Keynote

Ms. Amita Sharma IAS

Ms. Amita Sharma IAS

Amita Sharma was employed in the Indian Administrative Service (1981). Her core professional experience relates to social development policies and programmes, particularly related to education, social protection, inclusive growth and sustainable development. She was instrumental in formulating the Madhya Pradesh Education Guarantee Scheme, (MPEGS) a rights -based scheme for universalizing basic education that won the Common Wealth Gold Award for best Global Innovation in Public Service in 1998.Her work on literacy in the state of Madhya Pradesh won the President of India’s Award for female literacy, 2001. She was awarded the India Today award for ‘Woman in Public Affairs, 2010’ for implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(MGNREGA), a Rights based National Law for guaranteeing employment in rural areas. Her use of ICT for creating public accountability and transparency for MGNREGA won the best web-site award by the Government of India in 2010.
She has presented papers on development programmes related to education, poverty alleviation, inclusive growth, social protection policies in international seminars and has published in leading development journals. She has been a resource person for international organisations like the European Union, World Bank, UNDP and ILO. A student of literature, and the author of four volumes of poetry and a novel, she was awarded the Raza award for her poetry in 1998.

Design Education Seminar

A G Rao

A G Rao

A.G. Rao (Ananthapuram Gopinatha Rao) is a Professor at the Industrial Design Centre. After Graduating in Mechanical Engineering, he pursued his post graduate studies in Product Design at National Institute of Design, (Ahmedabad). In 1980, he spent 9 months in U.S.A. under a UNESCO fellowship, studying creativity at MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts).

Prof. Rao was the Head of IDC from 1987-90. He has been instrumental in developing courses in Basic Design, Product Design, Creativity and Design philosophy. He has guided more than 120 M. Des projects so far. Prof. Rao has been very active professionally and designed more than 20 products for Indian industries, including the “Electronic Voting Machine” currently being used in India. He has set up ‘Colour Fly’, a design studio for MESO for their exported products. He has been a member of the Board of Directors for Boroplast Ltd and a member of the editorial board of International Journal of Bamboo and Rattan.

Inspired by personal discussions with Charles Eames on “vanishing product traditions of India and need for its study” in 1969, Prof Rao spent a year studying bamboo craft in Northeastern India. In the last decade, Prof Rao developed a tool-kit and small technologies for bamboo, and established Bamboo Studio at IDC giving a new direction to design in bamboo with a social cause. He has initiated 20 mini bamboo clusters in the villages of India with Design and Technology assistance. He has also started an Incubation company, ‘AG Bambu Style’.

Sudhakar Nadkarni

Sudhakar Nadkarni

Professor Sudhakar Nadkarni has the distinction of having intiated three major Institutions in the country. He was instrumental in starting the Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay in 1969, the department of Design at IIT Guwahati in 1997 and the design Management programme at the Werlingkar Institute of Management at Mumbai. As ethusiatic as ever, inspiring many, he has always stood for the cause of design in India. Apart from contributing to academics, he has contributed significantly in the fields of Environmental Design, Exhibition Design and Product Design. e is now the Dean of Business Design at the Werlingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai.

S Balaram

S Balaram

S Balaram is an industrial designer, senior faculty and former Chairman of Education at the National Institute of Design (NID) in India. He is presently Dean of D.J. Academy of Design, Coimbatore. He had held top positions at the National institute of Design including chairman, Education and Governor. He founded the Craft Development Institute in Kashmir for Government of India. Many of his designs were produced and acclaimed. He has four patents to his credit. His numerous awards include – Ron Mace international award for Universal Design, Helen keller award for outstanding contribution for people with disabilities, UNIDO­ICSID award for Design for Development and an honorary Fellowship of Society of Industrial Designers of India for life
time contribution.
He was invited speaker at various International/National forums. One of the significant international meetings organised by him was the ‘UNIDO­ICSID meeting on Design for development’, the first such meeting to be held in a developing country. He was the first to champion the term ‘majority world’ to replace the derogatory ‘developing world’.

