Akshat Dave, a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT Media Lab, has been named an INK Fellow for his pioneering work in developing AI-enabled imaging systems that push the boundaries of visual perception. His research focuses on creating next-generation cameras capable of capturing light dimensions invisible to the human eye, with transformative applications in automotive safety, infrastructure monitoring, and medical diagnostics. These innovations align with UN Sustainable Development Goals promoting industry innovation and infrastructure resilience. Akshat’s impressive academic track record, which includes collaborations with leading tech companies like Samsung and Hyundai, highlights his potential to drive significant advancements in imaging technology. The real-world applications of his work are vast, with the potential to revolutionize multiple industries.
Avinash is the CEO and Co-Founder of zoojoo.be, a social wellness platform that is helping companies around the world drive positive and healthier behavior, within their workforce. Zoojoo.be is an IIM Bangalore incubated startup that has raised $1 Million in seed round from Round Glass Partners, a US based venture firm.
Avinash is passionate about research in the field of behavior change, behavioral economics and behavioral psychology. Him and his team have been able to help over 75,000 people spread across 7 countries, form healthier habits
Watch INK Talk
Daniel is a PhD candidate for the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab, where his work focuses on human computer interaction. He believes that computers could be much more powerful if their interactions would engage with human bodies more fully. Daniel’s goal is to build a new generation of human computer interfaces, one that can render dynamic, physical shapes that we can touch and transform to express ourselves and collaborate with others. Already, Daniel has built a number of tangible prototypes based on his vision.
Daniel’s projects have been presented at Ars Electronica, Siggraph and the Science Center Singapore and published at ACM ITS, TEI, CHI and UIST conference. He has received the Austrian State Prize for Multimedia, Europrix Top Talent Award, Laval Virtual ReVolution Award, RTT Emerging Technology Award, Siggraph Research Challenge, UIST Student Innovation Contest and best paper awards at UIST and CHI.
Watch INK Talk
Dr. Kalyan Veeramachaneni is a Principal Research Scientist at the Laboratory for Information and Decision System (LIDS) at MIT. He directs a research group called Data to AI in the new MIT Institute for Data Systems and Society(IDSS). Kalyan believes that artifical intelligence and machine learning can have a powerful impact in a variety of societal arenas, from education and public health to transportation and e-commerce. His group aims to solve the foundational issues currently preventing these techniques from reaching their full potential, and their recent work focuses on making human interactions with data seamless and efficient.
Kalyan has published over 60 papers, 3 of which have won best paper awards at international conferences. His work on AI-driven solutions for data science and cybersecurity has been covered by major media outlets, including the Washington Post, CBS News, Wired, Forbes and Newsweek.
Kalyan has also co-founded two startups: Feature Labs and PatternEx. Feature Labs helps organizations transform their raw, noisy data into intelligent representations using data science automation tools. PatternX is a cybersecurity company, focused on developing the first active learning-based solution for identifying new and constantly evolving security threats. He received his Masters in Computer Engineering and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering in 2009, both from Syracuse University. He joined MIT in 2009.
Dr. Harpreet Sareen is an Assistant Professor of Interaction and Media Design at Parsons School of Design, New York City, and directs the Synthetic Ecosystems Lab. His innovative research intersects Material Science, Biology, and Electronics, exploring the synergy between biological and artificial worlds. Harpreet’s concept of ‘Convergent Design’ creates advanced bionic materials and hybrid substrates for future ecological machinery, sensing systems, and interaction design.
Dr. Sareen holds a PhD from The University of Tokyo, focusing on Post-Anthropocentric Design, and a Master’s from the MIT Media Lab, where he introduced Cyborg Botany. He has worked globally in diverse settings, including Google Creative Lab, Microsoft Research, and Ars Electronica Museum. His accolades include the MIT Technology Review Under 35 Innovator, CHI Golden Mouse, and Edison Gold awards.
Currently a Fellow at the Berggruen Institute and an INK Fellow, Harpreet collaborates with international intellectuals across cultural and political boundaries. His work is published in leading conferences and showcased in venues like Ars Electronica Festival and the MIT Museum. Harpreet also advises venture-backed startups in plant science and has provided insights to government offices, including the Abu Dhabi Executive Office.
