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Sister Cities' Inaugural Trip to Bangalore Nov - Dec

Participation
Joining the delegation requires a participation fee of $3,000. The participation fee enables the Initiative to establish and arrange the meetings, tours, events and programs occurring throughout the mission and to further the objectives of the Initiative mentioned above. As a not-for-profit, 501C(3) organization (pending), donations are tax deductible to the full extend of the law.
In addition to the participation fee, delegates are also required to select a travel plan or a land package. For additional details concerning the participation fee and travel packages, please contact Stephanie Pellegrine at (415) 352-8802.


Tours
A Classic Tour [http://www.aclassictour.com] our official travel agent, has prepared several supplemental side tours post mission. For additional information concerning our travel packages please contact Stephanie Pellegrine at stephaniepellegrine@yahoo.com.


Airline
Cathay Pacific


Hotel
Taj West End in Bangalore
Taj's North American properties include: Campton Place in San Francisco, The Pierre Hotel in New York (Manhattan), and Taj Boston

Taj_Campton



San Francisco-Bangalore Sister City Initiative
Inaugural Trade and Friendship Mission Delegation Members
 
Vinod Badani, PE
Vice President E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc. 1900 Powell Street, Ste. 250 Emeryville, CA 94608 Office: (510) 428-4721 Mobile: (510) 754-6560
 
Vinod M. Badani, P.E holds an M.S. in Civil Engineering and is a registered Civil engineer in California and Arizona with over 40 years of experience in the design and construction of water and wastewater projects. Mr. Badani?s experience includes planning, design and construction management of complex inter-agency projects for local public jurisdictions. He was the project manager for the design and construction of the city of Stockton RWCF ? Stages I and II. The Stage I and II facilities consist of two waffle-bottom anaerobic digesters, one gravity sludge thickener, two primary sedimentation basins, rehabilitation of existing primary sedimentation basins, one 22-foot deep plastic media trickling filter bio-tower and new bio-tower pump station, 2.46 megawatt cogeneration system, plant- wide SCADA system, sludge loading facility, headworks odor control facilities, rehabilitation of the raw sewage pump station, service buildings and other plant utility system modifications. Estimated construction cost for Stages I and II was $70 million. Construction of this Project was successfully completed in 2002.
 
During his career, Mr. Badani has managed the design and construction of recycled water systems and other major wastewater collection and pumping facilities, including the $20 million, award-winning Recycled water project for the Carmel Area wastewater and the Pebble Beach Community Services Districts (PBCSD). Mr. Badani was the Project Manager for the expansion of Forest Lake Reservoir Treatment Facility Project for the PBCSD. Construction Cost for the expansion project was $12 million and project was successfully constructed in 2005.
 
Mr. Badani was deputy project Manager for Dublin San Ramon Services District?s recycled water project. Major project components are: Tertiary influent pumping, Rapid Mix, Flocculation, Filtration, UV disinfection and Effluent pumping. The construction cost was estimated at $17 million. Construction of this was completed in 2006.
 
Currently Mr. Badani is Project / Construction Manager for Monterey County Water Resources Agency Salinas River Water Diversion Projects. MCWRA is currently implementing the Salinas Valley Water Project (SVWP) as a solution to meet long-term water quality and quantity needs of the Salinas Valley groundwater basin. The project consists of two elements: Nacimiento Dam Spillway Modifications Project; and Salinas River Diversion Facility. Total construction cost for these projects is $22 million. These Projects will be operational in April 2010.
Jack Baylis
US Group Executive, Strategic Development AECOM 555 South Flower Street Suite 3700 Los Angeles, CA 90071
 
Tel: (213) 593 8664 Email: jack.baylis@aecom.com
 
Mr. Baylis serves as the U.S. Group Executive for Strategic Development at AECOM Technology Corporation. He has achieved success as a principal, director, and manager of numerous environmental, civil infrastructure, water and transportation projects, and is experienced in technical management, project management, operations, and staff development.
 
In his position, Mr. Baylis focuses on the Western US, specifically leading all AECOM initiatives in California ? one of our largest markets ? developing an overall public sector strategy. Mr. Baylis also involved selectively in mega transportation and water projects throughout the US.
 
