Rahul Panicker

Rahul Alex Panicker is a technology leader and entrepreneur, who is currently leading research as Chief Innovation Officer at the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a nonprofit research institute developing AI solutions for social good.[1][2] He is best known as President and Co-founder of Embrace Innovations,[3] and Embrace, a social enterprise startup that aims to help premature and low-birth-weight babies, through a low-cost infant warmer.[4][5]

Rahul Alex Panicker
Born
Mavelikkara, Kerala, India
NationalityIndian
Alma mater
OccupationPresident and Co-founder Embrace Innovations
Known forCo-founder at Embrace, and President and Co-founder at Embrace Innovations

Until early 2016, Panicker served as the President of Embrace Innovations, a social enterprise that designs and brings to market healthcare technologies for the developing world, starting with an infant warmer. The Embrace infant warmer costs less than 1% of a traditional incubator, and is currently being distributed across clinics in India, and over 15 developing countries.[6][7][8] He is also a member of the FICCI Health Innovation Task Force in India.[9] Starting 2016, he has been engaged in exploring and speaking about the potential impact of AI and what societies can do to prepare for the future, including at TEDx IIT Kharagpur.

Early life and education

Panicker was born in Mavelikara, Kerala, India [10] to Moly and P.C. Mathen Panicker of Kottarakara. He attended Indian Community School, Kuwait, and Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Trivandrum, India, and hails from Vayalikada, Thiruvananthapuram.[11]

Panicker holds an M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford Department of Electrical Engineering, and a B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), India. He is also an alumnus of the design school at Stanford.[12]

As part of his Ph.D. at Stanford, Panicker worked at the interface of machine learning and optics. His thesis work used machine learning techniques to demonstrate a 10 to 100 fold increase in capacity of multimode optical communication systems. His work combined convex optimization, machine learning, adaptive optics and spatial light modulators.[13] He also worked at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, applying artificial neural networks to accelerator-beam controls.

Awards and recognition

Career

Before starting Embrace, Panicker worked briefly at Infinera Corporation. While there, he worked in a team led by co-founder, President, and member of the Infinera Board, David F. Welch, Ph.D., in the new products group, working on ultra hi-speed optical telecom systems.

Embrace
Main articles: Embrace (non-profit) and Embrace Innovations

In 2007, while studying at Stanford, Panicker and a few other fellow graduates were part of a class, Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability, at the d.school at Stanford University. They were asked to create a low-cost infant incubator that could be used in developing countries.[24] They designed an infant warmer that worked without electricity, was expected to be low-cost and was designed for use even by rural mothers in developing countries. After the class, they co-founded Embrace (non-profit), a 501(c)(3) non-profit, in 2008 to bring their project to life.[25] The non-profit entity, Embrace, donates infant warmers to clinics in need, and the for-profit social enterprise, Embrace Innovations, sells the warmers to other clinics.

Embrace has also been awarded the INDEX: Design to Improve Life award in 2011,[26] and the Fast Company Innovation By Design Awards, 2012,.[27][28]

References
  1. "EmTech Digital AI for Social Good Rahul Panicker, Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence". MIT Tech Review. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  2. Panicker, Rahul. "AI for Social Good Rahul Panicker, Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence". MIT Tech Review. MIT Tech Review. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  3. Mischler, Michèle. "Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2013". Schwab Foundation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  4. Dooley, Sean (17 December 2010). "Embrace Infant Warmer Could Save Thousands".
  5. Ahmad, Samreen (9 April 2012). "Spreading life-saving warmth". Tehelka.
  6. Deepa, Balakrishnan (12 September 2012). "Portable incubators in 4 states a new lease of life". CNN-IBN.
  7. Udayabhanu, Prem (24 December 2015). "The Keralite who made it to MIT's top 35 Innovators' list". Manorama Online.
  8. Ranganna, Akhila (18 January 2016). "Saving Lives: How Rahul Panicker Developed a Low-cost Incubator for Newborns". Man's World India. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  9. IANS. "National innovation council to build an ecosystem for healthcare products and services". health.india.com. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  10. Sirnate, Vasundhara (3 October 2009). "Embrace of Life". Open Magazine.
  11. Udayabhanu, Prem (24 December 2015). "The Keralite who made it to MIT's top 35 Innovators' list". Manorama Online.
  12. Bagchi, Shrabonti (19 September 2011). "SAVING LITTLE LIVES". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  13. Panicker, Rahul (2007). Compensation of Modal Dispersion in Multimode Fiber Systems Using Adaptive Optics Via Convex Optimization. Stanford University: Stanford University. p. 76. ISBN 978-0549355779.
  14. "35 Innovators Under 35, 2015". MIT Technology Review.
  15. Quarterly, Technology (30 November 2013). "Innovation awards And the winners are..." The Economist.
  16. "Bangalore-based startup founders win Economist Innovation Award". The Economic Times. 6 November 2013.
  17. "Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2013". World Economic Forum.
  18. Mischler, Michèle. "Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2013". Schwab Foundation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  19. OZLER, Levent. "Best in Show of the 2012 International Design Excellence Awards". Dexigner. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  20. Thorpe, Devin (30 September 2012). "28 Award Winners Highlight Innovation in Social Entrepreneurship". Forbes.
  21. "Rahul Panicker @EmbraceInnov & his health tech #startup story of creating portable infant warmer #YTatMakeInIndia". 17 February 2016.
  22. "Young Turks". 16 April 2012.
  23. "Echoing Green Fellows". Echoing Green.
  24. "Embrace: A low cost infant warmer". CNBC TV18. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  25. Platoni, Kara (January–February 2012). "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Stanford Alumni.
  26. The Daily News Staff (27 September 2011). "Embrace, Stanford enterprise, wins Index Award". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  27. Wilson, Mark. "The 11 Winners Of Our 2012 Innovation By Design Awards". Fast Company. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  28. Kuang, Cliff. "Why Good Design Is Finally A Bottom Line Investment". Fast Company. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
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