#PMRC20 | Registrations open

Keeping your health and safety in mind, the Project Management Regional Conference will now be Virtual.

20th and 21st June 2020, 3pm to 7:30pm (IST)

Speakers

Ashish Vidyarthi

Film Actor


Ashish Vidyarthi is a national award-winning actor who has worked across 11 languages in more than 200 plus films. Apart from being an actor, he is a prolific speaker, motivational interventionist and life ignitor. He has impacted more than 200 organisations through his talks and workshops and is the co-funder of Ashish Vidyarthi & Associates.

Amitabh Ray

Managing Director, Ericsson India Global Services


Experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the corporate strategy, management consulting, change management & systems integration, Amitabh have developed and managed a diverse group of clients in both private and government sectors in Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Amitabh specializes in building large ICT organizations and has been instrumental in establishing global hubs for top fortune 500 companies in the areas of R&D, product development, sales support, and services delivery.

After spending years working in the Silicon Valley, USA and Europe Amitabh has been acknowledged by the industry as an inspirational keynote speaker and a great technology visionary. He has been speaking at different national and global forums for the last 20 years on a range of technology subjects as well as Leadership, Lessons of Failure, Teaming, Creativity, Innovation, etc. and known for the enthusiasm, humour, dedication and passion with experience.

TEDx speaker & prolific blogger, Amitabh has made it to the covers of different technology magazines and have been quoted in number of publications on important corporate and future technology issues.

He has been nominated to the prestigious list of LinkedIn Power Profiles in India for 4 years and recognised by the Insight Success magazine as 30 Young and Dynamic Entrepreneurs in 2017. Before joining Ericsson, Amitabh worked as Vice President in IBM and a Partner at PwC.

Major General Arun Kumar Sapra (Retired)

Director, Army Institute Of Management, Kolkata


Major General Arun Kumar Sapra is a second-generation officer. General Sapra was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers, in June 1982. He is a gold medallist of his degree engineering course and a postgraduate in civil engineering from IIT Kanpur. He also holds a M Phil in Defence & Strategic Studies and is presently pursuing his PhD with Mumbai University.

In his 37 year career span in the Army, he has seen action in the Indian Peacekeeping operations in Sri-Lanka and counter insurgency operations in J&K and the North East. During the command of an infantry brigade in the North East, around 400 insurgents of the Black Widow or DHD (J) group surrendered. He played a pivotal role in fencing the Line of Control in J&K, once considered an impossible task. He has commanded an infantry division on the Western Front. General Sapra has been the Commandant of Military Institute of Technology at Pune and has also served as the Additional Director General of NCC and Additional Director General Recruitment during his service career. He has been on deputation with UN in Congo & has also done a stint at Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ever since his retirement from active service he has been serving as The Director of Army Institute of Management at Kolkata.

He was at the helm of affairs to organise the month-long functions to commemorate the golden jubilee of the 1965 Indo-Pak War at New Delhi, which found special mention by the PM Shri Narendra Modi during his Mann ki Baat address to the nation in Sep 2015.

A keen sportsperson, he has represented the country in rowing in the Asian Games at Seoul and at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in the 80’s. He won the bronze medal at the Asian Rowing Championship at Hong Kong in 1985.

Anita Ganesh

Partner, IBM Services


Anita Ganesh is a Partner at IBM India Pvt. Ltd. She works out of the IBM India Bengaluru office and leads the India delivery team and global account operations for a large European oil & gas client.

She has a strong project & program management experience of almost 23 years across 3 organisations – L&T Infotech, Infosys and IBM India.

She has managed and successfully led projects for many Indian and international clients in the financial services and chemicals & petroleum domains.

She is a certified IBM Senior Project Manager and is a qualified Complex Program Manager.

Bridging the gaps between skills & employability is another area of interest to her and she has also been awarded the best paper in the category at the PM India National Conference in 2017.

Adam Stoffel

Venture Technologist


Adam holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin and is a present-day technology jack-of-all-trades. Having served on teams in a wide variety of roles, from sales to training and delivery through support, he is adaptable and ready to snap into action to get anything done. In addition to an accomplished resume in software consulting and product strategy, Adam also has a passion for social justice. He was a long-standing board member and volunteer for the world’s premier non-profit organization which supports LGBT+ students and professionals in the STEM fields. Adam lives Seattle, WA, USA.

Adam and Ashu identify themselves as “venture technologists”. Innovators willing and able to solve the world's hardest problems struggle to become entrepreneurs due to lack of capital and the right application of technology. In the manner that venture capitalists partner with innovators by investing capital, they see themselves as investing in such innovators by equipping them with custom technology. Like venture capitalists, they directly tie their reward to the success of customers in fulfilling their mission.

Ashutosh Chatterji, PMP®

Venture Technologist


Ashu holds a bachelor’s degree from the Regional Engineering College (now National Institute of Technology), Rourkela and a masters degree from The George Washington University, both in in Computer Science. He was born and raised in Meerut, UP, but began his engineering career in Calcutta, back in 1992. Since then he has served in a variety of roles as a developer, architect, program manager, practice manager and an Agile/DevOps evangelist. He is also a student of innovation around the world and seeks to learn from his experiences delivering solutions around the world. Ashu lives in the metropolitan area of Washington, DC, USA.

