas - away from the problems and temptations of the real world.

His first major Spiritual breakthrough came in 1980 - during his posting as DC, Karaikal with the Pondicherry government. As a curious visitor to almost all the major sacred places of various religions of India, it was in Pondicherry, that he came in touch with Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy and got glimpses of what now he terms as ‘Technology of Spirituality’. According to him, Sri Aurobindo was the first and the only Rishi who has dealt with the dimensions of Spirituality as a ‘Software’ Operating behind the Creation, and Vedas are the ‘*Software Manuals’. He believes that Spirituality is the ‘Information Technology’ (IT) of the subtle world and that the ‘Internet is the greatest Spiritual discovery of the last Century’.

Dr. V. Ramgopal Rao


Former Director &

Professor of Nanoelectronics

IIT Delhi

Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao is currently a Professor of Nanoelectronics, EE and the immediate Past Director of IIT Delhi. Before joining IIT Delhi as the Director in April 2016, Dr. Rao served as a P. K. Kelkar Chair Professor for Nanotechnology in the Department of Electrical Engineering and as the Chief Investigator for the Centre of Excellence in Nanoelectronics project at IIT Bombay. Dr. Rao has over 480 research publications in the area of nano-scale devices & Nanoelectronics and is an inventor on 49 patents and patent applications, which include 18 issued US patents. Thirteen of his patents have been licensed to industries for commercialization. Prof. Rao is a co-founder of two deep technology startups at IIT Bombay (Nanosniff & Soilsens) which are developing products of relevance to the society. Dr. Rao is a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Indian National Science Academy. Prof. Rao's research and leadership contributions have been recognized with over 30 awards and honors in the country and abroad. He is a recipient of three honorary doctorates. The recognitions Prof. Rao received include the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Engineering Sciences, Infosys Prize, IEEE EDS Education Award, Excellence in Research awards from IIT Bombay, DAE and DRDO, Swarnajayanti Fellowship award from the Department of Science & Technology, IBM Faculty award, Best Research award from the Intel Asia Academic Forum, Techno-Visionary award from the Indian Semiconductor Association, J.C.Bose National Fellowship among many others.

Theme 4: Employee Engagement to Create Happiness and Reduce Empathy Gap

(6.30 pm - 8.30 pm)

Moderator


Dr. Tanusree Dutta


Associate Professor

Department of Organizational Behavior (Psychology)

IIM Ranchi

Dr. Tanusree Dutta is presently an Associate Professor in Indian Institute of Management Ranchi. She has been working in the Institute since 2012. Prior to this she has been working in other prestigious institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan, Banaras Hindu University etc. Dr. Dutta obtained her Postgraduate and Doctorate degree from Banaras Hindu University and Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 2000 and 2004 respectively. She has research publications in peer-reviewed national and international journals, which have been cited in manuscripts and books of national and international repute. She also has to her credit an Edited book entitled ‘Bias in Human Behavior' and ‘Neuromarketing in India: Understanding the Indian Consumer’.

Prof. Raj Raghunathan


Author

Professor of Business, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas

His work has appeared in top journals, including The Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes and The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He is also the author of the popular book “If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Happy?” which was subsequently released in 13 languages around the world. He writes about his views on happiness, creativity, and leadership on his popular Psychology Today blog (with over 2 million page views), Sapient Nature. His six-week-long Coursera course on happiness (titled, A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment) currently has over 350,000 registered students from 196 countries and was recently voted the Top MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) of 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018, and one of the Top 100 MOOCs of all time. His second MOOC on edX (Happier Employees and ROI Course) has over 5000 registered learners and was voted one of the top MOOCs of 2019.

Mr. Luis Gallardo


Executive Director, No Barriers USA

Founder - Board Member, World Happiness Foundation

Founder & President of the World Happiness Foundation and World Happiness Fest. Author of Happytalism and The Exponentials of Happiness. Director of the Gross Global Happiness program at the United Nations University for Peace. Luis Gallardo is a social innovator and entrepreneur with the higher purpose of elevating the planet's vibration by developing ideas, connecting thought leaders, activists and communities and increasing awareness on the science of happiness, holistic education and smart innovation. Over the years Luis has been an advisor to CEOs, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, Nobel Laureates, political and institutional game changers on strategic personal positioning and brand building. That access to the brightest and most conscious individuals has inspired him to understand that the world needs new lenses to realize growth and how humans and societies can thrive. Luis has worked too in the corporate world as a global executive and has been a protagonist of the transformation of industries such as professional services and the internet. Luis has been an international observer with the UN and OSCE in post-armed conflicts establishing democracy and the right to vote. He is committed to creating, with initiatives such as bē and the World Happiness Foundation and World Happiness Fest, spaces for academics, activists, social innovators, scientists, governmental leaders, institutions and leaders, in general, to share and learn, to feel, understand and act towards a happier world and thriving societies.

Mr. Dhrubajyoti De

Joint CP,

Barrackpore,

Government of West Bengal

Mr. Dhrubajyoti De is an IPS officer and currently working as Joint Commissioner of Police in Barrackpore, Government of West Bengal. He is supervising metropolitan policing in this northern suburb of Kolkata for last two and half years. He completed his education at IIT Kharagpur in 2001 and IIM Indore in 2005. His career initially started as Programme Analyst and Consultant in Cognizant and Wipro Technologies. . His journey as an IPS officer started in 2006. After joining IPS in 2006, in last sixteen years I did my stints as DCP in Kolkata and Barrackpore, SP in Hilly district of Kalimpong, SP in CID, Anti Corruption Branch and Traffic wings.