Apart from the vast number of stories, articles and essays in journals, he has published books such as­ ‘Thinking Design’ (second edition); ’Design quotes’ and sections in ‘Britannica Encyclopedia, ’Universal Design Handbook(second edition)’ and ‘Teaching Universal Design’. He was on the advisory board of ‘Design Issues’ a journal of international repute. He was one of the keynote speakers at the Second IAUD conference 2006, Kyoto and third IAUD conference at Hamamatsu 2010.

K B Jinan

K B Jinan

Jinan Kodapully is from Kerala, India and is a social worker, designer, teacher, researcher who has been working with traditional crafts people from different parts of India, with children of non literate communities. Focus of his research has been related to aesthetic sense and has worked with children, traditional non literate artisans and design and architecture students in several locations with in India. He began his research from 1985 and have covered several areas connected to formation of aesthetic sense, learning process, cognition, biology of beauty etc. From 1993 on wards he has been living with an economically poor potters community and helping them to develop products that can be sold to the urban milieu.
From last two years he has begun to teach some new courses on elements of design and awakening the aesthetic sensibility at NID (national Institute of design, ahmedabad), IICD (Indian Institute of craft design, Jaipur) and some architectural colleges in the country which probably would help them to be sensitive to diversity and authenticity victim of modernity, uprooted from my roots and original self by various institutions of modernity. trying to recover my authentic beingness with help of children, non literate people and nature.

Sadanand Menon

Sadanand Menon

Sadanand Menon is a nationally reputed arts editor, popular teacher of cultural journalism, photographer, stage lights designer and prolific speaker at seminars on politics, ecology and the arts. He is currently Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, and at IIT, Madras. He is member, Apex Advisory Committee, National Museum, Delhi; Advisory Committee, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru; Advisory Council, Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi; Governing Council, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; and Managing Trustee, SPACES, An Arts Foundation, Chennai. A close associate of legendary choreographer Chandralekha, he is deeply involved with issues concerning contemporary Indian dance. He also curated a major Retrospective Exhibition of Fifty Years of Dashrath Patel’s work in painting, ceramics, photography and design for NGMA, Delhi and Mumbai.

Deepankar Bhattacharyya

Deepankar Bhattacharyya

Deepankar Bhattacharyya is a strategic design consultant and educator. He partners clients in developing user-centred problem solving processes and uses design thinking as a strategic tool to identify opportunities; define problems; develop and execute creative solutions in the context of systemic challenges.

Images Communications, a design and consultancy firm that he found in 1984 has been offering communication design services across several sectors to corporations, government and NGOs.

He studies and researches Design Thinking, its methods, processes and concerns and writes on design issues. He consults and teaches at schools of Design and regularly conducts workshops. He is also a member of the Academic Council at Ajeenkya DY Patil University.

Dr. Deepak John Mathew

Dr. Deepak John Mathew

Dr. Deepak John Mathew is an award winning photographer, academician and author (Principles of Design through Photography). He is credited with developing the dual postgraduate programme in Photography Design and Photography Design discipline in NID. He also set up the International Photography Certificate Programme in Photography in collaboration with The University of Creative Arts, Farnham, UK.

Dr. Deepak John Mathew, currently the Head of the Department and Associate Professor of the M Des Department, Hyderabad IIT, wears several golden feathers in his cap of achievements.

Dr. Mathew has been a subject expert for fine arts, design, curriculum development and photography for various universities in India and abroad. His diligent efforts to propagating the idea of photography design and multi-disciplinary design practices have taken him to all over the world lecturing and giving demonstrations on the subject. He has contributed articles on Indian photography and photographic pedagogy in various journals including Take on Art, Art and Deal, Indian Architecture and Builder,

His important participations include Thekkan Kaattu, Birla Academy, Kolkata (2014), Merging Submerging, Art Konsult, Delhi (2013), Mind the Gap, UAF, Delhi (2012), Roti, Kapda aur Makan, Ojas Art, Delhi (2012), A for Arple, Gallery Ragini, Delhi (2011), SOFA, India Art Festival, Mumbai (2011), Lensing It, Ashna Gallery, Delhi (2011) and so on.

