Ullas Narayana Pradhan

• Spearheading a strategic partnership between Indian Institute of Science and TCS, aligning initiatives for research and technology transfer.
• Initiated and formalized Umbrella MoU with IISc, enabling new research sponsorships and internship programs.
• Coordinated cross-functional teams to ensure seamless execution of projects and achievement of objectives.
• Facilitated communication, review meetings, and workshops to strengthen institutional relationships.
• Oversaw operations of well-funded programs and managed joint IISc-TCS Innovation Lab.
• Launched and managed multi-crore collaborations, resulting in 10+ joint patents and publications.
• Drove increased joint initiatives between industry and academia, enhancing knowledge exchange and funding opportunities.
• Recognized for best practices in partnership management and stakeholder engagement.

• Initiated Product Design as a Service (PDaaS) at Advanced Product Design and Prototyping (APDAP).
• Transformed program from academic focus into self-sustaining entity offering diverse solutions.
• Engaged in proposal preparation, IPR term framing, and commercial negotiations with clients.
• Established strong relationships with various institutions to leverage cross-functional expertise.
• Reversed losses to profits by re-engineering operations and exploring new revenue streams since 2004.
• Developed numerous Intellectual Property Rights assets for sponsoring organization and program.
• Led teams, including IISc faculty, on multiple projects as Technical Leads.
• Mapped IISc faculty expertise to program needs, onboarding specialists effectively.

Executed mechanical design and development of Access Control products, including keypads and biometrics.

Qualified products according to Ingress Protection standards and customer specifications.

Mentored team in developing new biometric product series from concept to preproduction within three months.

Initiated career in product development within electronics sector, focusing on consumer electronics and telecom products.

Established comprehensive product development schedules to expedite market introduction.

Created detailed design drawings and coordinated tooling support for pre-production components.

Directed production document releases, including work instructions and BOMs, while developing critical part prototypes.

Collaborated with cross-functional teams to set up shop-floor operations and optimize resource allocation.

Identified and developed vendor relationships for large components utilized in in-house product designs.