Adam and Ashu identify themselves as “venture technologists”. Innovators willing and able to solve the world's hardest problems struggle to become entrepreneurs due to lack of capital and the right application of technology. In the manner that venture capitalists partner with innovators by investing capital, they see themselves as investing in such innovators by equipping them with custom technology. Like venture capitalists, they directly tie their reward to the success of customers in fulfilling their mission.

Nimish Gupta (FRICS)

MD, South Asia - RICS


With over 23 years of experience in real estate, construction, education training and technology adoption, Nimish has built up a career within the built environment sector after graduating as an engineer from the National Institute of Technology. He has previously held key senior positions within the real estate & construction industry including Vipul Modern (a leading construction services provider), Laing o’ Rourke and Bovis Lend Lease, after starting his career with Larsen & Toubro, the largest construction company in India.

Nimish, a Chartered Surveyor (FRICS) himself, has been closely associated with RICS since 2005 and was an integral part in the formation of the vision, planning and implementation of RICS South Asia, besides being amongst the first professionals’ to qualify as a Fellow in India. For the last five years, Nimish has been involved in educating, training and mentoring the next generation of Built Environment professionals at the RICS School of the Built Environment. In 2018 he joined RICS as the Managing Director, South Asia from his own venture - Qonqests Technical Solutions, a fast-growing organisation in the project management, cost management and quantity surveying space.

In his role as MD at RICS, Nimish is primarily responsible for managing the regions’ operations and has been instrumental in initiating key dialogues with the Government, regulators and policy makers which could possibly have a pathbreaking impact on the sector in times to come. By leading operational functions of the organization, Nimish has been instrumental in charting a growth trajectory for RICS’ thorough business planning and creative business development strategies. Nimish is a key spokesperson of the organization and represents RICS South Asia at various forums and events.

Priya Patra

Program Manager, Capgemini


Priya is a mother of two, Author, Blogger, Women Empower believer, Dreamer, Creator and a Futurist

An Agile Evangelist and a Program Manager spearheading Digital transformation, digital quality assurance and quality engineering program for a large conglomerate in Lifesciences domain

She Leads Agile Community of Practice with Capgemini 546 members, across 40 countries evangelizing Agile practices across all levels in the organization

She is speaker for national and International conferences on IoT, Agile and Project Management

When she is not working, she dreams about the future of work, and its impact on projects.

Avelo Roy

MD, Kolkata Ventures (Kolkata)
Director, ECC Engineering Pvt. Ltd (Kolkata)
Board of Advisors, Amity University Online


Mr. Roy who was the Startup Advisor, Prime Minister of Nepal and is also a Guest lecturer at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, IITs (Delhi, Bombay, Kharagpur, Bhubaneswar, Goa, Hyderabad and Guwahati), IIMs and other universities.

He has spoken at 500+ engagements in US & India, including White House Panel for Entrepreneurship Education, Startup America, Invest India @ Rashtraipati Bhavan, TEDx Talks, Joysh talks and more.

150+ awards in India, US, Canada & China
1800+ startup mentees in India, US, Canada & China

Mr. Roy is a serial Tech Entrepreneur, Investor & TV Host, who started his first startup at the age of 19 around his patent pending technology while still studying as a computer engineer at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He built it to a multi-million dollar valuation by the age of 22.

He has built 8 Businesses in the US & India with multi-million dollars worth of products and services ranging from consumer electronics, artificial Intelligence systems, healthcare process automation, food science, wireless communications, wearable technology and graphical password applications.

As the great great grandson of Sarojini Naidu, Avelo continues the legacy forward by tirelessly serving the Indian youth through entrepreneurship education using lean startup methodology and principles of Bhagavad Gita. His efforts through Kolkata Ventures in the past 3 years have resulted in 400+ revenue generating startups responsible for around 4500 new jobs created in 10 states of East India.

Avelo’s management style is derived from the principles of Bhagavad Gita. He is an influential youth icon with a monthly reach of 200,000 youths over social media.

Quazi M. Ahmed

Lead Consultant & CEO, FutureLeaders, LLC (USA)
Founder & President, Bangladesh Organization for Learning & Development


With a Master’s Degree from International University of Japan (IUJ) and Post-graduate and Certificates from New York University, USA and University of Oslo, Norway, Mr. Quazi M. Ahmed is an award-winning speaker, facilitator, consultant and coach in the areas of leadership and other soft skills such as emotional intelligence, team building, cross-cultural communications, negotiations and conflict management.

With 25 years of training experience under his belt, he facilitated more than 2500 training sessions attended by close to one hundred thousand people in the private, nonprofit an public sectors in Banagladesh and beyond. In addition, he has conducted training sessions and or presented keynotes in USA, UK, Denmark, Malayasia, India, Afghanistan and Nepal. In recognition of his significant contribution in the training field in his home country, his peer group comprising consultants, trainers and others elected him as the President of Bangladesh Organization for Learning and Development (BOLD).

