The people
working at SPARK Institute bring with them a rich experience in the Computer
industry. They possess academic qualifications from highly renowned institutes
in India and the US, and
software development experience at top-rated companies in the computer
industry. They have entrepreneurial experience of creating enterprises and
running them efficiently. They all share a deep passion to make a positive
impact on the way children learn.
Founders:
Abhay B. Joshi
Shreekant B. Patwardhan
Sanjeev Deo
Tanuja A. Joshi
Teaching Staff:
Abhay B. Joshi
Tanuja A. Joshi
Sandesh R. Gaikwad
Mohan Tilak
Adwait Patil
Ravindra Pande
Bhagyashri Bhagwat
Tanuja Joshi
Tanuja
Joshi holds a B Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Bombay,
followed by an MS in Computer Engineering from Syracuse
University, USA,
followed by a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the top-ranked University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. Her impeccable academic qualifications are matched by a
9-year product development stint with Microsoft Corporation at their Redmond campus, where she
was involved in the development of their brand new products "Picture
It!" and "PhotoDraw". Upon returning to India in 2004 she has continued her association
with Microsoft by playing the role of Technical Consultant for Microsoft
Research in Bangalore, India. Tanuja's areas of expertise
are Imaging, Graphics, Animation, and Robotic Vision.
Sanjeev Deo
Sanjeev
holds a BE in Electronics and Telecommunications from the College of Engineering,
Pune. He has been an entrepreneur since 1981 and has been involved in software
development since then. He co-founded Sansui Software in 1995 which specializes
in software development for the Publishing Industry. Sansui's flagship product
'PublishNow!' is sold in international markets like Australia,
Singapore, UK and USA. Sanjeev is also active in the
social arena - he is a Trustee member of Manavya, which provides a home for
nursing, caring and sheltering orphaned and destitute children and women
afflicted by HIV/AIDS. Sanjeev is also a Trustee member of "Sukyo
Mahikari" - an organization that works towards bringing a better life to
all humanity.
Shreekant Patwardhan
Shreekant
can be aptly described by the dual titles of "Serial Entrepreneur"
and "Social Entrepreneur". After getting a degree in Electronics from
Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli, instead of going after well-paid jobs,
Shreekant went to New Delhi
and worked as a Social Worker for 4 years. Upon returning to Sangli, he
successfully ran business enterprises in medical instrumentation,
telecommunications, and finally energy technology. His latest foray has been in
the field of Bio-energy, wherein he, with a group of fellow scientists and
entrepreneurs, has been involved in creating new and cost-effective processes
to convert biological energy to electrical energy. Shreekant has a strong sense
of social responsibility, and he is one of the main drivers behind SPARK
Institute's mission of giving our school children the power of latest
technologies.
Abhay B. Joshi
Abhay has a total of 20 years' experience in the Software
Industry including about 9 years in product development: networking (TCP/IP
stacks), secure operating systems (Unix variants), windowing systems (X
Windows), and storage. In 1997 Abhay
co-founded Disha Technologies, a software service organization. Disha was
acquired by Aztecsoft Software in 2004, and Abhay
continued as Executive Vice President. His group was responsible for R&D,
Training, Process, Sales support, and Delivery Excellence activities related to
Software Quality. Since April 2008, Abhay
is a Director at Cognisha Consultancy, a company that provides training and
consultancy to help customers build solid test and quality engineering
capabilities. In addition, Abhay
designs courses and workshops on Computer Programming to demonstrate to the
non-techie population the "entertaining, intellectual, and
educational" aspects of programming. Abhay
has a BE in Instrumentation from College of Engineering, Pune, followed by an
MS in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University, USA.
Sandesh R. Gaikwad
Sandesh
has work experience of 15 years in the Software industry consisting of a
variety of roles such as, programmer, project lead, project manager, and
delivery manager. He has worked at various locations including a 6-year stint
in the Bay Area. A good part of Sandesh's career has involved training and
mentoring young people in the IT industry on technical topics as well as on
leadership, communication skills, and project management. Presently Sandesh is
an Independent Consultant specializing in providing training and consulting in
the areas of project management and ERP system implementation. Sandesh has a BE
in Instrumentation from College
of Engineering, Pune.