Chapters

Regional chapters represent a regional representation of the national WGF organization, and hence carry out most of the activities, albeit for the regional footprint.

Improving the Lives in Rural India by Technology-enabled Solutions

They help connect the global WGF entity to the grassroots of the ecosystem. Our current regional chapter organization leaders are:

Indrajit Chatterjee

Indrajit has over 45 years of experience in strategy planning, manufacturing management, engineering projects, and design. Proven credentials in leading business units (FMCG/multinationals) in India. After his graduation, Indrajit has done many executive management programs, including a course on IoT from Massachusetts Institute of Technology- Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, on Manufacturing from the University of Warwick, UK, and many others from IIMs. A visionary all through, he got personally inspired by Late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and started giving back to the country. He spends his time focussing on education and rural development areas. He has conceived an intelligent village concept.

Indrajitreceived his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering at IIT-Kharagpur in 1970.

Sujata Roy

Sujata is the COO of the prestigious National Digital Library of India (NDLI) project. NDLI is a project of the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, that is being executed by IIT Kharagpur. The objective of the project is to create a digital knowledge source for the nation catering to immersive e-Learning for all learners at all levels in all areas. Given the scope of her role, Sujata manages partner interactions and external communications to help various universities, institutes, and academic organizations partner with NDLI. Along with this, Sujata continues to be involved in IIT Kharagpur alumni activities in virtue of her being a Governing Body member of the IIT Kharagpur Alumni Association, Kolkata chapter as well as being on committees of IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kharagpur Alumni Foundation. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by IIT Kharagpur. Sujata is an Independent Director on the Board of WEBFIL Limited and is also the Chairperson of the Regional Chapter (East India) of WHEELS Global Foundation.

Sujata Roy is an IT professional, having retired from IBM as General Manager, after spending her professional life in the corporate IT sector like DPS Software, ADA, Techna, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and finally IBM. In addition, she has always been a strong advocate of women’s empowerment, driving key initiatives within IBM and playing a leadership role in the advancement of women employees to contribute to an all-around development of the organization.

Sujata received M.Sc. in Physics from IIT-Kharagpur in 1975 and P.G. Diploma in Computer Science from Indian Statistical Institute in 1977.

Mahesh Vaidya

Mahesh is Director of Bravitek Solutions Private Ltd in Pune. Prior to that, Mahesh had a distinguished career in a variety of leadership roles such as CTO at Aftek Ltd, Managing Director at Arexera Information Technologies in Munich, and Development Executive at Godrej.

An innovative, spirited, and intuitive leader with over 30 years of technology management, product management, and product engineering experience. Excellent thought leadership, technology research, team building, people management, and business communications skills for delivering technology solutions from concept to reality on an offshore basis. A solid foundation of innovation and engineering processes.

Mahesh received his B.E. in Electronics & Telecommunications from the College of Engineering at Pune in 1983, and then M.Tech. in Computer Science & Engineering at IIT-Bombay in 1985.

Kishan Goenka

Kishan has held executive leadership roles in corporations across three continents over nearly four decades of illustrious career – from vice-president at Hindustan Gas & Industries to running Birla International’s Europe operations, and then country head for PT. Akraya and Mediterranean Fertilizers Company. He has also held board roles at several corporations including Clean Energy India AG, Vasundhara Bio Sciences Pvt Ltd, and Akraya Energy International Pvt. Ltd. All along, Kishan has been a passionate Rotarian with nearly 40-years of service. Additionally, he has supported several other impact organizations including PHS, ESRAG, and ISKCON.

Kishan has a B.Tech (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT- Kharagpur) and an MBA in BITS Pilani, India.

Surinder Makhija

Surinder is an accomplished thought leader and speaker with 48 years of comprehensive experience in water management in India and International markets. Strong technical base with proficiency in the management of end-to-end operations of irrigation projects. Proven success in strategic planning and in establishing distribution networks that achieve progressive goals.

During his functional head roles, Surinder developed expertise in building sales channels (direct & indirect), driving customer engagement, penetration, and up-selling. Ensured brand management, and brand security & prevented counterfeits by using holograms as early as 1995.

Surinder is associated with various institutions such as IITs, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Water And Land Management Institute, CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, RIS, WBCSD TERI to deliver lectures on micro irrigation systems, Centre pivot irrigation systems, and sustainable development in the area of water, energy, food, and agriculture. It is his passion to deliver lectures on water and energy conservation to students.

Surinder received his B.Tech. in Agricultural Engineering at IIT-Kharagpur in 1970.

Ramnath S. Mani

A Serial entrepreneur and one of the pioneers in India in the field of Industrial Automation including Power Electronics, Variable Speed Drives, PLC, Distributed Controls, Scada, Information Systems, and MES, has been instrumental in introducing Automation in the industry in India since the early 1970s. Played a pioneering role in bringing to India international Automation companies like CGEE Alsthom of France, Allen Bradley of USA (now Rockwell Automation), Stromberg of Finland (now part of ABB), Exide Electronics of USA, and Control Techniques Emerson Industrial Automation of UK and USA., Inductive Automation of USA … Having a deep domain knowledge on the application of Automation in the manufacturing sector like Paper, Steel, Cement, Sugar, Textiles, Rubber & Plastics, Automobile, Material Handling, etc, Has considerable experience in implementing the transition of Industrial Automation from Analog to Digital Technology.

Experience in the IT industry for a couple of years has extended my knowledge from Manufacturing to Business Enterprise and use of Cloud, Mobility, Analytics, and Social platforms leading to a comprehensive integration of “Shop Floor to Top Floor”. Now involved with the next revolution in the Manufacturing Industry with the Digitization of Plant Floor operation, integrating the Operations Technology (OT) to Information Technology (IT) in Manufacturing and implementing Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) and Industry 4.0 Technologies.
Engaged passionately with a Portal on Industrial Automation which brings all the stakeholders of automation including the end-user industry to a common platform.