Tanya Elizabeth Ken

Founder LakshyaShala EduTech, Young Ambassador of Ariel Foundation Intl., Geneva


Tanya Elizabeth Ken is a 17 year old, Grade 12 student from Chennai, India. She developed an interest in technology early and is keen on being the change that she wants to see around her. When the opportunity came her way, she decided to work towards contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals and is the strong believer that Education can be the key driver towards achieving her goals. This led to Tanya developing an app designed to help children actualize their dreams which was the finalist at the Technovation Challenge 2017. By 8th grade, she founded LakshyaShala EduTech. She became the Student Ambassador for Technovation 2018-20 and working with students from the underserved communities with the mission `Equality in Education’. LakshyaShala empowers children to reach their aspirations through a unified component model and believes that diversity and inclusion starts at the grassroots level.

Talgram, the world first talent showcase for the underserved communities, D & I Funnel, a structured system aimed at deploying diversity initiatives for any organization and Goal Shadowing, a unique peer to peer task mirroring system to help children actualize their dreams, are some of her contributions to alleviating poverty. Being SUPER (Students United for Progressive Education and Reforms) and Good Cause Shop are two of her current unified component model initiatives towards contributing to a better world.

Tanya has a keen interest in technology and is looking forward for higher education in cyber security. She is passionate about being engaged with teaching, training, and hand holding children till their career. Her nonprofit organisation called Tulya is currently engaged with around 700 plus children. She mentored three teams for Technovation 2019. Among 2000 teams from 57 participating countries, two of her teams reached the semi finals and one qualified as Finalist and won the first place at the World Pitch on August 15, 2020. All the three teams had students from the underserved communities, who came up with apps to solve problems they faced in their communities.

Dr. Sandipan Sarkar

Technology Executive (Blockchain, IoT, and AI) - IBM


Dr. Sandipan Sarkar, an IBM Distinguished Engineer, serves as Technology Executive in the field of Blockchain, IoT, and AI.

Chasing his passion to solve intriguing business problems, Sandipan has dived repeatedly into territories of uncharted markets and realms of new technologies. In this process, he has firmly established himself as a globally respected expert in exponential technologies. By successfully delivering innovative solutions and intellectual capital, he has generated significant value for his clients.

Sandipan holds a Ph.D in artificial intelligence. He speaks and publishes regularly at scientific journals, business magazines, industry forums, and academic institutes.

Dr. Arpan Pal

Chief Scientist (Embedded Systems and Robotics Research) – TCS


Arpan Pal received both his B.Tech and M.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India in Electronics and Telecommunications and PhD. from Aalborg University Denmark. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and is engaged in the innovation space in different industry bodies and start-up accelerators.

He has more than 26 years of experience in the area of Signal Processing, Communication, Embedded Systems and Robotics. Currently he is with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), where, as Chief Scientist, he is heading the Embedded Systems and Robotics Research Area in TCS Research. His research interests include Sensing & IoT, Signal Processing & AI, Robotics & Edge Processing for applications in Connected Health, Smart Cities, Smart Enterprises and Industry 4.0.

Arpan has more than 150 publications and book chapters till date in reputed Journals and Conferences. He has also authored a complete book on IoT. He also has more than 100 patents granted to him. He has been on the editorial board for reputed journals like ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems, IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing and IT Professional Magazine from IEEE Computer Society.

Prof. Utpal Garain

Professor - Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata


Utpal Garain is currently a Professor in the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. His research interests include development of AI Systems, Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning algorithms for language and vision problems. Professor Garain did his Bachelor and Master's in Computer Science and Engineering from Jadavpur University in 1994 and 1997 and received his PhD degree in Computer Science from Indian Statistical Institute in 2005. He was one of the architects behind India's first OCR system for reading Bangla and Devanagari script documents. Prof. Garain has published more than 100 research papers in the high impact peer-reviewed journals and conferences in the field of AI and ML. Along with his academic research, Prof. Garain has been serving as research advisor to several public and private organizations working in the field of AI and Data Science. Professor Garain is recipient of several prestigious awards including Young Engineer Award from Indian National Academy of Engineering (2006), Research Fellowship from Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (2011) and JSPS Fellowship from Japanese Society for promotion of Science (2017). He is currently serving as the coordinator for the ISI Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (CAIML).

Swami Vedatitananda

Monk, Ramakrishna Order


Swami Vedatitananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order of monks. He joined the Order in 1999 at a tribal center in Ponampet, Coorg District, Karnataka. An initiated disciple of Most Rev Swami Ranganathanandaji Maharaj, he was ordained into Sannyasa in 2008 by Most Revered Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj. He served in Belgaum Ramakrishna Mission and Along Ramakrishna Mission School before coming to Ramakrishna Mission Shilpamandira, Belur Math. He is now in-charge of a Polytechnic College & Skill development center at Shilpamandira since 2013.