Eight alumni of Indian origin named in Georgia Tech’s 40 under 40 List

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The Georgia Tech Alumni Association recently announced 40 distinguished honorees who have innovated industries and positively impacted communities across the globe. The new program was launched to recognize the achievements of Georgia Institute of Technology alumni who are improving the human condition while under the age of 40. The list includes 8 persons of Indian origin.

Maithili Appalwar, Kabir Barday, Dhaval Bhandari, Arnab Chakraborty, Idicula Mathew, Arush Lal, Kamil Makhnejia, and Samirkumar Patel are the Indian Americans who were chosen from more than 250 nominees.

CEO of Avana Appalwar, through her company has helped more than 10,000 farmers conserve 50 billion liters of water with an eco-friendly polymer lining that helps harvest rainwater and create artificial ponds on farms. After just one year using the liner, she found that income for the farmers increased by 98.7%, according to the Georgia Tech alumni association’s website, which provides brief bio on the innovators.

Barday is the founder and CEO of OneTrust, the largest and most widely used privacy, security, and trust technology company in the world.

Bhandari, Planning Advisor at ExxonMobil, has contributed to significant advancements in sustainability as well as in addressing the world’s dual energy challenge. He has filed more than 20 U.S. patents and applications. And at 26, Bhandari became one of the youngest principal investigator of a federal grant, leading a 15-member team with a $3 million grant from the Department of Energy.

Chakraborty co-founded Flow MedTech, which led to the development of a heart implant that reduces the risk of stroke in atrial fibrillation patients. The biomedical startup has been recognized internationally for its innovations in the field.

As CEO of Hera Health Solutions, Mathew is bringing a first of its kind biodegradable implant for long-acting drug treatments to markets in the U.S. and abroad. The biodegradable implant does not need to be removed, thereby eliminating the expense and complications from removal procedures, which are an issue in the U.S. as well as in countries with fewer healthcare resources.

Lal, International Consultant, PAHO works at the WHO Americas Office where he supports Covid-19 efforts by procuring test kits and preventing stockouts of essential medicines and public health supplies worldwide. He has worked across government and non-government organizations including the U.S. HHS Office for Global Affairs in the Pandemic and Emerging Threats division, IntraHealth International, and The Task Force for Global Health. In addition, he was appointed the youngest member on the board of directors for Women in Global Health.

Makhnejia, co-founded Jackson Medical in 2016, which grew out of the startup ecosystem at Georgia Tech. Their flagship product, GloShield, has made operating rooms safer for more than 15,000 surgeries and is expected to be involved in 30,000 more this year.

Patel, President & CEO, Moonlight Therapeutics made a discovery that led him to invent a new way to deliver drug treatment into the eye to treat eye diseases. With this technology, he started Clearside Biomedical in 2011. Two years ago, he started his second venture, Moonlight Therapeutics, to develop a treatment for food allergies by targeting drug delivery to the skin’s immune cells using a dermal stamp.