Arun Surendran

Brainstormer, Business mentor, Educator/Teacher, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Life mentor, Philanthropist, Producer, Social entrepreneur, Writer/Editor

Dr. Arun Surendran is the Strategic Director and Principal of Trinity College of Engineering Trivandrum where he pioneered faculty entrepreneurship. He holds his Masters and PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University after his BTech from IIT Bombay. He was awarded the prestigious Eppright Outstanding International Student award, the highest honor given by Texas A&M University to any international student. Dr. Arun is the co founder of Wattsun Football Academy and Blitz Sports Tech. He is part of the board of devBlink.ai that works in the education space. He is a founder director of Adcy.io Cybersecurity Solutions and cybersecurity instructor for Upgrad.com. Dr. Arun serves as strategic advisor to Acsia Technologies. He is the Honorary Fellow for Robotics for the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) and a Senior Fellow of the Defence Research and Studies (DRaS) thinktank. He is a Core Group Member of the Kerala Knowledge Economy Mission. Dr. Arun is a past chair of the Young Indians Trivandrum chapter and serves regularly as instructor on online education and AI at the Madan Mohan Malviya Teachers Training Center, Kerala University. Dr. Arun is also the director of Agasthyam International Kalaripayattu and Principal Investigator for the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) Center for Kalaripayattu & Siddhar Tradition awarded to Trinity College by the Ministry of Education, Govt of India. Dr. Arun has authored two books The Startup Habit and The 7Cs of Entrepreneurship. Dr. Arun has also been instrumental in developing the Diploma Program on Entrepreneurship specially prepared for the Industries Dept by the Digital University of Kerala. He serves on the advisory boards of Innovation by Youth with Disabilities (IYwD) program at National Institute of Speech & Hearing (NISH) and the Chinmaya Mission schools. Dr. Arun serves as an expert mentor to Civil Service Academies and educational institutions. His first collection of poems has been published under the title Stirrups. Dr. Arun has also produced the state award winning documentary, Fragments of Illusion (2020) on the Chavittunatakam dance form. He served as script consultant to the film Ennennum (2023) and is a lyricist featured on Spotify.

Education and Wellness. Humans are learning machines and being on a learning curve is the most mindful way of living. While certain routines are necessary in ensuring disciplined progress, we live in an era where we can explore a wide variety of things to engage with. When drudgery and stressful work can be removed, wellness can begin.

With advances in technology and artificial intelligence, it has now possible to imagine truly customised education for all in the world. As Todd Rose suggested in his book, we should bring about an "End of the Average." Each child should be supported to develop to his or her full potential. The silos of subjects demarcated as arts, science, technology, humanities etc make no sense since a completely fulfilling life needs all facets. The burden on teachers can be reduced where they become facilitators like great gardeners tending to a beautiful varied garden instead of taskmasters trying to get kids to pass exams.

Coaching, Education, Entrepreneurship

I got hooked to TED way back in 2004 when I was pursuing my PhD at Texas A&M University. I remember particularly Dan Gilbert's talk on Stumbling on Happiness. I had read his book before stumbling on his talk. The talk was a great efficient way to recommend to my friends what I had gained from the book. Many years later that many wealthy individuals use the technique of spending an hour with the author or scholar or scientist or artist instead of reading the book. I think this is the short cut that TED brings to millions around the world who are not so wealthy. It is perfectly packaged in terms of timing and delivery. TED exposes us to so many different fields through the most passionate experts so that along with the knowledge the passion is also infused. Through TED every individual has the opportunity to be the polymath and renaissance person that a chosen few had become centuries ago. So I remain grateful forever for this platform for being such a beacon of hope and enlightenment.

writing poems and lyrics. Physical education/Sports management. IT management.