Ashish Dhawan
He is a private equity investor turned philanthropist who founded and ran one of India’s leading private equity funds, ChrysCapital. He is passionate about transforming the science and technology ecosystem in India. Ashish is the chairperson of Ashoka University, a leading liberal arts university in India, and Central Square Foundation, a nonprofit foundation working towards quality education for all children in India. Ashish graduated from Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He is also on the India Advisory Board of Harvard and a member of Yale’s Development Council.
Varun Aggarwal
An entrepreneur and researcher, he is passionate about building science. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Delhi and later his master’s degree at MIT. He cofounded Aspiring Minds in 2008. His work has led to the world’s first machine-learning-based assessment of coding skills and the world’s first automated motor skills assessment. Varun is a promoter and an advocate of data science. In conjunction with colleagues, he runs ML India to build India’s data science ecosystem, and has organized the world’s first data science camp for children.
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
Rahul Nayar
Senior Fellow, Policy
Rahul Nayar is Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology. His previous experience includes leading government emerging technology initiatives focused on targets ranging from climate resilience to national security; shaping national technology policy and innovation strategy across government agencies; and venture development.
He holds a Master’s in Public Policy with Distinction from Oxford University, MPhil in Technology Policy from Cambridge University, and a BE from Madras University.
Prabhakar Jha
Sanchita Joshi
An economist by training, Sanchita has previously worked with the AGNIi Mission, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India as a Consultant where she was instrumental in driving strategy, research, and execution of programmatic interventions in areas of climate change and MSMEs (Handicrafts and Handloom) with special emphasis on evidence management and human development thinking. Besides, Sanchita has also worked as a Research Analyst (Power Sector) at India Infrastructure Publishing Private Limited, New Delhi and has taught various modules of economics at the University of Delhi and Delhi Technological University. Her research interests lie in the field of technology and human development, gender dynamics in labour markets, and time use and time poverty.
Avinash Koli
Program Manager
Avinash Koli is an IIT Delhi (MPP) alumnus and specialises in technology and industrial policy. At FAST, he works as a program manager in the government advisory responsible for key technology policy matters.
Ankita Singh
Program Manager
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.
Shriya Naidu
Shriya has a strong background in science outreach and communication. In her previous roles she contributed to outreach initiatives at IIT Gandhinagar’s Curiosity Lab and Unicef’s Social Action and Policy Lab, focusing on behavioral insights and education reform. She completed her Masters in Neuropsychology from the National Forensic Sciences University and shifted to science outreach after being awarded the IBRO-DANA Brain Awareness Week Grant. Her role at FAST India revolves around science communication initiatives and primarily the India Science Festival.
Vibodh Nautiyal
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.