People

Expert Network

CTIER’s network is composed of technologists who have extensive experience leading R&D teams at global MNCs and large Indian firms and academic luminaries who have shaped the minds of several generations of industry leaders.
Abrar-Ali-Saiyed
Abrar Ali Saiyed

Associate Professor,
Adam Smith School of Business, the University of Glasgow

View Bio

Abrar Ali Saiyed

Associate Professor, Adam Smith School of Business, the University of Glasgow
Abrar Ali Saiyed is an Associate Professor of International Business and Entrepreneurship at the Adam Smith School of Business, the University of Glasgow. He accomplished Fellowship in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. His specialization is in strategy, entrepreneurship, and international business. He has teaching experience of 10 years in reputed Government and Private business schools and education institutes in India and abroad. He has taught at IIM Calcutta; IIM Khozikode, IIM Indore, IIM Kashipur, IIM Shillong, IIM Jammu, Center for Environment and Planning Technology, Nirma Institute of Management, Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Pandit DinDayal Petroleum University, B.K.School of Business Management, Ahmedabad Management Association, and many reputed other institutions. He taught courses on Strategy, International Business & Entrepreneurship.
He published papers in the International Business Review; Journal of Business Research, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Management, and other peer-reviewed journals. His papers have been selected for the Academy of Management, European Academy of Management, Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, Eastern Academy of Management, Academy of International Business, European International Business Academy, and Indian Academy of Management. He got the best paper award in IIMA Doctoral Colloquium in 2013.
He served as a consultant to the Industrial Commissioner and Industrial Extension Bureau (Gujarat Government), ASL Logistics, Qua Nutrition, and I-Tiffin. His research interests are in the Internationalization process in New Ventures, Entrepreneurial firms, SMEs, and Family Businesses in emerging markets. He has been working as a consultant to the center for heritage management, the Cooperative Federation (of handicrafts) of Self Employed Women Association (SEWA is the biggest self-employed women's NGO in India), and many other organizations in heritage, art, and culture.
He also teaches courses using old city markets and community-based businesses to many international students. He was also a resource person teaching strategy in Management Development Program in Crafting Luxury and Lifestyle Businesses in IIMA. He has a keen interest in social work and promoting local heritage and culture. He is also the founder of the Association of Muslim Entrepreneurs to help Muslim small businesses and entrepreneurs to overcome their day-to-day challenges and problems.
Aradhna-Aggarwal
Aradhana Agrawal

Senior Advisor to the Trade, Technology, and Skill Team at
NCAER

View Bio

Dr. Aradhana Agrawal

Senior Advisor to the Trade, Technology, and Skill Team at NCAER
Dr. Aradhna Aggarwal is Senior Advisor to the Trade, Technology, and Skill Team at NCAER and a freelance international consultant specializing in SEZs, international trade, and investment-related issues. Her four decades of career in academia began at the University of Delhi. In 2014, she joined the Department of International Economics, Government, and Business at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark as Full Professor and resigned from her position in 2024 to work as a freelance international expert. Throughout her academic journey, she collaborated with numerous international organizations, including ADB, UNDP, UNCTAD, the World Bank, UNESCAP, ESCAP-SSWA, UNIDO, GIZ, and the National Board of Trade, Sweden. She has also been affiliated with prominent policy think tanks such as the Institute of Economic Growth, NCAER, ICRIER, the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, the Centre for Trade and Development, and the Policy Research Centre at the Wadhwani Foundation.
Dr. Aggarwal’s research spans a wide array of topics, including new structural economics, entrepreneurship, globalization, economic reforms, competition, international trade, FDI, special economic zones, technology transfer and innovation, export competitiveness, and WTO-related issues. She has received several accolades, including the Global Development Network (GDN) Best Research Award (2000) and fellowships from GDN-IMF and Cambridge University for ‘Cambridge Advanced Program on Rethinking Development Economics’ (CAPORDE).
She served as a Visiting Fellow at the Korean Institute of Economic Policy in 2009 and as a Visiting Professor at Kobe University in 2010. Dr. Aggarwal’s work has been widely published in per-reviewed international journals, as well as in national journals and edited book chapters. She has authored three significant monographs: The WTO Anti-dumping Agreement and Developing Countries and Social and Economic Impact of SEZs in India, both published by OUP Delhi, and Special Economic Zones in South Asia: Structural Change, Competitiveness and Growth by Routledge, London. Additionally, she served as the principal author of the Kerala Perspective Plan 2030.
Dr. Aggarwal’s research on special economic zones has garnered attention, leading to her involvement in SEZ projects across Central and Southeast Asia. Notably, she developed the strategic framework for industrial zones and SEZs in Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic and authored ADB reports on SEZs in the IMT-GT and BIMP-EAGA subregions. Currently She is working on SEZs in the Mekong subregion.
Aravind Chinchure

Innovation Leader

View Bio

Aravind Chinchure

Innovation Leader
Dr. Aravind Chinchure is a renowned academician, a corporate strategist and an innovation leader. He is an expert in the formulation of corporate and governmental policies that influence innovation and research. He holds a PhD in Physics, and has an experience spanning 25 years in R&D, innovation, intellectual property, startup venture investment, policy, social development and teaching.
Until recently, he served as the CEO of Deshpande Startups, one of the largest startup incubators in India. Aravind's professional journey also encompasses working with prominent multinational and Indian corporations, including GE Global Research Centre, Honeywell Technology Solutions, and Reliance Innovation Leadership Centre. He has authored 28 research articles published in international journals and has filed 4 patents. His most recent book, "The New Age Organisation," introduces a ground-breaking framework to help organizations navigate rapid disruptions and assume leadership in the fourth industrial revolution.
Dinar-Kale
Dinar Kale

