Global Organization of People of Indian Origin Connecticut Chapter (GOPIO-CT) organized a program of welcoming new students from India at the University of Connecticut, School of Business from its Stamford and Hartford campuses with a networking dinner on Sept. 24th at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Stamford. While it was a networking event for the students and the Indian American community, it also served as an interactive session with a high-profile panel of Indian American corporate achievers and entrepreneurs.
The program started with a welcome by GOPIO-CT President Ashok Nichani who told the students to consider GOPIO-CT as their big family and that they could seek help from the chapter. GOPIO International Chairman and GOPIO-CT Trustee Dr. Thomas Abraham moderated the interactive panel session. The panelists included Anand Chavan, founder and CEO, GuardX, Inc. (New York, NY); Ramya Subramanian, Co-Founder and COO of Docty Inc. (Stamford, CT); Pradeep Govil, Program Manager, ASML (Wilton, CT); Sunita Menon, Global Data Advisor & Adjunct Prof. at U. of Florida and formerly with IBM Data-Driven Business (Stamford, CT); Prasad Chintalapudi, Vice President, Panzer Solutions (Norwalk, CT); Siddharth (Sid) Jain, President, AAAUM (OM)/Co-Founder, HVB 88 Angels LLC (Pelham, NY) and Prof. Rajasekhar Vangapaty, Registrar, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), SUNY (New York, NY).
Extending a warm welcome to the new students, most of them joining only in early September, Dr. Abraham said, “America is the greatest country which provides opportunity to open up your mind and you can be whatever you want to become, whether a professional in a large corporation, or help to manage a hedge fund or as a scientist or professor or as an entrepreneur, so, go and grab the opportunities awaiting you.”
Each of the panelists were asked to comment on two sets of questions on their journey to where they reached today and how earlier career choices lead them to where they are now as well as their first “win” that made them confident and the biggest challenge to achieving that success. The panelists provided personal experience to their success. The panelists also provided guidance and inputs on educational preparation, necessary prior experience, what skills are the most important and transferable skills to acquire so as to market oneself to the American job market.
