“WHAT IF WE CAN CREATE A MILLION INNOVATORS AND ENTREPRENEURS IN COMMUNITIES?”
They would create jobs, build wealth, and transform communities from the bottom up.
But can innovators and entrepreneurs be created?
My nine years of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Asia School of Business have shown that we could nurture ordinary youth and children to take on innovation and entrepreneurship by building their skillset and mindset and creating ecosystems in their community.
The entrepreneurs I met, who grew up in under-resourced communities where opportunities were slim but found their inner potential and drive to break out to find their calling, inspired this research.
Over thirty years of my career, I have been an engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and educator. I was very fortunate to have gone through such broad experiences in technology, business, and education. My current mission is to use this experience to nurture future innovators and entrepreneurs from the youth in remote and underserved communities by transforming them and, in turn, their communities.
I served as a Professor of Practice in Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Asia School of Business, started by MIT-Sloan in Kuala Lumpur. I was one of the founding faculty of ASB. I also served at MIT as a Visiting Scholar and Tata Fellow.
Over the past nine years, my study on how entrepreneurship skillset and mindset can be developed in youth has helped me create programs to nurture future innovators and entrepreneurs in communities from the ground up and conduct over a hundred workshops worldwide
The companies I founded were in varied fields such as Thermal engineering of electronic products, Data Center energy optimization, sensing airflow for environmental management & instruments, Consumer products, and Training in creativity and problem-solving.
I received Master's degrees in Engineering & Management (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Manufacturing Engineering (UMass, Amherst), and Electronic Product Design (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore). I hold Bachelor's degrees in Electronics & Communications Engineering (IISc) and Physics (Kerala).
Recent activites
2021:
Oct 10:Incubating future entrepreneurs: Article on Rajesh Nair and the mission of EnCube Labs Business Editor's Notebook: Rajesh Nair wants every kid to have a chance to be an entrepreneur
Sep 16:EnCube Labs was recognized as one of ten most innovative companies in the state of New Hampshire, USA by the state’s leading newspaper Manchester Union Leader.
A million entrepreneurs: EnCube Labs aims to make STEM a global youth movement
SEPT 3Developing Innovation Ecosystems in Underserved Communities in the US. Conducted a pilot program in the town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
Video
Feb 11: Talk at TiE Kerala on "How to Create a Million Entrepreneurs and Change the World ?" Link to register
Jan 20: Ran Zero2Entrepreneur, 6-day bootcamp under IIT Palakkad’s Innodeate event. 23 attendees created more than a hundred products and videos, and 30 team projects. Watch them here:Link
2020:
Nov, 21: Conducted the 6-day course ‘Zero2Maker: Developing Entrepreneurial Attitudes and Aptitudes’ for ASB MBA students.
Oct 30: Conducted 4-day workshop ‘Future Thinking, Design Thinking, & Entrepreneurship’ for MBA students from XIME, Cochin, India.
Oct 10: Spoke at VAIBHAV Innovation Summit by the Government of India on “Job Creation in the Post-Covid World”.
Sep 8: Conducted TechTop Innovation Workshop, a 5-day online bootcamp on Design Thinking for university students from India.
Timeline