Tapan Chakravarty

Tapan Chakravarty

Completed his Bachelor of Architecture (1984) and Masters in Urban Design (1986) from School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi, and PG Certificate in Higher Education (2012) from Nottingham-Trent University, UK.

Is currently Professor at Ansal University and the Dean of Sushant School of Art & Architecture. He has earlier been a Professor at Pearl Academy and the Head of Department of Interior Architecture & Product Design across four campuses across India; also been an Assistant Professor at TVB School of Habitat Studies (New Delhi); and Visiting Faculty Member at School of Planning & Architecture, GGS IP University School of Architecture & Planning, Sushant School of Art & Architecture, National Institute of Fashion Technology etc during past 27 years. While teaching various subjects across years/levels; he was consistently involved with the first year curriculum of B.Arch. in several institutes over two decades.

His professional engagements, throughout, were of a selective nature operating strictly on the lines of an Urban Design Consultant to a number of established Architecture/Urban Design firms in Delhi and prestigious organizations like UNDP and INTACH; besides having an independent architectural practice till recently. He is now full-time into education.

Subject areas in teaching include Architectural Design, History, Construction, Technical Drawing and Professional/Design Practice; besides guiding/mentoring final year projects in Design & Research. He also engages with curriculum & syllabi structuring in Architecture & Design. His areas of academic interest, explorations & presentations focus on_ History of Human Habitation, Morphological Patterns in Organically Evolved Settlements, Vernacular Architecture in the Himalayan region and Architectural Typologies of the Human Dwelling.

Sudhir Sharma

Sudhir Sharma

Sudhir Sharma is the founder and Chief Executive of Indi Design. Indi Design has presence today in 9 countries and 14 cities. It is truely becoming a Micro-Multinational Design company. A reputed “Design and Business transformation” consultant, Sudhir has twenty six years experience, working in India and other Indi offices and lecturing and speaking in various universities. He sits on the various design, innovation and management Council Boards and Institutions. Prior to founding Indi Design , Sudhir had founded Elephant Design, where Sudhir worked for 20 years before filing a legal case for misconduct and wrong practices against his partners of Elephant Design. He won the case in CLB (Company Law Board), the case is now in appeal in Mumbai High court. He is the Publisher and Editor of the POOL Magazine. POOL has had 60 issues so far, and has Published 2 Annuals.
He has just constituted ‘Indias Best Design Studio” which will become a yearly feature to help businesses recognise truely great Design companies to work with. Sudhir was awarded with the Most Promising Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 by APEA for his contributions in India’s design business industry. He was on the jury panel of the inaugural Cannes Lions for Design and Adfest, Spikes Asia, Design Turkey, Dutch Design Awards. He was a member of the first India Design Council, constituted by the government of India, and is alumnus of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Global Council for Design. Sudhir writes regularly for POOL magazine on Design and Entrepreneurship.

Sudhir Bhatia

Sudhir Bhatia

Sudhir Bhatia is the Founder and Creative Director of bRnd Studio, a boutique design consultancy specializing in conceptualising innovative and integrative thinking processes to assist in the development of product strategies for new and established markets.

After graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Fine Arts from the University of Rochester, Sudhir studied Industrial Design at the Pratt Institute, NY. Prior to consulting, he worked at Symbol Technologies Inc. for twelve years, eventually ascending to the position of Director of Design Research, Human Factors, and User Experience. Following his time at Symbol, he has worked with Motorola Solutions, Microsoft and BlackBerry in Canada.

Sudhir has also demonstrated an abiding interest to share his expertise with students. He was a Visiting Professor at the Pratt Institute’s Industrial Design Department for 2 years and was a guest lecturer at Syracuse University, NY, where he conducted a series of Advanced Research and Interaction Design classes. Presently, he is a guest instructor at The Indian Institute of Technology’s Industrial Design Center, Mumbai and has been conducting workshops on Design Thinking at AVID Learning an Essar Initiative as well as corporates and NGO’s in India.

