People of Indian origin are excelling in engineering in companies all around the USA and have broken the glass ceiling multiple times and very successfully, said Dr. Pradeep Khosla, Chancellor at University of California San Diego at an event organized by the American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI). 

ASEI is a not-for-profit organization that provides a platform for networking, career advancement, community service, mentoring, and technology exchange for professionals, students and businesses in the United States and abroad. 

ASEI held its annual general meeting on Feb 6, which was presided by Dr. Khosla, and ASEI members from all chapters across the US joined via Zoom to witness the inauguration of the new National Board of Directors. ASEI President Piyush Malik announced his executive team and launch of new programs and initiatives for 2021.

“People of Indian origin are excelling in engineering in the US in companies all around the USA and they have broken the glass ceiling multiple times and very successfully and got visibility,” said Dr Khosla, who is a distinguished alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and Carnegie Mellon University.

An internationally renowned electrical and computer engineer recognized for his seminal contributions in secure software and intelligent robot systems, Dr. Khosla further said that “with visibility comes great responsibility towards the broader community to give back and that’s where ASEI fits in.” 

He congratulated Malik and the new ASEI board members on the important role they play in nurturing the next generation of engineers and technologists. Sharing his career story and how despite being an immigrant person of Indian origin with accent and color disadvantage, he broke the prevailing stereotypes and went on to become the CEO of one of the top US public universities with an annual budget of $6.1 billion.

Chancellor Khosla complimented ASEI for the significant role it plays in bridging the Industry- academia gap as well as skill gap through its knowledge-sharing events, youth programs, student chapters, and the new initiatives such as University Connect and Mentor Connect which aim to help budding and early tenure engineers with career and professional guidance. 

Malik emphasized how while rejuvenating the chapters and bringing in more diversity, all of them will work together as 'One ASEI' within the framework of new programs like Engineering Tales, Mentor Connect, University Connect as well as continue the successful webinar series 'Getting Real with Engineering' and STEM programs such as  'Youth Technology Exposition.' 

The event brought out the exuberance of ASEI National Board Members each of who spoke why they choose to volunteer with ASEI. Later, chapter presidents from Michigan (Muthu Sivananthan), Southern California (Sri Gavini), Washington DC (Venkat Gurunathan) and San Diego (Ashish Mehta) introduced their respective chapter’s board members. Wearing a dual hat as the Silicon Valley chapter President Piyush Malik went on to introduce an expanded and diverse chapter board comprising of seasoned executives, entrepreneurs, educators, and technologists.

Last month, ASEI hosted Ambassador Amit Kumar, Consul General of India, Chicago on Jan 28, 2021, on the heels of India’s 72nd Republic Day, for a virtual Fireside chat. ASEI Michigan chapter president, Muthu Sivanantham, opened that event by welcoming Kumar as well as Radha Krishnan, President, DEP Inc. Amb. Kumar addressed the audience by talking about 'Technology and Development' and elaborated on the rapid growth that is underway in India. He emphasized how significant India-US relations are and highlighted their collaborative efforts in the areas of Energy, Science, and Technology. “Just in the last year alone, India received around 57 billion USD of investment focused on digital space,” said Amb. Kumar.  

The inaugural episode on Jan 9 featured advanced materials and nanotechnology expert Dr Thomas Abraham who besides being a successful engineering entrepreneur is also, a serial community builder and has been an ASEI Board member since 2013.