Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy

Prof. Satya, Founder, The ePlane Company, began his professional journey at his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, India. As a Professor of Aerospace Engineering has been one of their noted educators since 1998. With an illustrious career and accolades to his merit, Prof. Satya was awarded the HAL Prize for the Best Undergraduate in Aerospace Engineering in 1991, the Young Engineer Award by the Indian National Academy of Engineering in 2003, the Young Faculty Recognition Award by IIT Madras in 2009, the Dalmi-HEMSI-ACRHEM Award by the High Energy Materials Society of India in 2009, and the DRDO Academic Excellence Award by the Defence Research and Development Organisation twice, in 2009 and 2016. He founded and heads the National Centre for Combustion Research & Development (NCCRD) - one of the world’s largest research centres that houses state-of-the-art infrastructure for combustion research. Eventually, realisation dawned that combustion might not be the key to the future and he felt it imperative to redirect his energies towards more sustainable and greener technologies. Zealous about deep tech entrepreneurship to democratise technology and foster sustainable development, Prof. Satya also the Co-founder of innovative startups namely, Agnikul Cosmos, Aerostrovilos Energy Pvt. Ltd, Avishkaar Hyperloop and GalaxEye that are redefining the aerospace ecosystem in India. Further, he is a two-time TEDX speaker and was recently accredited as the ‘Startup Enabler of the Year’ at TiECON Chennai 2022 in recognition of his continued efforts to broaden the horizons of flight and provide previously unthought of opportunities to the young talent, potentially accelerating India’s global growth.