Day 1 Speakers

Prof. Udayakumar

Head, Dept of Design, IIT Guwahati

Dr. D. Udaya Kumar is an Associate Professor and Head of Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. Famous as the designer of Rupee Symbol, Dr Udayakumar is the first PhD student at IDC. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University, Chennai. After completing his MDes in Visual Communication at IDC, Udayakumar worked in the publication design industry and was the Art Director of the famous computing magazine “CHIP”. He was also actively involved in organising the international conference “Typography Day” ever since its inception in 2008. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal, IIT Bombay, For excellence in Academics and Extra Curricular Activities in 2011. His areas of interest include Visual Communication, Design Research and Architecture. An avid sports enthusiast and a reputed Volleyball player.

Sourabh Srivastava

Senior Scientist & Manager of the Design & User Experience group - Xerox Research Centre

Saurabh Srivastava is a Senior Scientist & Manager of the Design & User Experience group in Conduent Labs – India (formerly Xerox Research Centre). He is responsible for end-to-end management of customer-focused innovations, in the areas of Human-Computer Interaction, Behaviour Modelling, Mobility and User Experience. Prior joining Xerox, Saurabh led the User Experience Design & HCI research in IBM Research. A large body of his work focuses on creative uses of Information & Communication Technologies for the development of the marginalized & underserved populations. Saurabh is a member of ACM and active in several research communities where he has co-organized/co-chaired conferences, workshops and often serves on the organizing reviewing committees for key conferences in these areas. Saurabh has been named as "Innovators under 35" by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Tech Review for the year 2015, a prestigious global recognition for the works of many other eminent innovators such as Sergey Brin (co-founder, Google), Mark Zuckerberg (founder, Facebook), Jonathan Ive (Chief Designer, Apple) etc. He has been acknowledged as a "Leader of Tomorrow" by St. Gallen Symposium, Switzerland, serving as an advisor and mentor for the youth talent.

Priyanka Bhasin & Anoop Patnaik

Co-founders Design Stack

Priyanka Bhasin specialised in Communication Design at the National Institute of Design, followed by a programme in New Media from the Vancouver Film School. With a strong foundation in design strategy and experience in emerging media, she set up and continues to grow Design Stack. Anoop Patnaik graduated from NID with a degree in Communication Design. As an independent consultant with various retail and corporate brands, from ITC to Westside to Sahara, he helped modernise their identities for an evolving consumer. He set up and continues to grow Design Stack.

Sridhar Rangayan

Film Maker

Sridhar Rangayan, an alumini of Industrial Design Center, IIT Bombay (84-86) is a filmmaker, writer, activist and festival director. He has consistently strived to give a voice to social issues in India through his films, writings and public speaking for over two decades. His award winning films The Pink Mirror, Yours Emotionally, 68 Pages, Project Bolo, Purple Skies, Breaking Free and Evening Shadows present hard-hitting social issues with warmth, compassion and humor; and are at the forefront of India’s emergent queer cinema movement. He has served as Jury for prestigious film festivals such as Outfest (USA), Berlinale (Germany), Iris Prize (UK) and Movies That Matter (Netherlands). He is the Founder Festival Director of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, which has over 8 years, become the biggest LGBTQ film festival in South Asia and an important event in Mumbai’s cultural calendar. It is the first and only mainstream LGBTQ film festival in India and the first LGBTQ film festival to receive clearance from government. He has figured in the list of ‘Global List of LGBT Influencers’ by BFI Flare, UK; ‘5 most influential gay & lesbian Indians’ by Pink Pages, India; and ‘21 heroes changing LGBTI Asia for the better’ by Asia LGBT Milestone Awards, Hong Kong.

Devina Kothari

Product Designer

An Indian Industrial Designer, Strategist and an Entrepreneur, Devina's mission is to bring current day technological advancements to the doorstep of rural India, her passion project, Program JAYA aims to save 1.2 million lives in India alone through effective routine immunization enabled through digital technology. She heads Zuan Design Labs LLP and is also working towards creating a healthcare company at the confluence of data, wellness and user experience. She's marked her mettle in design innovations globally with a Red Dot Award. While her ideas spread through TEDxBangalore, TEDxEMWS and TEDxIITKharagpur, they germinate through workshops and mentoring sessions at Google: Solve for India, Google Launchpads and Power of Asian Design in Taiwan.