Prior to joining AECOM, Mr. Baylis held several progressive leadership positions with CH2M Hill, culminating in his appointment as Senior Vice President with responsibility for the U.S. Southwest Region with a focus on California and strategic account management for clients in Los Angeles and San Diego.
 
He also has held senior leadership positions with Brown and Caldwell as well as manufacturing firm Linabond.
Jack Bernard
President E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc. 151 Fabian Drive Aiken, SC 29803 Tel: (803) 642-7990 Email: jack.bernard@e2.com
 
Jack Bernard is the President of E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc.
 
He has a Master of Science, Electrical Engineering and is a licensed Professional Engineer. Jack has 26 years of experience with increasing responsibility in engineering and executive management of utilities and infrastructure systems at large U.S. Department of Energy nuclear facility complexes. Jack has led 150% growth of E2 business in the past year. Jack is married with two children and a leader in the Boy Scouts of America.
Vijay Bist
Chairman Amber India Corporations 377 Santana Row San Jose, CA 95128
 
Tel: (408) 248-5400 Email: vjbist@gmail.com
 
Mr. Bist is a well-known restaurateur and entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. His noteworthy success, branded as Amber, represents Indian cuisine at it finest level and on par with other global standouts. The Amber group of award winning restaurants in Northern California represents a class of distinctive and innovative culinary offerings. In addition to the overseeing of the restaurants, Mr. Bist devotes his
 
time to continually studying and developing innovative Indian cuisine, with the objective of articulation in North America and elsewhere.
 
Mr. Bist received his early culinary education in India. This was followed by advanced education in Switzerland, Germany and France, and a MBA degree in the US.
 
He is a Charter Member of TiE and is affiliated with culinary and hospitality professional groups. He is engaged in mentoring of aspiring entrepreneurs and devotes considerable time and resources to social, charitable and political causes.
Wim Elfrink
Executive Vice President Cisco Services & Chief Globalization Officer Cisco Systems, Inc. INSERT ADDRESS INSERT CONTACT
 
Telephone: 91 80 4426 3244 Mobile: (408) 464-5375 Email: welfrink@cisco.com
 
In his functions, Mr. Elfrink reports directly to Cisco CEO John Chambers. The Cisco globalization strategy represents a shift from a geographical focus to a business management focus on skill sets and talents. Cisco will continue to have a centralized strategy and decentralized implementation of this strategy, which is critical to remaining successful in a competitive, global marketplace. This approach touches nearly every facet of the company?s operations and creates a new way to deliver information, products, and services.
Chandra Friese
Residential Real Estate Broker-Associate Sotheby?s International Realty 117 Greenwich Street San Francisco, CA 94111
 
Tel: (415) 722-6914 Fax: (415) 901-1701 Email: chandra.friese@sothebyshomes.com
 
Chandra Friese has been a San Francisco resident for 36 years, having moved here from the Chicago suburbs. Her civic affiliations include the San Francisco Opera Guild, the Junior League of San Francisco, and the League of Women Voters of San Francisco. Her real estate career began in 1979. She and Bob Friese have 3 children in college and reside in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.
Tamar F. Hurwitz
Sr. Environmental Specialist - Environmental Education Manager SF Environment - Dept. of the Environment, City and County of San Francisco 11 Grove Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 Tel: (415) 355-3763 Email: tamar.hurwitz@sfgov.org
 
Tamar Hurwitz is an award-winning Environmental Educator who works for the City of San Francisco, and has also worked internationally in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme, as well as with schools in Kolkata, India. Ms. Hurwitz has been responsible for creating dynamic school programs and curriculum that teach students the importance of protecting the environment, and also consults with other municipalities that want to adopt San Francisco?s ground-breaking programs. Prior to working for the San Francisco Dept. of the Environment, Ms. Hurwitz was the Education Outreach Director and Southern California Director for Rainforest Action Network. During her tenure there, Ms. Hurwitz worked to gather celebrity support for rainforest causes, and also wrote and produced an award-winning educational film about the rainforests that is still being internationally distributed. In 2005, under Ms. Hurwitz?s leadership, the San Francisco Dept. of the Environment?s School Education Program won the prestigious Governor?s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award.
Rimmo Jolly
Managing Director Head of Asia Pacific Prime Finance Sales and Capital Introductions Citibank
 
