About Me

I am highly motivated person with an urge and potential to excel in whatever I do with proven professional track as an individual and a team member. I love to work on challenging assignments in an environment that encourages creativity, innovation and which provides scope for individual growth. I also love to work with high school grade students in the area of education and innovation.

Education

- PG Diploma in School Psychology from Jnana Prabodhini Institute of Psychology, SP Pune University, Pune, India (August 2021)
- PG Diploma in Business Management from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India (July 2012)
- Master of Technology (Manufacturing Engineering) from IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India (July 2005)
- Bachelor of Engineering (Production) from Shivaji University Kolhapur, India (June 2001)

Experience

I worked with the industry for close to 19 years.
- John Deere India, Pune (Jan 2014 to Sep 2020) - Manufacturing Services for Agriculture and Construction Division of John Deere.
- John Deere Seeding, Moline, IL, USA (Jan 2012 to Dec 2013) - New Product Development, Line Design and Factory Automation.
- John Deere India, Pune (Mar 2007 to Dec 2011) - Virtual Manufacturing, Process planning and Industrial Engineering for John Deere US.
- Spicer India Ltd., Pune- Manufacturing Engineer ( Jul 2005 to Mar 2007) - Manufacturing Excellence, Productivity and Quality improvement.
- IIT Bombay- Research Associate (Jul 2002 to Jun 2005) - Project Research, Establishing a lab.

My Motivation

A desire to extend my knowledge and an enthusiasm to solve the demanding problems faced by the industry and society today motivated me to pursue the Fab Academy Diploma. I believe that my educational background and my professional experience have instilled in me the qualities required to meet the rigor of this demanding course, and subsequently, the profession that I will be taking up upon completing the diploma. I bring along with me a strong grasp of fundamentals in manufacturing, relevant work experience, along with a desire to learn and work in a team. Also, I always had a desire to know how things work, learn by experience and solve challenging problems.

Upon completing my graduation and post-graduation in Manufacturing Engineering, I worked with multi-national organizations in manufacturing industry close to 19 years. I got various opportunities to work on developing new products and new technologies. However, designing new products and getting them manufactured, while working with children and college going students had always been my dream. I believe every child is creative and they have a lot of wonderful ideas. They can easily learn the processes and technologies to get them manufactured and assembled together. However, the academic courses in school and even in colleges do not give them enough exposure and opportunities to build their own products. So, I decided to quit my corporate job in September 2020 and work with students in the area of education, learning by doing and innovation.

Currently, I am working on designing and establishing a makers space, wherein, I will be working with student, who do not have access to the technology and resources. I would thereby get an opportunity to solve some of the major challenges of the society and industry. This learning and makers space will be highly diverse in use, learning styles and configuration. We will be incorporating a variety of pedagogies and theories including constructivism, kinesthetic learning along with vocational and experiential learning.

Also, I have always believed in giving something back to the society. I learned that helping others is the rent we pay for living on this wonderful planet. That statement had a profound impact on me, and since that day, I have never turned down an opportunity to pay it forward. Establishing a makers space for the students of remote villages and places, will be my way of paying forward what I received from the society during my upbringing and education.

Recently, along with my children, I attended one of the DIY workshops organized by Vigyan Ashram in India and came across this concept of 'You can make almost anything' using various machines and technologies. Following are some of the pictures of this workshop by Vigyan Ashram.

This workshop inspired me to go through the Fab academy website, videos to learn more about their diploma and further enrolling myself to undergo this program.