R. A. Venkitachalam

Advocate of J&A Bharat HSE Foundation

Advisor to the Centre for Safety & Entrepreunership Centre

• The Centre for Safety Engineering is the result of the strong commitment of IIT Gandhinagar to contribute to improving the ‘public safety’ scenario in India by emphasizing Safety Engineering and its inter-disciplinary nature. The Centre pursues research as well as capacity and capability building in the area of Safety Science in addition to engagement with the industry.

Previous:

• 2013 - May, 2017: During his tenure as the Vice President - Public Safety Mission of UL, Venki focused on advancing UL’s Safety Mission across India and the Developing World. During this period, Venki led pioneering work in key areas of Road and Fire Safety, looking at Research, Capacity & Capability Building, Policy Advocacy and Codes & Standards. School Safety Awareness Programs, the National Safety Science Quiz and the India Fire Safety Council were some of the key initiatives in this direction.
• 2003 - 2013: As the Vice President & Managing Director for Emerging Markets, Venki led the aggressive growth of UL in the region covering South East Asia, India, Middle East and Africa. Significant investments in technical infrastructure, talent and expansion of geographic footprint were key to achieving this growth. The relevance of the ‘public safety mission’ of UL to India, when linked with the need for ‘local for local’ services, led to the development of UL’s ‘In India for India’ strategy, the growth mantra that is very relevant even today.
• 1979-2003: Prior to joining UL, Venki held senior General Management / P&L responsibilities at CEO level with leading organizations, covering Consumer, Capital Goods and telecom sectors.