Rimmo Jolly was recently appointed as the newly created head of Citi?s Asia-Pacific prime finance sales and capital introduction team. Jolly, previously ran Citi?s West Coast Prime Finance group out of San Francisco where he worked with the firm?s hedge fund clientele initiating transactions in both financing and trading. Before joining Citigroup in 2002, Rimmo worked in the Equity Structured Products group at Deutsche Bank. His area of expertise was working with hedge funds selling synthetic financing, derivatives and prime brokerage. Prior to working at Deutsche Bank, Rimmo was an analyst with Westinghouse?s Treasury Group. Rimmo graduated with honors from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Accounting. He earned his MBA from Carnegie Mellon, where he currently serves on the alumni advisory board. Rimmo was also co-chair for the San Francisco chapter of Hedge funds Care, a charity raising funds and awareness to address child abuse in the bay area.
 
Rimmo and his wife have four beautiful children and two black labs. They all recently relocated to Hong Kong from Tiburon, where apart from his family and good friends, he desperately misses his collection of wine.
Tommie Jolly
Prior to staying home to raise her four lovely children, Tommie spent 7 years as a media development professional with an international focus. Most recently, Tommie ran the online group for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), where she influenced brand development and online community building and fundraising initiatives. Prior to JDRF, Tommie began her career at CNN International where she helped create and pitch women focused media and later graduated to a larger responsibility set with CNNfn.com, contributing to their overall communications and marketing strategies. Tommie was later recruited by Scient Technologies to be part of development effort for thought leadership and team building within the firm. Most recently, Tommie is using her expertise to create a non-profit organization that focuses on raising money to build schools in rural India.
 
Tommie earned her BS Degree in Management, BA Degree in Spanish with emphases in Political Science and Communications from Arizona State University. While in college, she founded the first college chapter of a women?s political group focused on providing political internships to female college students. In addition, while living in New York City, Tommie had the opportunity to study art and design at Parsons School of Design, allowing her to participate in the rich diverse art culture of Manhattan.
 
Tommie and her family recently relocated to Hong Kong from Tiburon, California where she is hoping to learn to speak Mandarin. Her five year-old daughter just taught her to count to five.
Sanjaya Kumar, MD
President, CEO and CMO Quantros, Inc. 690 N. McCarthy Blvd, Suite 200 Milpitas, CA 95035 Tel: 408-957-3300 x 240
 
Sanjaya Kumar, MD, MSc, MPH, is President, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Quantros, Inc., a California-based software provider for the healthcare industry. Quantros? products and services focus on safety and risk management, quality and performance improvement, accreditation and compliance, real-time surveillance and centralized decision support.
 
A native of India, Dr. Kumar earned his medical degree at the University of Benin in Nigeria and received extensive postgraduate training in cardiology, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology at Central Middlesex Hospital and Newham General Hospital, both in London.. Dr. Kumar also holds a Master of Science in Health Planning and Finance conferred jointly by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics, and a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts.
 
Dr. Kumar spent his early years in Nigeria and the extreme poverty surrounding him eventually defined the course of his career. Overwhelmed by at times horrific yet preventable medical outcomes, and affected personally when a family member succumbed to polio, Dr. Kumar decided that a career as a physician would be the most effective way to fulfill his calling to improve the quality of healthcare. Quantros was born out of that passion.
 
Drawing on his extensive background in medicine and technology, Dr. Kumar directed his medical training, experience in direct patient care and biostatistical data management and analysis skills towards developing a solution that would improve the health and safety of the greatest number of people. In 1997 he founded Quantros and introduced the predecessor of Quantros ACETM, an automated compliance management tool, to the healthcare industry. Solutions for safety, risk management and surveillance soon followed. Today 1 in 5 US hospitals rely on Quantros applications to improve patient safety and quality of care.
 
