Prof. Prabhu Rajagopal l"Brain drain isn't about salary. We want to be challenged"| Ep. 3

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

November 22, 2024

Duration

51m

Channel

Best Place To Build

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

From CFI to commanding robots underwater, from ultrasonic waves to blockchain elections - Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate Professor Prabhu takes us through his extraordinary journey of bridging deep science with entrepreneurship at IIT Madras. As a professor nurturing 7 groundbreaking startups, he's helping transform student experiments into pioneering companies, one innovation at a time. Discover how this former 'Gandhi' of IIT Madras is redefining the boundaries between academic research and entrepreneurship, creating what he calls an 'innovation continuum' - where lab projects evolve into cutting-edge solutions for real-world problems. In this episode, Prof. Prabhu reveals:

• How CFI transformed student culture from "repairing fans" to "building rockets"
• The untold story behind his 7 startups and the evolution from deep tech to AI
• Why PhD students are now choosing entrepreneurship over traditional careers
• The unique innovation stack that makes IIT Madras the best place to build

00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:41 - Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 00:04:56 - Innovation Stack at IIT Madras 00:10:31 - Changing Academic Culture 00:12:56 - His first three startups 00:21:48 - TRL (Technology Readiness Level) Breakdown 00:23:23 - Solving industry oriented problems 00:25:06 - CNDE Lab and associated Startups 00:29:11 - How Blockchain is critical to AI 00:30:30 - Engineering and Technology have always been cross-disciplinary 00:34:34 - Research at IIT Madras is increasingly product and startup oriented 00:35:13 - His life at IIT Madras 00:41:15 - Poetry and Philosophy 00:45:01- Startup Ventures 00:47:00 - Foundational Robotics Work 00:48:20 - What makes IIT Madras the Best Place to Build? References: Prof Prabhu being awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award- https://youtu.be/RgPnZNG1d34?si=3H_uLWGCQMoiA1b2&t=54 Planys Technologies- https://www.planystech.com/ Solinas Integrity- https://www.solinas.in/ XYMA Analytics- https://www.xyma.in Plenome- https://www.plenome.com Center for Non Destructive Evaluation- https://www.cnde.in Vivekananda Study Circle IIT Madras- https://youtube.com/@VSCIITMadras Centre for Innovation at IIT Madras- https://cfi.iitm.ac.in/ To know more about what makes IIT Madras- the Best Place to Build- hit https://www.bestplacetobuild.com/

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Prabhu Rajagopal

  guest

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Best Place To Build, featuring Prabhu Rajagopal, Prof. Prabhu Rajagopal l"Brain drain isn't about salary. We want to be challenged"| Ep. 3 explores IIT Madras’ innovation stack fuels deep-tech startups beyond salaries alone Rajagopal argues “brain drain” is less about salary and more about access to challenging, high-impact problems, which India increasingly offers through stronger ecosystems.

🔗 RELATED EPISODES

Prof. Krishnan B.| He X-Rays Bridges & Planes | He Left USA to Build Non-Destructive Testing | Ep. 8

Prof. Satya Chakravarthy| "Takes off like a drone, flies like a plane"| Ep. 7 | IIT Madras

Prof. Ravindran on The IIT Madras Playbook for Building AI Leaders | BP2B S1 Ep. 6

K. Vignesh, HyperVerge |“ A 500 line code is small for me, but means a lot for another person"| Ep.5

Prof. Satyanarayanan Seshadri | "We used to call it the kitchen that cooks startups" | Ep. 4

Swostik Sourav Dash | How NeoMotion's CEO is Building "Freedom" for Everyone | Ep. 2 | IIT Madras