Ramnath received his B.Tech. in Electronics & Electrical Communication at IIT-Kharagpur in 1969.

Rajah Venkatraman

Rajah Venkatraman worked on global unique projects in the construction industry with specialisation on Super Tall Towers (including award winning projects). He has been awarded Distinguished Service Award by IIT Kharagpur. He was in the steering committee for CTBUH USA. He has presented many technical articles in International Forums. He was also a Chapter President for IAEC.

Rahah has served alumni community in several leadership roles including Pan IIT (A) treasurer, Chapter President for IIT KGP Alumni UAE, and Vice President of IIT Kharagpur Foundation.

Other Activities also include International Referee for Table Tennis World Championship/ State Federation Committee Member/ Manager of the State Team.

Rajah received his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering at IIT-Kharagpur in 1976.

Yadav Murti Sankaran

Yadav Murti Sankaran completed BE from Madras University and an MBA (Industrial Mgt) from IIT, Madras. He has over 43 years of experience in the Sales, Marketing & Business Development arena and established a successful track record in highly competitive, fast-paced and challenging environments.

Geographies covered include the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, South East Asia. Yadav worked in industries spanning Automotive, Auto-component, Chemical, Commodity and Service Industries. His principal strength is in establishing operations from scratch, building, developing and running organizations by identifying product/market opportunities.

He is skilled in all aspects of the business development process starting from need identification to product testing and roll out in domestic and international markets. His passion is to solve business problems and follow the philosophy of “Benefits to Customer” and “Profits to the Employer”. Yadav is well-traveled global thinker with a wide network of contacts.

Ravi Bhatia

Ravi Bhatia is a pioneer and highly respected executive in the Australian telecommunications market. Through skillful leadership and innovation, he has been the driving force behind building this unit into one of the country’s largest full-service voice and data carriers with an established national brand, Primus. Ravi founded Primus in 1995 and led it as CEO till 2011 and then transitioned to the Chairman role.

Ravi received his B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering at IIT-Delhi in 1970.

Tirthankar Banerjee

Tirthankar is the founder & director at Perth, Australia-based Oztron Energy, focused on design and project management services for Renewable Energy Systems. Tirthankar is one of the most accomplished renewable industry thought leaders with a deep passion for renewable energy and grid support systems and Microgrids.

He has led renewable energy projects across many countries in South East Asia. Some of his specialties include smart mini-grids design and implementation, large PV and hybrid power plant design & implementation, grid connection at LV and MV level, MV design and protections, batteries and DC systems, and grid support systems.

Tirthankarreceived his B.Tech. in Electronics at IIT-Kharagpur in 1974, and a D.IISc in Electronics Design at the Indian Institute of Science in 1977.

Witty Bindra

Witty Bindra is an accomplished business executive with over 25 years of international experience in software technology and currently working as the Global Business Executive for Microsoft Alliances @ Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), the world’s largest IT Infrastructure Services Provider spun off from IBM.

In 1995, he received the Confederation of British Industry Scholarship to train in the UK. He sits on the editorial advisory committee of the trade magazine Geosynthetics and has published several technical papers in the US and overseas. He chaired the IIT2013 and IIT2020 Global Conferences. He is President Emeritus, Pan IIT USA, an IIT Alumni Association (a 501 C6), and involved with numerous other charities. A veritable globetrotter who has lived and worked in Singapore, the UK, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, and cities within the US.

When he lived in New Zealand, he became the first turbaned Sikh to be accepted as a commissioned officer into the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteers Reserve. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Diploma in Construction Management in India.

Witty has a Master’s Degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-Delhi) and an MBA in Project Management and International Business from Massey University, New Zealand.

Prashant Newaskar

Prashant is currently working as a Consultant in the energy industry.

Prashant has nearly four decades of experience in the energy industry spanning leadership roles in proposal management, cost estimation & control, planning/scheduling, and project management. During this period, he worked in Singapore, Kuwait, India, and Malaysia in reputable international companies on large projects in the field of Oil & Gas (Onshore & Offshore), Refineries, Petrochemicals, Pipelines, and Environmental, Paper, and Power.

He worked for two years as Proposals and Estimation Manager for SNCL Singapore Pte. Ltd. (formerly known as Kentz MEPC Singapore Pte.Ltd.)

Prior to that Prashant worked as the head of the Proposals / Estimation department of Global Process Systems Pte. Ltd., Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (reporting to GM/Director) handling proposals for FEED, Detailed Engineering, EPC, EPCM, etc. projects for Platforms (WHP / Process), FPSOs, MOPUs, etc.

Prashant held the role of Vice President – Proposals / Estimation for SMOE handling proposals/estimation for EPC / fabrication work for fixed platforms / FPSO projects for the offshore Oil & Gas Industry.

Prior to joining SMOE, Prashant worked as the Director – Proposals for Kvaerner E&C Singapore Pte. Ltd. – a subsidiary of the Aker –Kvaerner group involved in Front End Engineering Design / detailed engineering projects for offshore / onshore Oil & Gas Industry.

Prashant received his B.Sc. at Holkar Science College in Indore in 1968, and then his. Tech. in Chemical Engineering at IIT-Bombay in 1973.

chapters

Indrajit Chatterjee

Sujata Roy

Mahesh Vaidya

Kishan Goenka

Surinder Makhija

Ramnath S. Mani

Rajah Venkatraman

Yadav Murti Sankaran

Ravi Bhatia

Tirthankar Banerjee

Witty Bindra

Prashant Newaskar

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