Dr. Kumar serves on numerous quality improvement committees, task forces and working groups including the Association for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) Data Safety Committee and the National Patient Safety Foundation Safety Product Vendor Selection Criteria Committee. He is a frequent speaker at national health care conferences and meetings and has hosted a number of conferences as well. Dr. Kumar has been widely published in peer reviewed medical journals and is the author of Fatal Care: Survive in the US Health System, published in 2008.
Wendy Paskin-Jordan
Partner Paskin & Kahr Capital Management, LLC 712 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94111
 
Ms. Paskin-Jordan is a graduate of Stanford University, University of California Hastings School of Law, and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business. She began her career as Legal Counsel to Bechtel Corporation in 1981, and later was recruited by the Vice Chairman of Wells Fargo Bank where she began a successful career as a financial executive. In 1994, Ms. Paskin-Jordan was hired by the Chairman of Montgomery Securities to serve as Managing Director & Partner of Montgomery Asset Management. She was a key member of the Executive Committee, which grew assets from $2.5 billion to $10 billion in four years. In 1997, Ms. Paskin-Jordan wrote the business plans for an active sport venture at Montgomery Securities, which included the United States Postal Service (USPS) Pro Cycling Team, owned and operated by Montgomery Sports, Inc. (lead biker was Lance Armstrong). She became a consultant to the USPS Pro Cycling Team until 2001. Today Ms. Paskin-Jordan serves as Managing Director/Partner of Paskin & Kahr Capital Management, providing asset management and financial planning to high net worth individuals, foundations, and endowments.
 
Currently Ms. Paskin-Jordan serves as a Director for the holding company of AAA Northern California, and is a Member of the Board of Trustees of Barclays Global Investors Funds. She was also recognized as one of the top 100 businesswomen in Northern California by San Francisco Business Times in 2005.
 
Ms Paskin-Jordan was the first woman beach lifeguard in Los Angeles County in 1974, and was the first woman to work the ?Baywatch? rescue boats for LA County. She received a Los Angeles Supervisors Commendation for saving thirty lives in one summer. Ms. Paskin- Jordan was the most decorated U.S. athlete in the Maccabiah World Games 1973, and also received the ?Quaker Oats Co-Olympian of the Future Award? with Mark Spitz.
Dr . Vijay Mallya
Chairman The UB Group
 
Dr. Vijay Mallya is Chairman of The UB Group, one of India?s largest conglomerates with diverse interests in brewing, distilling, real estate, engineering, fertilizers, biotechnology, information technology and aviation.
 
Dr. Mallya, was elected by shareholders as Chairman of The UB Group in 1983, at the age of 28.
 
United Breweries Ltd (UBL), the flagship company of The UB Group, is the largest brewing company in India with a national market share of 50 per cent. Kingfisher beer is currently available in 52 countries outside India and leads the way amongst Indian beers in the international market.
 
United Spirits Limited, the flagship of The UB Group comprises a basket of 145 brands including 19 millionaire brands. United Spirits recently acquired a hundred percent of premium scotch distillers Whyte & Mackay.
Nicki Mehra
Headstrong President ? North America Operations 935 Benecia Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94085 Tel: (408) 530-5512 Mobile: (408) 317-1723 Email: Nicki.Mehra@headstrong.com
 
Mr. Mehra serves as the President and Managing Director of Headstrong. He is responsible for North America Operations including, East, West, South and Central regions.
 
Mr. Mehra was a co-founder of TechSpan Inc., which merged with Headstrong in October 2003. Prior to that, he was the Executive Vice President for a consulting company that he helped grow from $18 million to $52 million in annual revenues during his tenure of 20 months. Mr. Mehra has over 25 years of IT industry experience. He also spent 15 years with the HCL Group, where he helped start and grow HCL-Deluxe Inc., a joint venture with Deluxe Corporation focusing on the financial services market.
 
Mr. Mehra is a Harvard Business School AMP graduate and holds a business degree from University of Delhi.
Anil Mennon, PhD
Vice President, Globalisation & Smart Connected Communities Cisco Systems, Inc. Tel: 91 80 4426 4636 Mobile: +91 9663301660 Email: animenon@cisco.com
 
Dr. Anil Menon joined Cisco Systems as President, Globalization and Intelligent Urbanization in March 2009. In this role, Anil co-leads Cisco?s globalization efforts and global initiatives around Smart+Connected Communities (S+CC). S+CC is a key globalization priority for Cisco and is focused on working with cities and rural communities around the world to use the network as the platform for driving economic, social and environmental sustainability. In this role, Anil will lead a cross-Cisco team focused on services-led solutions in safety and security, real estate, energy, and transportation, and is responsible for driving new business models, solutions and a global ecosystem to go after this significant opportunity.
 