Prof. Priyadarshi Patnaik

Head and Professor

Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness, IIT Kharagpur

Prof. Priyadarshi Patnaik, a Professor of English and Communication at the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, is also the Chairman of Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness, IIT Kharagpur. He was also the Secretary of the Nehru Museum of Science and Technology, IIT Kharagpur. His areas of research include Indian aesthetics, Visual and Multimedia communication, Music and emotion perception, Communication and culture, text and inter-medial translation, and Digital humanities. He also works on communication related to generosity and end of life care. His interests in visual arts, poetry, fiction and music also get integrated with his research and extends to various explorations into the realm of social media as well. Prof. Patnaik has authored and edited more than 14 volumes of texts, references, and creative works. He has a number of research papers, translations, poems, short stories, illustrations and photographs in many national and international journals.

Day 3: 8th June 2022

Theme 5: Opportunities for Happiness Application,
Training, and Research

(9.15 am- 11.15 am)

Chair


Dr. Satinder Singh Rekhi


CEO, R Systems

Honorary Chairman,

Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness, IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Satinder Singh Rekhi founded R Systems in 1993. Dr. Rekhi has over 35 years of experience and is one of the leading figures in the Information Technology industry. Prior to joining R Systems, Dr. Rekhi held senior management positions with HCL Technologies and DISC (now Synergex) in the United States, Singapore and India. He completed Master of Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento, and has attended several senior management programs at the University of Berkeley and Harvard Business School. Dr. Rekhi graduated from the prestigious IIT, Kharagpur, India, with a bachelor’s degree in technology. He recently sponsored a new centre at his alma mater, the “Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness” which will research on the science behind happiness. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate (D.Phil) from Amity University. Presently, Dr. Rekhi is designated as Managing Director on the Board of R Systems International Limited.

Coordinator


Dr. Rajlakshmi Guha


Assistant Professor

Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness, IIT Kharagpur

She has completed her Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Calcutta. Her broad area of research is in Cognitive and Social Psychology. Her current research interests include Attentional and Perceptual processes of young adults and its impact on Learning and Memory. She also works in the area of Emotional expression, Monitoring and Emotion regulation. In this context she is interested in understanding why some people are more resilient and happy and able to withstand life’s stressors while others are emotionally vulnerable and at risk of developing psychological illnesses. Her long association with the Counselling Centre, IIT Kharagpur and current position as an Assistant Professor at the Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness, IIT Kharagpur give her a wide scope to explore the overall Well-being and Quality of Life among young adults. She has many publications in a number of reputed national and international journals.

Dr. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay


Dean (Outreach and Alumni Affairs) and Professor

Department of Computer Science and Engineering,

IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay (Mukherjee) received his B.Tech., M.Tech., and Ph.D. degrees in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur in 1985, 1987, and 1990, respectively. He joined the faculty of the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering at IIT, Kharagpur in 1990 and later moved to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering where he is presently a Professor. He served as the Head of the Computer and Informatics Center at IIT, Kharagpur from September 2004 to July 2007. He was a Humboldt Research Fellow at the Technical University of Munich in Germany for one year in 2002 and also held short term visiting positions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Southern California, and the National University of Singapore. His research interests are in image processing, pattern recognition, computer graphics, multimedia systems and medical informatics. He is serving as a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation published by Elsevier, and International Journal of Biomedical Imaging of Hindwai Publications. He received the Young Scientist Award from the Indian National Science Academy in 1992, and is a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).

Prof. Manas K Mandal


Distinguished Visiting Professor

IIT Kharagpur

Former Director General, DRDO

Prof. Manas Mandal’s research contribution to the field of psychological science spanned over 40 years with primary focus on affect processing in the brain. While at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Prof. Mandal pursued the domain of behavioral neuroscience in normal human behavior, in which he explored the difficulties faced by the left and mixed (clumsy) handers in the society. As the Director of Defense Institute of Psychological Research (DRDO), he engaged himself in a large number of activities towards the human performance development of the community of armed/paramilitary forces (National Security Guards, CRPF, etc.).

Prof. Pradip Kr. Bala

Director-in-charge,

IIM Ranchi

Prof. P. K. Bala is the Director In-Charge of IIM Ranchi. He earned his B.Tech., M.Tech. and Ph.D. from IIT, Kharagpur. His area of expertise is Data Mining & Predictive Analytics, Social Media & Cognitive Analytics, Data Warehousing & Big Data Analytics, Text, Web & Social Network Analytics, Machine Learning & Recommender Systems, and Natural Language Processing.

David Jones


Founder and CEO

The Talent Enterprise

David Jones is the Founder and CEO at The Talent Enterprise. With a background in labour market economics, David is a senior advisor to policy makers and organisational leaders on their most pressing human capital priorities. With over 28 years of work experience, including living in Dubai for over two decades, David has worked with clients across 25+ countries on a broad range of talent, leadership, assessment, performance, transformation and inclusion projects. David is experienced in using a wide variety of psychometric instruments and is qualified with the British Psychological Society at both Level A and Level B.

Mr. Sanjay Chakrabarty

Founding Partner

Capital Square Partners (CSP)

Mr. Sanjay Chakrabarty is the founding partner of Capital Square Partners (CSP), the investment company. While CSP was founded earlier, it’s been active since 2013. After selling Mobi App in 2008, Chakrabarty, a computer engineer and MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, was a venture capitalist with Columbia Capital, scouting for telecom, media and telecommunications investments in India and South Asia till 2012. He is also a music aficionado playing the sarod. He is the husband of famous Bengali Movie actor Ms. Rituparna Sengupta.