Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) announced it has received a $10 million gift from Ajit Prabhu ’98, founder and CEO of Quest Global, to establish the Ajit Prabhu Catalyst Endowment and the Ajit Prabhu Catalyst Fund in support of the Office of Strategic Alliances and Translation (OSAT). Prabhu launched the fund to assist RPI students and faculty entrepreneurs.
Prabhu is focused on the premise that culture is as impactful as business strategy, a belief that drove him to build Quest Global on the principles of aspiration, humility, and hunger. And Quest is one of the fastest-growing engineering services firms, providing innovative end-to-end solutions for customers in the aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, high-tech, medical device, rail, semiconductor, and communication industries. Launched as a two-person operation in 1997, it is now a global market leader employing more than 20,000 engineers in 77 engineering centers worldwide.
The Ajit Prabhu Catalyst Fund will be a philanthropic pre-venture fund designed to transform ideas into market-ready ventures. Many technologies invented at RPI require substantial up-front investment to achieve proof-of-concept or to manufacture working prototypes, as well as business advice to determine whether a new venture is feasible. These funds will provide early-stage support, prior to a company being formed, to accelerate these processes for RPI students and faculty. It will be administered by OSAT’s RPI Ventures, with expert guidance from Prabhu.
RPI’s Office of Strategic Alliances and Translation bridges the gap between research and development from lab to fab, bench to bedside, and model to market, drawing from RPI’s creativity and deep technical expertise to optimize return-on-investment for all parties while making a lasting societal impact. And OSAT was established to advance the priorities of the RPI Forward strategic plan, which calls for a renewed emphasis on translation through industry collaboration and entrepreneurship.
Along with his master’s in biomedical engineering from RPI, Prabhu earned an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Old Dominion University and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Karnataka University in India. He is also an IASSC Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. In the past few years, he has been recognized by various industry bodies and universities for his achievements, and he is an active member of RPI’s Livingston W. Houston Society of Patroons, having previously donated to establish the Ajit Prabhu ’98 Fellowship to provide support directly to master’s and doctoral degree students in biomedical engineering. He has served on the School of Engineering and Biomedical Engineering advisory councils and as a volunteer on the balloting committee of the Rensselaer Alumni Association Hall of Fame.
For over 200 years, RPI has been a force for transformation in the Capital Region, the nation, and the world. And Harvard economist Raj Chetty’s Opportunity Insights group ranks RPI third nationwide in terms of the percentage of our alumni who have become inventors, trailing only MIT and Carnegie Mellon. Prabhu’s gift will help sustain and accelerate that tradition of innovation.
KEY QUOTES:
“Ajit Prabhu is a visionary leader and a strong believer in the power of education for all. We are grateful for his support, which will be a major driver of student and faculty entrepreneurship, enabling the growth of high-tech startups that will benefit RPI, strengthen our regional economy, and address some of the greatest challenges facing the world today and in the future.”
Martin A. Schmidt ’81, president of RPI
“Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, shaped my career and expanded my world view, allowing me to dream of infinite possibilities. This gift from our family reflects our commitment to empowering students and faculty to pursue ambitious ideas and develop innovative solutions. My dream is that this gift will inspire students to tackle the toughest engineering problems and deliver unparalleled value to humanity.”
Ajit Prabhu
“The Ajit Prabhu Catalyst Fund represents a transformative opportunity for our students and faculty to bring their innovative ideas to life. This fund will provide the crucial early-stage support needed to turn groundbreaking research into viable products and businesses.”
Dr. Jonathan Dordick, Vice President of OSAT and Institute Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Biological Sciences