Watch INK Talk
Dr. Jayant Ratti, Ph.D. is an Experienced innovation leader, engineer and roboticist with extensive business development experience focused on engineering, Intelligent Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Unmanned autonomous systems and aerial vehicles. Founder and CEO of NAYAN INDIA Science and Technologies (“NAYAN”); He is a Council Member of Dubai Future Council of Community Security. He has over 30 Publications in the Field of Robotics & Intelligent Machines and over 40 Patents around the world in the Field of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. He has a Ph.D. in Robotics & Intelligent Machines and a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and is a University of Delhi, Alumi.
Ketaki Sharma is the Founder and CEO of Algorithm Research, a bespoke analytics and research firm based out of the UAE. Algorithm Research was a part of Y-Combinator startup school as well as past winner of various regional entrepreneurship awards.
Ketaki Sharma is a senior economist tracking MENA and India for over a decade. Prior to founding Algorithm Research, she was involved in setting up the research desks from scratch at two of the leading banks in the UAE and has worked with Nomura Securities as India Economist in Mumbai. She has a sovereign rating background, having worked with Standard & Poors’ as a rating analyst covering the EMEA region
Leonard is a passionate 16-year-old innovator, developer and designer. At the age of 14, frustrated with teaching methodologies, he co-founded and built ludu.co, an online education platform along with a friend to help his schoolmates and other students summarize the main points of what they learned as they learned it. You organize your ‘ludu blocks’ in a box that you can refer to as you study. Today, it serves more than a quarter of the students at The Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.
Leonard is a self-taught coder and has been coding since the age of 7. His first lego robot, with hundreds of parts, motors, sensors, and a mini-computer to connect them to is what inspired his interest in programming, electronics, and robotics. He was awarded an Apple WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference) Student Scholarship in 2014. He has worked for several companies in designing and creating their mobile solutions. Aside from working on completing his 11th grade, Leonard recently co-founded a social media platform for sharing images within your company.
His dream is to apply material design, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence to create self-assembling nano-tech robots that can inhabit other planets. He strongly believes that we as a species have to be able to do this to evolve and survive.
Monishwaran Maheswaran, age 18, is one of the youngest Computer Scientists working in the field of Deep learning, Cognitive Computing, and Quantum Computing. Monishwaran excelled in several Olympiads and went on to pursue research in Mathematics at Harvard University. Over the past several years, Monishwaran has developed numerous projects, using Artificial Intelligence, ranging from accelerating the diagnosis of Schizophrenia to combating Malaria using blood diagnosis. He has collaborated with several companies in the hopes of building a better world. His most recent collaboration was with Microsoft QuArC, where he has been developing Quantum Algorithms alongside the QuArC team. He has also collaborated with MIT to provide content for the MITx 6.00.2x course on the edX platform. Being a leader in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Monishwaran Monishwaran has been invited by several universities to give Master Classes and Guest Lectures in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing. Monishwaran was selected as the Wai Wai Glocal Teen Hero India 2019 from a pool of teenagers all over India for his innovation and ideas. Monishwaran aims to spread the knowledge of computer programming and guide novice developers and children through his books and lectures. His book C++ Simplified has become an all time favorite for teachers and students alike. The book uses a new approach to teach students the C++ programming language. Monishwaran’s aim is to educate 1 billion people with programming. He believes programming needs to considered as a primary language, and should be taught to everyone. He is currently involved in bringing the power of Quantum Computing to the hands of common people
Watch INK Talk
Growing up in a small town in Gujarat, Nirman developed a passion for programming when he got my first computer. By 17, he had published 200 apps with over a million downloads. After high school, he ran a profitable startup called CircuiTricks and went on to pursue Entrepreneurship from MIT in Boston and Computer Science from Hampshire College in Amherst. During this time, he built USA’s first interdisciplinary Hackathon event with partners like Google, Viacom and Star Trek.He now works at the intersection of Machine Learning and Behavioral Economics with his startup called Obviously AI, a web app to help SaaS companies predict customer behavior.
Rishi Sharma, CEO and co-founder, Faclon Labs, has been named an INK Fellow for his work in Industrial AI. Faclon Labs, based in Mumbai, utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT technologies to improve industrial productivity and sustainability, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals on industry innovation and climate action. The company’s innovative solutions have optimized operations in over 400 factories across India and internationally, resulting in significant reductions in energy losses and enhanced efficiency. Driven by a vision to revolutionize industrial operations, Rishi aims to make factories and manufacturing processes smarter and more sustainable. His work holds strong potential for scaling and expanding Faclon Labs’ impact in the industrial sector.
Subscribe to our newsletters for latest updates, inspiring talks, and access to our vibrant community.
