Mirza Faizan

Mirza Faizan
Born	Patna, Bihar, India
Alma mater	Manipal Institute of Technology Indian Institute of Science
Occupation	Aerospace scientist, aviation safety expert, innovator and technology entrepreneur

Mirza Faizan is an Indian aerospace scientist, innovator and technology entrepreneur. He is the innovator of Ground Reality Information Processing System (GRIPS),^[1][2][3] a low-cost high accurate system to predict and prevent runway incursion and runway excursion and co-founder of Avembsys, an India based R&D organisation with a strong focus on Avionics and Embedded Systems.

Before starting Avembsys, Faizan has worked extensively on design and development of defence, aerospace and mission critical embedded systems. He has worked for Defense Research & Development Organization, Satyam Computers, Honeywell, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies wherein he worked on design and development of critical avionics systems which includes Flight Management System (FMS Navigation & Guidance), Cockpit Display System (Primary Flight Display & Multi Function Display), Traffic Alert & Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, Centralized Monitoring System (CMS) and Overheat Detection System to name a few. Today, many next generation fly-by-wire aircraft, such as the Airbus A380, Airbus A350 XWB and Boeing 787 Dreamliner, are flying on systems designed and developed by Faizan and his team. He is an expert of aerospace systems development standard prevailing in US & European countries. He has also led growth and business development strategies for new customer acquisition in US and Canada territories.

Faizan and his start-up Avembsys has been nominated, shortlisted and recipient of various prestigious national and international awards^[4] like 'Leaders of Tomorrow Award-2011'^[5] by IndiaMart, The Economic Times and Ernst & Young (top 5 in India in Electronics and Electrical category among 50,000 nominees, Evaluated by a Jury panel which includes Innovation Adviser to the Prime Minister of India),^[6] 'Airline Industry Innovation Award – 2013'^[7] and 'IHS Janes ATC Award- 2014' (his innovation GRIPS was shortlisted among top 4 technologies developed worldwide for runway safety) held at World ATM Congress in Madrid, Spain and one of the most prestigious award in aerospace innovation globally.^[8][9]

His innovation GRIPS (Ground Reality Information Processing System) was assessed by a panel of experienced judges from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Eurocontrol, Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and received international accolades. GRIPS was featured in some of the most prestigious aerospace journals like 'Airports International' and 'IHS Jane's Airport Review' published from London.^[10][11] He is fondly called as 'Pride of India' by media and in government circles.^[12]

Early life and education

Mirza Faizan was born and brought up in Patna, the capital city of the state of Bihar in India. He studied in St. Karen's High School till class 10 and went on to join St. Xavier's College, Ranchi. He further completed his graduate course from Patna University, MS in Computer Science from Manipal Institute of Technology and Certificate in Embedded System Design from the prestigious Indian Institute of Science. In 2013, he was listed as Distinguished Alumni^[13] and in 2014 as a Featured Alumni^[14] in his alma mater Manipal University.

Career

Faizan started his career in 2004 as an intern at Electronics and Radar Development Establishment where he worked on developing radar systems. Later he joined Satyam Computer Services and worked there till 2009. His role in leading his team during Satyam scandal was appreciated by global corporate leader. A book titled 'The Resurgence of Satyam' written by a Singapore based corporate analyst and writer has one full chapter dedicated on how Faizan kept his team intact in spite of tough corporate scenario.^[15][16]

In June 2009, he along with his elder brother Mirza Rizwan, founded Avembsys Technologies to design and develop his innovative system Ground Reality Information Processing System or GRIPS. GRIPS was developed from paper to an aviation safety system within a record time of 18 months wherein Faizan led the R&D, project management, costing, planning, manufacturing, negotiations with various Indian and international partners as a CEO and Head of R&D for his start-up company. GRIPS was evaluated by NASA scientists and aerospace experts across the globe and received international accolades. Within a short time, Avembsys and Faizan were nominated, shortlisted and recipient of many prestigious national and international awards for innovation and entrepreneurship.

He also worked for various multi-billion dollar MNCs in USA and Europe where he worked on program management, devising and executing sales, growth and partnership strategies across engineering services domains in North America and Canada geography. He is known among his peers for his technical and research expertise and also for his strong program management, planning, business and corporate strategy acumen.

Interests and other accomplishments

Faizan is passionate about interacting with students and youths to nurture scientific temper among them. In 2010, he established India's first campus research center in avionics, embedded systems and aerospace engineering at the HKBK College of Engineering, Bangalore.^[17][18] .^[19][20][21] Faizan has delivered several talks on innovation & entrepreneurship, the latest one for the Mindtree Global employees through TRIZ India, an innovation platform.^[22] Faizan is also recently awarded 'Senior Membership' of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in recognition of his professional standing and successful aerospace engineering practice.^[23]

He is nominated and worked as a judge in aerospace category for 'Spirit of Innovation Challenge Award', a global innovation contest conducted by NASA, Conrad Foundation, US President's Challenge Program and Lockheed Martin where he evaluated innovative ideas from innovators of over 25 countries. In this award, his co-judges are world renowned aerospace scientists like Chris Cohan (NASA), Joe Rothenberg (Fmr Director, Goddard Space Flight Center – NASA), Larry Young ( Flight Vehicle Research and Technology Division, AMES Research Center – NASA), Richard Kidd (Jet Propulsion Laboratory – NASA), John Karcz (AMES Research Center – NASA)

He is also nominated and worked as a Judge of the prestigious 'R&D 100 Award' to evaluate various Research & Development works of scientists & researchers from some of the world's most prestigious research labs and R&D organisations like NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory-USA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory-USA, Battelle Memorial Institute-USA, Luna Innovations-USA, Industrial Technology Research Institute-Taiwan, The MITRE Corporation-USA, National Energy Technology Laboratory-USA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory-USA, National Renewable Energy Laboratory-USA, Sandia National Lab-USA, United Technologies Research Center-USA, Argonne National lab National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center-USA, Idaho Lab-USA and Pacific Northwest National Lab-USA.

Some of these R&D activities which Faizan evaluated are exclusively funded by United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency, US Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Department, United States Department of Energy, United States Department of Defense – Joint Cyber Center and Federal Aviation Administration. R&D 100 award is one of the most prestigious innovation award globally and is also known as 'Oscars of Invention'. ^[24]

Apart from technology, his advice and comments are regularly sought on national and international aviation safety matters by national mainstream print and electronics media.^{[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]}

References