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By RICHARD
SPRINGER
India-West Staff Reporter
Ajit Prabhu, co-founder and chief executive officer of
engineering services provider QuEST, has made a $250,000
fellowship grant to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to
provide fellowship support for students pursuing master's
and doctoral degrees, with preference to those in the
biomedical engineering program.
The Ajit Prabhu '98 Fellowship will support the $1-billion
"Renaissance at Rensselaer Campaign." Also, Rensselaer and
QuEST have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote
educational and research cooperation between the two
institutions.
Prabhu has a master's degree in biomedical engineering from
Troy, N.Y.-based Rensselaer, a master's in mechanical
engineering from Old Dominion University, Va., and a
bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Karnataka
University.
He co-founded QuEST with company president Aravind Melligeri
in 1997 with the goal to start a company to specialize in
engineering services "from concept to product realization."
"Hailing from a small town in India, born and brought up in
a middle-class family, going to America for education in
itself was a dream," Prabhu said in a statement.
"I have been fortunate to have met with excellent faculty at
Rensselaer, who have had a significant impact on my current
enterprises' success, through guidance and support during
QuEST's incubation period - especially my adviser, Dr. John
Brunski - for funding my research and his constant
encouragement to explore," he added.
"I am pleased to create this opportunity for future graduate
students, because a global outlook and an entrepreneurial
spirit are alive and thriving at Rensselaer."
"Ajit Prabhu understands that graduate fellowship support
such as he has provided will attract world-class students to
Rensselaer to work with faculty at the forefront of research
innovation in biotechnology, information technology, and the
interdisciplinary areas," said Rensselaer president Shirley
Ann Jackson.
"As a result, these individuals will become tomorrow's
professors and research scientists, inventors and
innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs," she said.
QuEST, which provides a range of engineering services
through global product development centers, has more than
850 engineers in the U.S., Italy, Germany, Japan and India
(Bangalore).
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is the
oldest technological university in the U.S.
Prabhu, a Six Sigma Greenbelt certificate holder, won a
Young Investigator award from the International Association
for Dental Research. He also worked previously at General
Electric Co.'s global research and development center in
Schenectady, N.Y., where QuEST has its U.S. headquarters. |
