The scholarly septet
Five of the seven Tata scholars will go to USA for further studies
Higher Education of Indians for 2015-16. Of the many Indian scholars who had applied the number of Zoroastrian applicants totalled 19, informs Dr Nawaz Mody, advisor to the trust, in a press release. Last year the count of community students to benefit from the Endowment were 12 (seven women and five men). This year saw more men than women: four males and three females. Four of the seven hail from Bombay while one each come from Nagpur, New Bombay and Surat. Five will pursue higher studies in the US (the most preferred destination), while one will study in Sweden and another, the United Kingdom. The vast field of engineering — electrical, mechanical and production, and strategic marketing were the chosen subjects for the men while two women opted for health and rehabilitation sciences and the third for computer science.
Hoping to hone his skills in the field of hardware and software systems, work on cutting edge projects and researching in the field of computer engineering is Aaresh Bachana. After studying at Activity High School and pursuing his bachelor’s degree in electronics from the K. J. Somaiya College in Bombay, Bachana is off to the University of Colorado Boulder in USA where he will complete his MS degree in electrical engineering. He believes that his degree "will enable him to nurture his future as a citizen of the world and be a proud and successful Indian.”
University of Pennsylvania, USA is where Cherag Bhagwagar is headed to pursue an MS degree in mechanical engineering. After completing studies from Panchgani’s New Era High School and the Maharashtra Institute of Technology, affiliated to the University of Poona, the Nagpur youth would like to return to India and start his own firm. The venture would provide affordable and easily available healthcare technology for developed and developing international markets. Engineering can change the world and Bhagwagar would like to be a part of this change, he opines.
Sanaya Bhathena who is headed to New York University to study computer science would like to use her knowledge to "bring innovation in every possible scenario and make things faster and faster for the benefit of humanity.” An alumnus of Surat’s Lourdes Convent School, she did her bachelor’s in electronics and communication from the Sarvajanik College of Engineering and Technology which is affiliated to the Gujarat Technical University.
The UK beckoned Peshaan Khajotia for his master’s degree in strategic marketing at the University of Bath. A student of Campion School and Jai Hind College, the Bombay youth dreams of returning to India to start his own company working "with differently abled people to create a life for those who have been marginalized by society.”
A graduate in physiotherapy Simone Raisi will attend the University of Pittsburgh in the States to get a masters in health and rehabilitation sciences. She graduated from Terna Physiotherapy College in New Bombay after completing her schooling from St Anne’s School. Raisi would like to "give back to the society a better and more advanced, clinically profound practice of physical therapy” on her return.
J. B. Vaccha High School alumna, Navaz Tata will also attend the University of Pittsburgh to study health and rehabilitation sciences. She did her bachelor’s from the DPO’s NETT College of Physiotherapy, Bombay. Her long-term goal is to assist in rehabilitating people.
Frashogar Umrigar will proceed to the Chalmers Institute of Technology in Sweden to obtain a masters’ degree in production engineering. He is recipient of the prestigious IPOET scholarship from Chalmers. Hailing from the satellite town of New Bombay, his early education was at Vashi’s Father Agnel School. In 2012 he did his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the Father Conceicao Rodrigues Institute of Technology after which he worked as an executive engineer with Siemens India Limited. Umrigar feels that the latest developments in the field of rapid prototyping and hybrid manufacturing will shape the future of the manufacturing industry in India, which he hopes to learn while pursuing his master’s degree.