Senior Lecturer in Innovation and International Development, Open University, UK

View Bio

Dr. Dinar Kale

Senior Lecturer in Innovation and International Development,
Open University, UK
Dr. Dinar Kale is a Senior Lecturer in Innovation and International development at the Open University, UK. He is co-Director of the Innogen Institute and visiting lecturer in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh.
His research interests include technology strategies of healthcare technology firms from developing countries, dynamics of innovation and issues of knowledge transfer. His current work focuses on challenges of inclusive healthcare in developing countries and concerns with resolving issues that hinder innovation and development of the healthcare industries from developing countries. He has published in leading and highly respected international journals such as Research Policy, World Development and British Journal of Management.
He is currently external assessor at the University of Sussex and academic expert reviewer for the Newton Fund. He is on the editorial board of International Journal of Intellectual Property Management and Efil Journal of Economic Research.
He holds an MSc in Organic Chemistry (University of Pune), an MBA in Marketing Management (University of Pune) and a PhD in innovation management from the Open University.
Megha-Patnaik
Megha Patnaik

Assistant Professor,
Department of Economics & Finance at LUISS Guido Carli University

View Bio

Megha Patnaik

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics & Finance at LUISS Guido Carli University
Megha Patnaik is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics & Finance at LUISS Guido Carli University and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Her research interests include management, innovation, and firm productivity.
She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University, an M.Sc. in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics, and a B.Sc. in Mathematics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. Her work has been published in the American Economic Review and Management Science. She is the recipient of the Kapnick Scholarship from SIEPR, the Kauffman Dissertation Award and the LUISS teaching excellence award.
She is cofounder of Leap insights and part of the Network of Women in Data Science & Social Science. Previously, she has held positions at the Indian Statistical Institute and the Esya Centre, and worked as a consultant for Intuit, Britannia, Ambit Capital and the Esya Centre.
Raja-Krishnamurthy
Raja Krishnamurthy

Technical Advisor, Mentor and Consultant to companies across India and abroad

View Bio

Raja Krishnamurthy

Technical Advisor, Mentor and Consultant to companies across India and abroad
Raja Krishnamurthy is a Technical Advisor, Mentor and Consultant to companies across India and abroad. He has almost 30 years of experience in product development and R&D across various industries and segments. His expertise is in Product development and commercialization, Research & Development, Project Management and in Senior Management roles as R&D head and CTO for two different Organizations. He is a Certified Independent Director by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs under the Aegis of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India.
Raja completed his B. Tech from NIT, Trichy and has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron and an MBA from Queens University in the US. He has successfully led large teams that developed and launched new product innovations from lab to commercial scale. His career spans work experience in Indian and Global multinational companies such as 3M, GE, tesa, Dow and Asian Paints.
Smita-Srinivas
Smita Srinivas

Professor,
AFEE Clarence E. Ayres Scholar

View Bio

Smita Srinivas

Professor, AFEE Clarence E. Ayres Scholar
Prof. Smita Srinivas is the 2021 AFEE Clarence E. Ayres Scholar (“[..] to an international scholar for outstanding work in the area of institutional economics.”) and 2015 EAEPE Joan Robinson Prize awardee (former Myrdal Prize, evolutionary economics/political economy) for her book Market Menagerie: Health and Development in Late Industrial States (Stanford University Press, Economics & Finance 2012). She holds a Ph.D. in Economic Development and Technology Planning from MIT, with prior training in economics, mathematics and physics.
Smita Srinivas has extensive experience in economic development, including industrial strategy, firm-level priorities, technological innovation, and industrial policy. She is a frequently invited advisor, keynote speaker, author and grants awardee. CEOs, Directors, research organisations, universities, and government agencies seek her out for advice and leadership.
She has held academic full-time as well as Honorary and Visiting appointments as faculty member, Professorial Fellow or other Fellow appointments with leadership roles in higher education in the world's leading universities These include among others University College London (STEaPP), the OU, the LSE, Columbia University, Harvard University, IISc, NCBS-TIFR, and think-tanks such as CTIER. She has served as Co-Chair, Scientist, and Expert Committee member on technical and policy advisory committees. She has advised the private sector, government, development agencies, NGOs, and civic initiatives. She has examined a large number of M.S. and Ph.D students (US, India, Europe) on economics and institutional analysis.
Her expertise is strategic problem-framing and theory, core concepts and goal-setting, high-level expert reviews including evaluation of methods, industry-specific technical plans, competitive investment domains, policy-responsive industry investment, fine-tuning policy instruments, and a focus on establishing ethical, high-impact policy process and partnerships. She has served in senior leadership positions in global higher education programs toward economics reform, planning or sustainability concerns. She founded the Technological Change Lab (TCLab,) originally at Columbia University, now a website of research and consulting, with a 3-way focus on Economic theory, Policy design, and Realistic development plans. She is widely published, serves on research councils and committees in healthcare, AI, sustainability, and innovation, and several global and local thinking groups.
Subash Sasidharan

Professor,
Indian Institute of Technology

View Bio

Dr. Subash Sasidharan

Professor, Indian Institute of Technology
Subash Sasidharan is a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has previously been a researcher with institutions like the Madras School of Economics, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum and United Nations University Institute-MERIT, Maastricht, The Netherlands. His research interests include Innovation, Technology change and studying the impact of Foreign Direct Investment and Multinational enterprises. He has also appeared in journals like World Development, Research Policy, Economic Systems, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Developing Economies etc.
He holds an MPhil in Planning and development and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Scroll to Top