Sudhir has presented papers on the subject of Design, Design Research, Interaction Design and Design Thinking, at the Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (SIGCHI), Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID), New York New Media Association, Indiana University, Stevens Institute of Technology and the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA).

He has served as a juror for the Consumer Electronic Show as well as the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Additionally, his work has been featured in several publications, including the New York Times, Rizzoli, ID Magazine and the IDSA Innovation Magazine. He holds 21 patents and has won multiple design awards including two silver IDEA’s; one in the Design Research category and the other in Consumer Electronics.

Design : Now and Next Seminar

U A Athvankar

U A Athvankar

Cluster: Working and Living India

Prof. Uday Athavankar was trained as an architect and worked in that field for 4 years before switching over to Industrial Design. He studied Industrial Design at Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. For over 38 years, Prof. Athavankar has been dividing his time between design education, design research and design related consulting for companies. As a design consultant he has been working on range of institutional and consumer products. His current projects deal with culture specific localization of products and technologies for global companies like NCR, Unilever and Nokia, entering market in India and Asia pacific region with new products. His expertise includes ‘People watching’ research (Ethno studies) and converting the insights into new product ideas.
His recent product range includes robotic toys and thinking games for children. He also collaborated on development of personal locket that collects ECG data, table top small ECG machine, Bio-metrics authorization device and variable frequency light table and night vision goggle design for people with low vision. Some of his designs have won national and international awards. He was honored by the President of India for his design of India specific low cost ATM for NCR. As a researcher for the past several years he is exploring the relationship between cognitive science, linguistics, AI and design decision. Using cognitive theories as a framework, he has focused on areas like ‘product semantics’ and ‘object and culture relationship’. His current work also includes exploring the role of mental imagery, spatial intelligence and visual thinking in design problem solving.

As an author he has extensively published and lectured internationally on these research areas. List is available
here. He also lectures on design and design related topics in industries as well as other educational institutes.

B Bhaumik

B Bhaumik

Cluster: Access and transportation

Bidyabijay Bhaumik, Senior VP & Head (retired), PD (Auto), Mahindra. Currently Advisor to Chairman, Force Motors Ltd, Distinguished Visiting Faculty, IDC, IIT Bombay, Adjunct Professor, IIT Kanpur. Design, Strategy and Management Consultant.

A Mechanical Engineering graduate from REC (Now NIT), Durgapur and a TELCO sponsored candidate and postgraduate in Industrial Design from IDC, IITB. Pioneered Automotive Design in India, working in the Engineering Research Center under the direct tutelage of Mr Sumant Moolgaonkar, then Chairman & MD, TELCO.

Design & Engineering of the TATA 1516 cabin was a path-breaking vehicle at the time, with various high tech features. It is still under production at Tata Motors since launch in 1978. Was also the leader of Design & Body Engineering of the first generation Tatamobile vehicles.

Thereafter set up R&D at ROPLAS(I) LTD and introduced a number of products over 4 years. Worked on Tatamobile, Tata Estate and Tata Sierra Series of vehicles, leading Design, Body & Trim Engineering upon his return to TELCO. The entire range was launched in the Market and Tata mobile is still being manufactured.

Headed the Design and Engineering of the entire line of Products at Bajaj Auto Ltd for the next 5 years. Some of the New Products launched under his leadership were Bajaj Rave, Bajaj Spirit (Scooter of the year), Bajaj Saffire, Bajaj Chetak 4S, Bajaj RE Diesel, etc.

Headed the Small Car Project at Kinetic Engineering Ltd for the next 2 years till the project was mothballed. Headed Product Development at Mahindra & Mahindra for over the following 14 years and retired as Sr. VP & Head, PD (Auto). Was responsible for Mahindra Scorpio and its three Refresh Projects, Mahindra Xylo, Mahindra Maxximo, Mahindra Bolero Refreshes, Mahindra Genio,
Mahindra Quanto and Mahindra XUV5oo.

