Our Team

SELCO Foundation has a cross-sectoral team with holistic thinkers at all levels: ones who strive to push the boundaries and challenge the status quo.

Trustees

Dr. Taslimarif Turabmiya Saiyed

CEO and Director of C-CAMP

His initial training has been in neurosciences, where he received his PhD from Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany and followed it up by postdoctoral training at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). At the same time, he also underwent training in management for Biotech and Innovation from QB3 at UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. He has also completed a biotech management program for biotech executives at Wharton School of Management. In the Bay area, he served as a Management Consultant with QB3 New Biotech Venture Consulting and in an individual capacity, he also consulted for many biotech firms in the US. Dr. Saiyed is an Adjunct Faculty at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and also Amrita Institute - School of Biotechnology. He also heads the Discovery to Innovation Accelerator program at C-CAMP. He is actively involved in promoting innovation in lifescience / healthcare by supporting translation of discoveries to application, entrepreneurship and technology development

Naga Nandini Dasgupta

Dean, Srishti School of Design

Ms. Naga Nandini Dasgupta :Trained in Industrial Product Design, her work in the last 25 years has included a variety of projects ranging from craft and livelihood to communication design. Much of it has been at the grassroots level and she feels that a large part of being a good designer is a willingness to do what it takes in any context, learning skills where necessary and developing an ability to be a part of and manage change effectively. She likes working in real contexts, enjoys collaborative thinking and making, and feels that when students work in mixed groups with artisans and makers, the best work emerges. As a practitioner and teacher, she remains firmly rooted to the context of our country, people and culture – who, she feels, have a unique way of being that is fascinating as well as exasperating and provides us with many complex problems as well as solutions, old knowledge as well as new insights. She is currently one of the course leaders for Industrial Arts and Design Practices, co-ordinator for the School of Design, Business and Technology and works in the Frugal Design Lab. She is also a member of the Board of Studies at Srishti.

Bhaswati Acharya

President, Forum of Environmental Journalists in India (FEJI)

Ms. Bhaswati Acharya is an independent journalist and researcher, who has been writing exclusively on environment and development for many years and has various national and international publications to her credit. She also teaches development journalism and development issues to media students in Bangalore, where she is based and has conducted many media training workshops. Keya has travelled extensively in the course of her journalistic assignments, reporting from various countries, reporting on subjects as diverse as solid and hazardous wastes, human rights, corruption, forestry and wildlife, climate change, agri-biotech and others.