Prof. Sumant Rao

Animation Design Faculty, IDC, IIT Bombay

Since 1991, his professional work spans commercials, corporate films, short films, film titles, feature films (both live action and animated), book design & illustration, demonstrations, training, workshops and teaching animation and film making.

Prof. Sandesh R

Industrial Design Faculty, IDC, IIT Bombay

Day 2 Speakers

Prof. Deepak John Mathew

Head, Dept of Design, IIT Hyderabad

Prof Deepak John Mathew is Head of the Design Department at IIT Hyderabad and was instrumental in setting up the design Department at IIT Hyderabad. He holds a master’s degree in Fine Arts (Graphic Arts) from the M.S. University, Vadodara and has a PhD in Design Education from the Centre for Advanced Studies in Education, M.S. University, and Vadodara. Dr Deepak was also the head of photography design at NID Ahmedabad. He has taught several courses like Analytical Drawing, Composition, Colour and Form, Design Drawing, Illustration, Colour and Composition for Digital Medium apart from all photography related courses at NID. He has been instrumental in designing and developing the dual postgraduate programme in Photography Design. He also set up the Photography Design discipline and started an International Postgraduate Certificate Programme in Photography at the institute in collaboration with University for Creative Arts, Farnham, UK.

Harshvardhan Kadam

Artist, Pune

Harshvardhan Kadam, Artist Pune Harshvardhan is a multi disciplinary visual artist from India, travelling across the world making large scale artworks. His works have mythology deeply embedded with a contemporary voice which gave birth to a unique style. Inkbrushnme, his studio has handled projects varying from Art Direction for animation and live action films, award winning graphic novels to visuals for international bands. The seeds of images and stories were sown before he was born. He studied Applied Art and Visual Communication at IDC, IIT Bombay which shaped his vision of telling stories from Indian Mythology and Spiritual Sciences across varied media of communication. His practice and interest in Indian Mythology and spiritual sciences has given birth to a unique visual language. ! Harsh now lives in Pune and runs a multi disciplinary studio Inkbrushnme, along with his brother Rajvardhan. They now paint together as artist duo and want to change the very environment of our being by adding stories and narratives amidst our lives. ! Harsh is currently developing an illustrated novel on the story of Kamasutra.

Prof. Anil Gupta

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Professor Anil K Gupta is a visiting faculty, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; after retiring recently and at IIT Bombay. He is also the founder of Honey Bee Network. Ph.D. (Management), MSc. Biochemical Genetics, Fellow, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Fellow, the World Academy of Art and Science, California 2001.Founder, National Innovation Foundation (Nifindia.org), SRISTI (SRISTI.org) and GIAN (GIAN.org). Mission is to expand the global as well as local space for innovations at grassroots, link ideas in informal and formal sector, ensure recognition, respect and reward for creative communities; creating knowledge networks for augmenting open innovations by individuals, institutions, corporations, and countries through frugal, flexible and friendly empathetic platforms

Baiju Parthan

Artist

Baiju Parthan’s is a significant figure among the new generation of Indian contemporary artists who use information and digital technology, as well as conventional methods to produce art. Having received academic training in Visual Arts, Botany, Comparative Mythology, and Philosophy, Parthan produces a highly eclectic form of inter-media art that successfully bridges the gap between conventional art practices and new media. Consequently, he has evolved an artistic language that speaks about how technology and emerging knowledge systems alter the way we see and experience the world. Baiju Parthan has exhibited his art to much acclaim in major centres in India and globally, in countries such as the United States of America, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Germany, Australia, and Austria.

Abhishek Verma

IDC Alumni, Animator

Abhishek Verma is a national award-winning director, animator and producer. He is an animation & communication designer, passed out from IDC School of Design, Indian Institute of Bombay in 2014. He is also a Young India Fellow from Ashoka University. He holds a particular interest in experimental narrative, traditional animation, screenwriting, illustration, communication and branding. He runs and manages thematchbox.co and graphicshelf.com. He has directed and animated three animation films and currently working on feature animation project named “Oh my Dog!”. This film talks about the recovery state from dystopia and importance of creating a new world space, with or without God.