Post retirement at M&M, became Advisor at M&M, focusing on Product Development capability development. Set up Mahindra Technical Academy, with comprehensive facilities. Providing Technical Guidance and Mentoring to engineers at Mahindra Engineering Services and Mahindra Trucks & Buses.

Currently engaged as Advisor to Chairman, Force Motors Ltd. Involved in Product Strategy, Design & Engineering Reviews, Quality Improvement, Organization Development, etc., at FML. Nominated Best Alumni at IDC in 1998. Distinguished Visiting Professor at Industrial Design Center, IIT Bombay, teaching and guiding M Des Students. Also, Adjunct Professor at IIT Kanpur.

Active member of India Design Council between its inception and 2014. Helped in setting up the process and streamlining INDIA DESIGN MARK. Received the First Lifetime Achievement Award In Styling & Design” from SIAM (Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers), in 2015

Dr. Vijayam Ravi

Dr. Vijayam Ravi

Cluster: Communication and Learning

The vast experience and domain knowledge in the field of education makes Ravi’s Educational Consultancy a unique solution provider. Being a part of the changing educational landscape for more than 34 years, Dr. Ravi applies her depth of knowledge in consulting her clients. The rich experience that she gathered as an Educationist, Administrator, Principal, Trustee, Director of Education, Chairman and Managing Director of a Consulting Firm enables Dr. Ravi to critically analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the system and deliver the most appropriate solutions for the clients’ needs.
Thus catering to the client’s demand with a perfect concoction of customized processes and technical solutions rather than adapting the client’s processes to a pre-defined framework. The rich experience in education has come to her because of the researches that she had been engaged and also by moving with young students.

Santosh Kshirsagar

Santosh Kshirsagar

Cluster: Art, Craft and Culture

B.F.A., M.F.A. (by research) from Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art. Mumbai, India. Teaching Indian (especially Devanagari) Calligraphy, Typography and visual communication design, from more than two decades at JJIAA, Mumbai. Type Design OTF for window xp in Gujarati & Oriya scripts under directorship of Prof R. K. Joshi. Illustrated talks on Indian Calligraphy in Germany, Belgium, London and Japan. Exhibitions- in Australia, USA. Show in Japan with Prof. Mori Kooun. Research presentations: ICTVC
Cyprus, ATypI Dublin, Ireland, International Graphonomics Society Conference IGS, Japan, ICORD-15 Bangalore.
Expert and advisory board of Typography Day since 2009 till date. Invited by ALBA University, to discuss designing National Visual Identity of Lebanon. Several workshops, in India and abroad. Academic consultant to govt. organizations, institutions in India. Now pursuing Ph.D. at IDC, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai- My area of research is investigating handwriting acquisition of Devanagari script.

Sudarshan Khanna

Sudarshan Khanna

Cluster: Access and transportation

Design Educator Professor Sudarshan Khanna , was Principal Designer, Chairman of Education & Research at the National Institute of Design (NID), and Head of Toy Innovation Centre. An internationally acclaimed designer and educator, he has helped establish several new courses and programs, including the Post Graduate Program in Toy & Game Design. Author of three books and many articles on toy design, culture and creative education, he featured in many educational TV programs. He has been conducting workshops in India and other countries, for teachers, trainers & students, relating value of design methods and creativity as part of innovative learning process.

George Paul

George Paul

Cluster: Working and living india

Mr George Paul is an Engineer with MBA in Marketing, joined BPCL in 1981. He has more than 34 years of experience in BPCL and handled, Retail strategy, Brand, and other initiatives like Premium fuels ‘Speed’, Loyalty programs called ‘Petrocard & SmartFleet’, Convenience retailing called ‘In & Out’ stores etc.

He was also a key member of the Organizational Restructuring and SAP implementation teams in BPCL. He is one of the few persons trained & associated with the Competency modelling & Leadership assessment initiatives of the organisation.