Prior to joining Cisco, Anil was a senior executive with IBM Corporation from 2002-2009 holding several key global roles with the most recent as Vice President, Corporate Strategy, IBM Growth Markets and immediately prior to that as Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Strategy for IBM Systems and Technology Group with responsibility for marketing and strategy across the $25 billion business unit. For the period 2005-2008, he was appointed by the CEO to IBM?s Strategy Team. The Strategy Team is made of key senior leaders appointed on a rotational basis by the CEO to assist him to set and drive IBM strategic priorities. Anil was a member of IBM?s Integration and Values Team (formerly called the Senior Leadership Team). In 2004, he represented IBM on the U.S. Council of Competitiveness?s National Innovation Initiative that outlined and defined ?Innovation for the 21st Century.?
 
Prior to joining IBM, Anil was a successful academic and business consultant. He was on the graduate faculty of Emory University (1995- 2002) and was department head of the marketing faculty at Emory University?s Roberto C. Goizueta Business School, Atlanta, USA. Along with his academic appointments, he has had extensive links with global businesses throughout his career. He was appointed by Sony Corporation as Sony Fellow in Business Strategy, 1994-1996. Starting with his doctoral dissertation in 1988, Anil had a long relationship with the Strategic Planning, an international business think tank that originated at the Harvard Business School, where he also served on its Executive Committee for the Strategy Council from 1994-1996. In his academic career, he has consulted with, and conducted executive workshops with, senior executives and governmental officials in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia, and global companies including the Coca-Cola Company, IBM, Lockheed-Martin, Corning Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibbs, Pfizer, Dow Chemical, Scientific-Atlanta, Siemens, and Sony Corporation.
 
In 1999, Anil was awarded the American Marketing Association?s prestigious Paul Root/MSI Award (formerly the Alpha Kappa Psi Award) for academic research that had the greatest impact in the practice of Marketing. And, in 2007, the Academy of Marketing Science awarded Anil the 2007 Distinguished Marketing Practitioner Award for innovations in marketing practice.
 
Anil is a member of the Board of Directors for The Center for Customer Insights at Yale University?s School of Management, a trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, Cambridge, MA, and on the Advisory Board of Johns Hopkins University?s Carey Business School.
Prabu Palani
Managing Director Active Equity Strategies Mellon Capital Management Corporation 50 Fremont Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel: (415) 975-3137 Email: prabhup@mcm.com
 
Prabhu Palani is Managing Director of Active Equity Strategies at Mellon Capital Management. Previously he was Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Franklin Templeton Investments. Prabhu has also held portfolio management positions at Barclays Global Investors and NatWest Bank. Prabhu has graduate degrees from Stanford University and the University of Delaware and a bachelor?s degree from the University of Madras. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the CFA Institute.
R. Sean Randolph
President & CEO Bay Area Council Economic Institute 201 California Street, Ste. 1450 San Francisco, CA Tel: (415) 981-7117 Fax: (415) 981-6408 Email: sean@bayareacouncil.org
 
Sean Randolph is President & CEO of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, a public-private partnership of business, labor, government and higher education that works to foster a competitive economy in California and the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland and the Silicon Valley. Prior to the Institute, he served as director of international trade for the State of California, where he directed trade development and international business programs, and as International Director General of the Pacific Basin Economic Council, a 15-nation international organization of leading U.S., Asian and Latin American corporations. His professional career also includes extensive experience in the U.S. Government, including U.S. Congress staff, and the White House staff. From 1981-85 he served in the U.S. State Department on the Policy Planning Staff, as Special Adviser for Policy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and as Deputy/Ambassador-at Large for Pacific Basin affairs. From 1985?88 he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs. Dr. Randolph holds a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center, a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts and Harvard Universities), a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown?s School of Foreign Service, and studied at the London School of Economics. A member of numerous boards and commissions, he writes and speaks frequently on economic development, economic policy and global business issues.
Hersh Saluja
CEO E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc. 1900 Powell Street, Ste. 250 Emeryville, CA 94608 Tel: (510) 428-4723 Fax: (510) 652-5604 Email: Hersh.saluja@e2.com
 
