Sheel Kapoor
Chief Executive Officer
Sheel has around 31 years of experience with large MNCs like BOC Gases, General Electric, Regal Beloit/Regal Rexnord in a variety of leadership roles in Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma/ Quality, and as a CFO.
Prior to joining FAST, Sheel was the Regional President for Regal Rexnord & President & CEO for Regal Rexnord’s Climate Division for India and Middle East. Here he led focused technology driven profitable organic growth efforts, ensuring his company provided differentiated products and service offerings.
Sheel is an Electrical Engineering graduate from IIT Roorkee and a Post Graduate in Operations Management from SPJIMR Mumbai
Prabhakar Jha
Chief Operating Officer
With 13 years of professional experience in Strategy, Program Management, and Operational Excellence, Prabhakar brings a wealth of expertise from his pivotal roles at LEAD and Aspiring Minds.
Aditya
Associate Director
Aditya is Associate Director at the Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology, where he works at the intersection of public policy, institutional reform, and science and technology strategy. His works revolves around advising the government on structural reforms in research funding, innovation governance, procurement reforms and talent mobility to help transform India’s R&D ecosystem.
Prior to joining FAST, Aditya served as an Officer on Special Duty (Policy & Research) at the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), Government of India, where he led critical policy initiatives across federal governance, trade and investment strategy, and institutional reforms. He played a key role in shaping national policy conversations on issues ranging from Production Linked Incentive Scheme to Statistical Reforms and regulatory modernization. His work at EAC-PM reflected a systems-level approach, combining economic analysis with administrative design to enable long-term transformation.
Trained in economics and public policy, including at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE), Aditya writes extensively on governance, institutional design, and development strategy. His work draws on frameworks from institutional economics, systems thinking, and administrative theory to address structural challenges in India’s knowledge and innovation economy.
Rohit Saxena
Associate Director
Rohit Saxena is a public policy practitioner with a decade of experience consulting on large-scale government missions and shaping evidence-based governance in India. He served as researcher to the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (2021–24) and to the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (2021–25), contributing to key national initiatives in housing, urban development, and energy. Prior to this, at the National Institute of Urban Affairs (2020–21) and PwC India (2016–2020), he provided analytical and advisory support for flagship government programmes, including the Smart Cities Mission and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Shweta Menon
Team Lead
Shweta Menon is a public policy professional with cross-national experience across Canada and India. Most recently, she worked as Policy Lead at the Public Policy Forum, a prominent Canadian think tank, where she led and delivered multi-year, high-impact policy initiatives across domains such as financial inclusion, economic growth, energy infrastructure, and North American global affairs.
Shweta holds a Master’s in Public Policy from McGill University, where she was awarded a merit-based scholarship, and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry (Hons.) from Gargi College, University of Delhi.
Shweta began her career in journalism and reported extensively on India’s legal and policy landscape. She was also a LAMP (Legislative Assistant to a Member of Parliament) fellow, during which she supported the legislative and policy responsibilities of an MP in the Indian Parliament.
Monojoy Banejee
Team Lead
Monojoy Banerjee is a program management and operations professional with over 11 years of experience delivering complex projects across diverse organizational environments. He currently serves as Team Lead in the Science Communication team at FAST India, where he works on program management, operations, and large-scale initiatives.
Before joining FAST India, Monojoy worked with organizations including SHL, Aspiring Minds and Wipro, where he managed and delivered complex projects, working across teams and stakeholders to drive successful execution.
Monojoy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Technology and an MBA, with a professional background spanning program management, operations, stakeholder management, and project delivery.
Vanshika Singh
Team Lead
Vanshika is a science communication professional with 8 years of experience in the field, and a breadth of experience ranging from publishing science articles in IndiaBioscience, Nature India, and The Life of Science to mediating public consultations for drafting of the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2020.
She pursued a senior research fellowship in Neuroscience at the National Brain Research Centre, but found a deeper calling in making science accessible and engaging to one and all. She gained global exposure in science communication through a summer school at the University of Geneva, Switzerland in partnership with CERN, and aims to bring what she imbibed there and more back to home ground in India. Previously, she also held the roles of an Associate Editor in Neuroscience and Neurology, and Product Content Specialist for AI research products at CACTUS Communications.
As the Team Lead for science communication at FAST-India, she is responsible for scaling up the outreach of FAST’s flagship SciComm events i.e., ISF and ISBF, and leveraging her experience to pave way for further innovation and impact of these events for the public at large.
Ankita Singh
Team Lead
An engineer by training from IIT Delhi, Ankita developed keen interest in the policy and social impact space during her graduation days. She brings in a diverse set of experience ranging across consulting, government and social impact organizations. She was instrumental in building initiatives to drive innovation and entrepreneurship in India through her work at Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. She has been a part of Deloitte’s Government Consulting team and is also a Young India Fellow from Ashoka University.
