Dr. Shankar Venugopal
Dr Shankar leads technology innovation for the Automotive & Farm services business (AFS). He heads the intellectual property (Patents) and knowledge management functions. He is also the Dean of the Mahindra Technical Academy.
Shankar is passionate about developing sustainable urban mobility solutions and his current interests span across electric vehicles, connected vehicles, autonomous vehicles and precision farming.
Prior to joining Mahindra & Mahindra, Shankar has held technology innovation leadership roles at GE, Dow, Honeywell and Cummins. He holds ten international patents and numerous new product innovation awards. He was awarded GE”s Edison Inventor Medal early in his career. He has developed a proprietary innovation methodology – Innovation FLOW – and trained 1000 + inventors and innovators.
Shankar obtained a Ph.D in Materials Science and a gold medal for the best doctoral thesis from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He completed his executive management program from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Shankar is an avid reader and is interested in physics, philosophy and psychology. He teaches technology innovation management at premier engineering & management institutes in India & abroad.
Shankar was recognized as one of the 50 Innovative leaders at the World Innovation Congress 2020. He is also a TEDx speaker.
Shankar is active in the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and leads the CTO Forum – bringing together technology leaders across the industry to share best-practices on adapting new technologies and driving innovation. He plays an active role in the Management Committee of Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) India Southern Section – he is focused on reskilling automotive engineers on electric mobility. He also serves in the Branding & Communication Committee of SAE India.
LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/shankarvenugopal/