Shanta Thoutam, a gold medallist in B Tech in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, has an MS and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the New Mexico State University (NMSU), USA. After working in the corporate sector for over five years, she championed a technology commercialization accelerator in the USA that created 10 startups enabling them to raise $2+ million. After relocating to Hyderabad she served as Vice President of Corporate Innovation & Business Development at T-Hub, Officer on Special Duty for Textiles & Handicrafts, and is currently Chief Innovation Officer of the Government of Telangana.