Hersh Saluja is the CEO of E2 Consulting Engineers, a company specializing in water and wastewater engineering that he founded 22 years ago. Since then the company has evolved into a full-service engineering firm, with particular expertise in the transit/transportation engineering, facility operations/maintenance, and environmental engineering. He has a Master?s in Science in Civil Engineering and a Master?s in Water Resources Engineering.
Wes Wasson
Sr. Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer Citrix Systems, Inc. 4988 Great America Parkway Santa Clara, CA 95054
 
Email: wes.wasson@citrix.com
 
Wes Wasson is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Citrix Systems, an industry leader in virtualization, networking and cloud computing. Everyday, Citrix technology simplifies computing for more than 230,000 enterprise customers, 100 million corporate employees, and 75 percent of all Internet users worldwide. At Citrix, Wasson oversees global marketing and product strategy from the company?s Silicon Valley headquarters. Citrix also has a substantial investment in India where it has operated a development center of excellence for nearly 10 years. The Citrix Bangalore R&D center now serves as a showcase site for the company, and is the only development center at Citrix designing, developing and testing every product in a single location. Wasson is a former Sun Microsystems and Network Associates executive with an extensive track record of success covering nearly 20 years in enterprise computing. He earned a bachelor?s degree in business administration from Biola University where he received the President?s Award as top overall graduate. Wasson also holds a master?s degree from the University of Phoenix, where he graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors.
Jay Xu
Director Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture 200 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Tel: (415) 581-3750 Email: jxu@asianart.org
 
Dr. Jay Xu is Director of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. A dedicated scholar of Chinese antiquities and a curator committed to sharing his extensive knowledge of Asian art with a wide audience, Dr. Xu enjoys a rich variety of international museum experience. Prior to his appointment at AAMSF in June 2008, he had been Chairman of the Department of Asian and Ancient Art (2006-2008) and Head of the Department of Asian Art (2003-2006) at The Art Institute of Chicago, Curator of Chinese Art at the Seattle Art Museum (1996-2003), and Research Fellow at the Department of Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1995-1996). He began his curatorial career at the Shanghai Museum (curatorial assistant and assistant curator, 1983-1990), and received his graduate training in early Chinese art and archaeology at Princeton University (MA and PhD).
 
Dr. Xu has curated a wide range of exhibitions and made significant acquisitions as a curator. He is a well-published scholar, particularly on ancient Chinese bronzes and archaeology. His numerous other writings or translations cover diverse areas, including ancient Chinese jades, Chinese ceramics, Chinese calligraphy, contemporary art, and museum practice. He is the recipient of a number of awards in his field, including the prestigious Shimada Prize for Outstanding Publication in East Asian Art in 1997, and a George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award of the Art Libraries Society of North America in 2001.

Q & A with Nicki Mehra, CEO of Headstrong
At an auction held at the Bay Area's India Community Center in October this year, Headstrong, an I.T consulting firm, won a spot on the San Francisco Bangalore Sister Cities' inaugural trade and cultural mission to Bangalore. The firm, which has offices in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, will be represented by its managing director, Nicki Mehra, who says he is excited to be traveling with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom?s delegation later this month.


Q: Your company won a trip to Bangalore with the Sister Cities inaugural trade and cultural mission earlier this year. Why did you think this was worth bidding on?

Mr. Mehra: I think overall, when we were bidding on it, we thought it is a great initiative. We founded the company right here in the valley and we've got a large center in Bangalore.


Q: Do you see benefits for both sides through this initiative?

Mr. Mehra: This is a win-win for both sides. Bangalore wins in terms of being associated with San Francisco, the spirit we've led with in the valley. And for them, learning from waste management, a lot of things in the Bay Area that we've done with clean tech and building infrastructure in California - it benefits them.

For San Francisco, the way the global economy is moving, Bangalore is the center of gravity within India, while Silicon valley has been the tech capital of the world. It serves both sides - innovative ideas coming out of Bangalore are associated with San Francisco, and we get associated with new ideas coming out of Bangalore, that gives San Francisco a boost. In ten years, buying patterns will change. Whatever is being produced - half the market, the buying power of the world will be in India and China.


Q: Are you happy with the agenda of the trip?

Mr. Mehra: It's a packed agenda, in terms of meeting great companies out there. I do go to India - but when you go for work, you're never getting exposed to what all is really happening. India has changed. When I go, I only know what my offices are doing. With this trip, we will visit many campuses. We will find out what's going on in Bangalore and in India.