Harshil Modi
Team Lead
With over seven years of experience in corporate strategy and management consulting, Harshil brings a private-sector perspective to public policy and science & technology ecosystem development. He works at the intersection of government and industry, supporting the development and implementation of effective policies while helping businesses translate government initiatives into actionable strategies.
Harshil holds an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, and a certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Kamalika Banerjee
Program Manager
Kamalika Banerjee is a science policy expert and researcher who currently serves as a Program Manager at the Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology (FAST India). With a strong background in molecular biology and biotechnology, her work centers on strengthening the scientific ecosystem and shaping evidence-based science policy in India. She is deeply passionate about breaking down the structural barriers between science and culture, and coupling scientific education with essential life skills.
Kamalika’s robust academic background includes a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, where she conducted extensive research on virology and the development of novel antivirals. Beyond her academic and professional endeavors, she actively engages in public discourse to advocate for rethinking the demarcation between the humanities and sciences in the Indian education system.
Navin Vijay
Program Manager
Before joining FAST, Navin worked as a Sector Lead in the eHealth, eMobility and eCommerce division at Redseer Strategy Consulting in Bangalore. In this role, he supported consumer internet companies in developing strong strategies for entering and expanding in new markets, focusing on market intelligence, consumer insights, and go to market strategies.
At FAST, Navin works as a Program Manager, focusing on strategic interventions related to government procurement in the field of S&T.
He holds a Master’s degree from IIM Visakhapatnam and a B.Tech in Electronics and Communication from Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering.
Rajas Kolhatkar
Program Manager
Dr. Kunika Gupta
Senior Program Associate
Kunika Gupta is a trained chemical biologist with a PhD from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. Her expertise spans scientific research, public outreach, and science communication. Kunika has received national recognition for effectively communicating the complex scientific concepts of her PhD thesis to broader audiences.
Committed to making science accessible, Kunika strives to bridge the gap between complex scientific concepts and the public through engaging, clear communication.
Shivangni Rani
Senior Program Associate
Shivangni, an Electronics and Communication engineer from NIT Warangal, combines her technical expertise with a keen interest in policy. Her diverse experience includes roles as a software engineer at a leading health insurance company, analyst at startup, and Tech Policy intern at Office of Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India. She is dedicated to shaping Tech Policy for India, alongside her pursuits in data science and business strategy. Shivangni has also been an Impact Fellow at the Global Governance Initiative.
Vibodh Nautiyal
Senior Program Associate
Vibodh completed his graduation in Computer Science from Ashoka University. His previous experience ranges from academic research funded by Huawei Technologies on computer systems and architecture with Professor Manu Awasthi to research in the corporate sector in an executive search firm with Spencer Stuart. He is keen to bring about change in the S&T research ecosystem in India by combining his technical background with his research experience. Vibodh has joined FAST India as a Program Associate.
Shaurya Pandey
Senior Program Associate
Shaurya is an Economics Graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce. He developed a strong inclination towards social impact and entrepreneurship during his graduation, leading projects in handicrafts, environment, and WASH sector. His prior experience includes working as an Investment Banker at KPMG India, supporting small – medium market M&A and capital raising transactions. At FAST, his work focuses on developing strategic interventions for public procurement to drive S&T innovation.
Vishwas Jha
Program Associate
Vishwas holds a Master’s in Public Policy from National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, and a Bachelor’s in Political Science (Hons.) from Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. He previously worked as a public relations executive in Mumbai, servicing clients across sectors such as B2B fintech, SaaS, cybersecurity, DeepTech, and angel investing. His research interests in public policy lie at the intersection of technology, innovation, and public welfare. As a Program Associate at FAST-India, he looks forward to working with ecosystem partners to design a thriving S&T research ecosystem.
Nidhi Singh
Program Associate
Nidhi Singh is an early career policy professional with interests ranging from technology policy and data governance to social impact. Her research interests also include feminism, culture, and political economy. She has previously worked with a policy think tank and a news broadcasting agency. Nidhi holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from South Asian University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Hindu College.
Poorvi Patil
Program Associate
Poorvi completed her Bachelor’s degree with a Triple Major in Economics, Political Science and Sociology from Christ University, Bengaluru, and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru. Her previous experience spans electoral research and political consulting with Inclusive Minds, where she worked on manifesto analysis, budget evaluation and election strategy for the Goa Assembly Elections, as well as public policy research at the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, where she led data analytics and stakeholder engagement for the MANTHAN platform.
She has also worked on urban governance research with Praja Foundation, grassroots fieldwork on social security schemes with Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan in Rajasthan, and social impact consulting with GRAAM. Her multidisciplinary background across economics, political science and sociology informs her interest in questions of urban planning, governance and equity, alongside a growing interest in how science and technology will shape the future of public life.