BOSTON– IIT Association of Greater New England is organizing a fireside chat with philanthropist Desh Deshpande, a life member of the MIT Corporation; Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the MIT School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and Suresh V. Garimella, president of the University of Vermont.
The event will be held on Sept. 24, 2022 at Boston Marriott Hotel from 5:30 PM-9:30 PM, with a reception and dinner. The topic of the discussion is: “Preparing the Next Generation for Tomorrow’s Challenges.”
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/preparing-the-next-generation-for-tomorrows-challenges-tickets-406548586767
Organizers said in a statement that modern global civilization is going through wrenching rapid changes which require dynamic and intelligent responses, and modern universities have to prepare the next generation to meet them.
“The Covid pandemic and recent events like the Ukraine War, show that we are at a crossroads where one road leads to a 21st century dystopia marked by authoritarianism, conflict and division; and the other leads to a new and bright future marked by global cooperative systems, creation of new knowledge, inclusive pooling of talents and exchange of ideas, all of which seed entrepreneurial thinking,” the statement said. “Universities are the crucial crucible where new ideas and new generations meet to shape the future. This implies making high quality education affordable and accessible to all, especially in bilingual form, building entrepreneurship and resilience; enabling innovation that builds on fundamental research that spans broad fields of technology, and promoting systems-thinking that includes human experiences. Large public universities and private technology focused institutions alike, have a role to play.”
Mr. Garimella is a strong proponent of public education, has a distinguished track record of leading research and education initiatives at Purdue University, and is now charged with creation and executing change at the University of Vermont, one of the largest land grant colleges in New England.
Prof. Chandrakasan leads initiatives that bring about fundamental changes in global mobility, new economic systems, climate change, life sciences, AI and computing.
Mr. Deshpande is a distinguished entrepreneur of three decades, has created global initiatives to foster entrepreneurship and innovation at universities in India, United States and Canada, through the Deshpande Foundation.
In this fireside chat, they will present their vision of the future and discuss where change is needed and how all of us should think and act in the coming decades.
Speaker Biography
Suresh V. Garimella
Suresh V. Garimella is the 27th president of the University of Vermont. A strong proponent of the value of public higher education, President Garimella leads UVM with firm emphasis on its status as the land-grant university for Vermont.
President Garimella came to Vermont from Purdue University, where he was Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He made seminal contributions to the field of electronics thermal management and energy efficiency at micro and nano-scales, and in sustainable energy systems technology and policy. As Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships leading Purdue’s $660 million research enterprise, and oversaw the university’s Discovery Park, a unique set of facilities and institutes where the convergence of disciplines helped solve global challenges related to health and life sciences, sustainability, food, energy, and defense and security.
He is Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, member of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation and also serves as an independent body of advisers to both the President and Congress on policy matters related to science and engineering; and on the seven-person research advisory board of Sandia National Laboratories. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, MS fromThe Ohio State University, and B.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Anantha Chandrakasan
Anantha P. Chandrakasan is dean of the MIT School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He serves as chair of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium and the MIT AI Hardware Program, and co-chair of the MIT–IBM Watson AI Lab, the MIT-Takeda Program, and the MIT and Accenture Convergence Initiative for Industry and Technology.
Chandrakasan was previously a board member of The Engine, the head of the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the director of the MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories. A fellow of the IEEE, in 2015 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, in 2019 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and in 2020 he was elected as fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He earned a BS, an MS, and a PhD in electrical engineering and computer sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. He serves on the Board of Analog Devices Inc., the SMART Governing Board, and the Board of Trustees of the Perkins School for the Blind.
Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande
Dr. Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande is a Trustee of the Deshpande Foundation along with his wife, Jaishree. He is also the President and Chairman of Sparta Group LLC, a family investment office, and the Chairman of Tejas Networks. Desh’s entrepreneurial career spans the last three decades. He was involved as the founder, a founding investor, or chairman of several companies including Cascade Communications, Sycamore Networks, Coral Networks, Tejas Networks, Cimaron, Webdialogs, Airvana, Sandstone Capital, A123 Systems, and Curata.
Desh lives in Boston and serves as a life member of the MIT Corporation, and his support allowed MIT to create its Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. Desh co-chaired a National Council to support President Obama’s innovation and entrepreneurship strategy from 2010 to 2015. Desh holds a B. Tech. in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology – Madras, an M.E. from the University of New Brunswick in Canada, and a Ph.D. from Queens University in Canada.
