1994/B.Tech/MT Managing Director, Natesan Synchrones Pvt. Ltd. INDIA
Shuba Kumar graduated with a B. Tech in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Madras, MS in Materials Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and MBA from Stanford University.
After graduating from MIT, she passed up lucrative opportunities in USA to be an entrepreneur in India. She joined Natesan Synchrocones P. Ltd, Chennai, in its early days and grew the business significantly in three years. She went on to pursue her MBA at Stanford, to acquire the skills and experience to build a global company out of India.
Applied Materials, USA hired her to head key functions of their large business units, straight out of Business School, making her one of the youngest in such a role. She created $1B in new markets, improved product Quality & Reliability and achieved many customer awards, for the Company.
After nearly a decade in the US, her calling to make a positive impact on the lives of people at the bottom of the pyramid, brought her back to India and to Natesan Synchrocones. At that time, the company was a build-to-print, single product manufacturing company, with only a domestic automotive customer base. Under her leadership, Natesan has grown to be a market leader, with a vibrant product portfolio and is amongst the Top 5 in the world in steel synchronizer rings, with a Global customer base.
Shuba established a thriving Japanese joint venture company, Kyowa Natesan Synchro Technologies P. Ltd. She also ventured into Aerospace to produce critical components. Due to Shuba’s strategic leadership, Natesan has grown significantly and caters to Automotive, Aerospace, Defence and Future Mobility solutions besides being a Green Power supplier. Natesan has received the Government of India’s prestigious Technology Development award, ACMA Best Product Innovation award, numerous Global Excellence and Best supplier awards across the entire supply base of their customers.
Shuba is committed to education for the underprivileged and bringing quality education to rural students. She and her family are patrons of a Tamil medium Government school. Natesan has adopted a Government school in Uttarakhand, established education centres in six villages, provide internships at IITM’s Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing for brilliant rural students.
Shuba is a respected leader in the auto industry: Board member, YPO International Automotive Network; Chairperson, Auto component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) Southern Region, and National Steering Committee member of ACMA.
She is an Advisory Committee member of ‘Deakin-IIT Madras–IIT Hyderabad’ Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials. She is Advisory Committee member, on Exports, to Government of Tamil Nadu. She served as President of IIT Madras Alumni Association for two terms.
For her academic excellence, Shuba is recipient of IIT Madras’s Dr Dhandapani Prize, Indian Institute of Metals’ National award – Vidya Bharathi Prize. Shuba is recognized amongst Top 50 Women in STEM, by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
In recognition of her entrepreneurial excellence, IIT Madras, and its alumni are proud to confer the Distinguished Alumni Award for the year 2022 on Ms. Shuba Kumar.
