MEDIA ADVISORY: Reporters invited to cover a landmark meeting of members of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)

Reporters are invited to cover a landmark meeting of members of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) at UC Santa Cruz, taking place on Friday, April 22. The invitation-only retreat of charter members of TiE will include "Understanding Our World," an open window into several areas of research excellence at UCSC.

Details are as follows:

Time:

3 to 5 p.m. Lecture and discussion

5:30 to 7:15 p.m. Dinner with the Chancellor (invitees only)

7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Aashish Khan Concert

Place:

Baskin Engineering Auditorium, UC Santa Cruz - lecture

Music Center Recital Hall, UC Santa Cruz - concert

What:

An invitation-only retreat of charter members of TiE, the event will include "Understanding Our World," an open window into several areas of research excellence at UC Santa Cruz.

The first part of the presentation will focus on some ways that technology is integral to the advancement of academic inquiry and the discovery of knowledge, in fields ranging from astronomy/astrophysics to biology, chemistry, bioinformatics, and environmental studies.

A second part of the presentation will give an overview of UCSC's program in South Asian Studies, including expressions of the culture, music, film, and visual arts of India.

Connections between UC Santa Cruz and the Indo-American and Indian Silicon Valley community:

A rich history of engagement and collaboration among members of TiE and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs with the University of California, Santa Cruz, includes the following examples:

  • Arjun Malhotra, Chairman and CEO, Headstrong, who with his wife, Kiran Malhotra, a trustee of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, has provided an endowment to the Indian Classical Music Program at UC Santa Cruz.

  • Kumar Malavalli, CEO of InMage Systems, made a gift of $1 million to UC Santa Cruz to establish the Malavalli Endowed Chair in Storage Systems Research at the Baskin School of Engineering.

  • Anu Luther Maitra established the Annual Sidhartha Maitra Lecture in memory of her late husband. She also is a participant in the endowment of the Ali Akbar Khan Chair in Classical Indian Music.

  • The Narinder and Satinder Kapany Endowed Chair in Optoelectronics was endowed by its namesakes to support a burgeoning program in the Baskin School of Engineering.

  • The Ray Film and Study Collection (Ray FASC) is dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of Satyajit Ray's cinematic, literary, and artistic oeuvre. It is organized as a Focused Research Activity in the Humanities and Arts Divisions of the University of California, Santa Cruz.


Who: From TiE, an estimated 80 charter members and their guests are expected to attend. Among attendees are:

  • Dr. Anu Luther Maitra, CEO of Floreat, current Vice President of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, and the emcee for the event.

  • Dr. Kamil Hasan, Founder and General Partner, HiTek Venture Partners, a private venture capital firm in San Jose. A trustee of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, he and his wife, Talat Hasan, have participated in the endowment of the Ali Akbar Khan Chair in Classical Indian Music and the Satyajit Ray Film Archive. They also endowed the Kamil and Talat Hasan Chair in Indian Classical Music. Dr. Hasan will present information about South Asian Studies, along with Dean Edward Houghton.

  • Sridar Iyengar, current president of TiE Inc.

  • Suhas Patil, CEO, Digite, Inc.


From UC Santa Cruz, speakers will include:

  • Chancellor Denice D. Denton, a professor of electrical engineering

  • Dean Edward Houghton, Arts Division

  • Professor Puragra Guha Thakurta, Astronomy/Astrophysics

  • Professor David Deamer, Chemistry and Biochemistry

  • Professor Daniel Press, Environmental Studies

  • Professor Joshua Stuart. Biomolecular Engineering


About TiE: Founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley, California, USA, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) is a global not-for-profit network of entrepreneurs and professionals dedicated to the advancement of entrepreneurship. Although its birth name, The Indus Entrepreneurs, signifies the ethnic South Asian or Indus roots of the founders, TiE stands for Talent, Ideas and Enterprise. It is an open and inclusive organization that has rapidly grown to more than 40 chapters in nine countries. TiE endeavors to cultivate and nurture the ecosystems of entrepreneurship and free-market economies everywhere, as it sees this to be the single most powerful instrument of prosperity.

To arrange for admission to the lecture/discussion and the concert, please contact the UC Santa Cruz Public Affairs Office, (831) 459-2495, or the TiE Events Office (408) 567-0700, Ext. 228.