He is currently working as Head of Retail Business of BPCL. Earlier he was heading the Lubricant (MAK Lubricants) and LPG (Bharatgas) business of BPCL. He was also made significant contribution in developing ‘Surksha Hoses’ for domestic LPG installation and ‘Grameen Vithrak LPG Distribution’ system for Rural Market. He was one of the key members in conceptulaising & implementing ‘PAHAL’ scheme in the country.

He has undergone various training programs in Management, Strategy and Leadership in IIM Ahmadabad, ISB Hyderabad, College of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Oxford, and Kelloggs Management in Chicago.

Dr. Hemant Bhansali

Dr. Hemant Bhansali

Cluster: Health and Well Being

The physician involved is Dr. Hemant Bhansali (MS;FCPS;FICS;FACG(US);PhD(Lap.Surgery), who is a leading laparoscopic surgeon in the country. He has been awarded a Ph. D in Laparoscopic Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine by Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) which is a FIRST in India. Currently, he is the Programme Director for Laparoscopic Surgery at Maharashtra University of Health Science, Nashik. He is also affiliated as a laparoscopic surgeon with various hospitals (at Mumbai) like: Nanavati, Kohinoor, BSES, Karuna. He is also a Sr. Faculty at Ethicon Institute of Surgical Education at Ethicon, Johnson and Johnson.

Subramanya Shastry 'Subbu'

Subramanya Shastry ‘Subbu’

Cluster: Society and Analysis

Subbu is an engineering graduate in computer science from Vishweshwariarh Technological University. He also took a PG certificate course in sound recording and TV engineering at the Film and TV Institute of India, Pune (2009- 10). Subbu recently has been working on short films and documentaries as sound recordist and sound designer. The films have won awards in national and international film festivals. He also works with various not-for-profit organizations, doing pro bono work on their films and communications projects, and conducting media workshops. Subbu’s past film work includes many projects while studying at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. More recent projects include: Chanda ke Jute (20 mins) (2011), a short children’s film being shot in Bhopal, working with the children from the slums. Subbu worked on this film from the script to production and on location sound recording and sound design.
Bato Naapo Bhinn Batlao (2011), a documentary film on alternate mathematics teaching methods of fractions for Eklavya, an NGO working with children. Subbu worked as location sound recordist in the film. Documentary on green initiatives (2012), a documentary for children by Torres des Homes. Jaadui Machchi (40 min) (2012), a short fiction for children, this film was shot with the children from the slums of Hoshangabad (India). Most of the cast and crew in the film were neither actors nor professional filmmakers. Subbu worked as sound recordist and was a key member of the team. As Project Officer at Agastya International Foundation, Subbu currently designs programs and manages activities for the Media Lab, the aim of which is to expose media to under-privileged children and their instructors on the Agastya Campus. Subbu also works on films and in other media/communications projects to promote Agastya’s many programs.

Born 29th Jan 1950, Started with about 35 acres of family land , now have more than 55 acres of cultivation. M.S. ( Food Tech ) Uni of California, Davis, 1972 ( A paper in American Journal of Microbiology ” Isolation & identification of Psychrophilic, spore forming, anaerobic, bacteria from milk”. Successful farmer; working since 1976 to date. Raised ‘Saguna Baug’ to a status where many in the society know this ‘Farm/ Farmer’ and wish to visit the place with eagerness. Gave birth to the concept “Krishi Paryatan”.
Innovations –

Saguna Rice Technique (SRT) ….A technique where no plowing, puddling and transplanting is required and get best crop and protect& improve fertility of soil. Visit http//books.kisan.com/ricecultivation.html

Developed easiest, quickest, cheapest, confidence building method to control crab problem in rice paddies and to protect environments from erosion.

Achievements –

Innovative Farmer, Indian Society of Extension Education, N Delhi 1992

Inovative Rice Farmer, Director of Rice Res., Hyderabad 2011

Udyog Shree Puraskar in the hands of Dr Anil Kakodkar, Mumbai, Jan 2012

ABP Maza Sanman Puraskar, Mumbai, 30th Jan 2015