Gurudatta Sardessai
Founder
The Renewable Joule

Hi! I am Guru. I come from the beautiful state of Goa, located on the west coast of India. I was born at Panaji into a middle class family. I spent most of my childhood in Panaji & Cuncolim. Panaji was where I stayed & did my shooling. We stay in a joint family. Cuncolim was where I used to spend summer & winter vacations. Summer holidays were always fun, with lots of mangoes, jackfruits and the games of "koynebal" & "goddyani". Having studied in Peoples High School, we were an inspired bunch of students who were always experimenting with science projects & wondering about endless space & trying to invent the perpetual motion machine.

After schooling I attended Higher Secondary at Dhempe College and then went on to join a professional course in Electronisc & Telecom. at the Goa Engineering College. Having graduated with Honors in Electronics & Telecom. engineering, I worked as a trainee engineer with a Company Manufacturing EPABX systems. I was looking after Electronic Cash registers which was another product manufactured by this EPABX Company.

Subsequently I took to teaching as a career. I joined Government Polytechnic as a Lecturer and later was selected as a Lecturer in Electronics & Telecom. at the Goa Engineering College. I had a clear aim to be in thet field for a few years and simultaneously try and start my own Company. Initially I designed and tested a UPS system and put up a project with the Economic Development Corporation of Goa. However the initial fund required were difficult to garner and had to give up the idea and continue with teaching. In between I secured admission to Masters Program at Florida Institute of Technology & without proper plannning, flew to the US for higher studies. However on reaching there I realised I would be a home sick person and decided to return back to India. Back in India I was ridiculed for giving up a chance to be in the most sought after detination. I thought otherwise and was content to be back at home. I came and re-joined teaching. I decided to prove myself in Goa was inspired by Gandhiji's writings that told of business as a social service which would create wealth for the community. Then in 1993 I decided to jump full steam into business. After resigning my job as Lecturer at Goa Engineering College, I took to assembling and supporting PCs. The business went on getting bigger and I decided to expand. In 1999 I converted my small Proprietorship firm into a registered Company and got a business partner. Till the year 2000 it was an excellent growth story.

Ourem (My Company's name) became a services brand in Goa. Every Client of ours was happy with our offerings in products and services. We were one of the most trusted Service Providers. My team was qualified and experienced in providing IT services ranging from PC & Server Maintenance, support for various OS including Windows, Linux, Unix & Netware. Under my direct guidance was a team involved with network design, implementation & maintenance. There was a in-house service centre with technicians trained in repairs of monitors, printers & Power systems. Our Clients included some of the leading manufacturing houses, Corporate Offices and Union Government Organisations. I consider it as my achievement that in the days when services were not yet branded I managed to create a well respected services Brand. Subsequently came the crash. I was hopeful of a recovery and those hopes made me invest more in new ventures including a tie-up with CISCO training partner & Hughes Direcway satellite based Internet. I invested in people and training on Fiber, Thin Client and other technologies. As a Company we also partnered with a Software development Company and successfully implemented their POS which became a model cost-effective solution. Sadly, the Company could not sustain the impact of the downturn which lasted more than 2 years. The business was no longer viable. Hughes closed its office in Mumbai, the POS Company too closed its software operations. The financial problems which started in 2001 culminated in my partner deciding to withdraw in 2003. Most of the financial burden came on me personally. In late 2003, I decided to wind up the IT business. The winding down of the IT business was started in late 2003 & was completed by end 2004. During this time of crisis, I came across some wonderful people with whose support I decided to re-mould Ourem into a Technology Company.

Having taken some time to reflect back on my strengths and sorting through all the offers of business I got from well wishers, I finally decided to concentrate on my core strength. With the help of a large business group I re-modelled the Company into a Design House. Thus was born the Electronics Design & Prototyping House. I have now finished my first commercial project in design. It is a Microcontroller based security System. We are now a small team of four engineers. Personally, I look after the overall operations, including mentoring, giving ideas, working on the broader aspects of projects, co-ordinating with customers, Suppliers & taking care of some administrative work. To assist me in my administrative and accounts work I have my accountant who ncidentally is the only staff whom I have retained from my earlier team. She is with me for the last 7 years. With immense knowledge we have gained in Microcontroller based design, Wireless systems, Schematic capture, PCB design and assembly, we plan to concentrate on the world market for Design & Prototyping services and are working on setting up a Manufacturing facility for low volume electronic systems. It will mainly serve as a Contract Manufacturing Service for systems which we design.

Our facilities include design tools including hardware emulators, debuggers, programmers & prototyping boards. We program the microcontrollers using assembly and C. The front end development is done in VB. For PCB fabrication we provide PCB CAD in Gerber format to our vendors. Our close relationship with scientists at the National Institute of Oceanography, professors from Padre Concessao College of Engineering and with D-Link India's factory at Goa helps us in immensely in our work.

Specialties, Professional, and Research Interests:
I am an Electronics Engineer first, a businessperson second. Before I formally became an engineer, I had a keen interest in Pure Science particularly Physics. To me the most fascinating area of physics is quantum mechanics. Since I was quite young I have had an interest in Electricity and have built my own phone transmitter with two carbon electrodes from old zinc chloride cells kept on each other when I was in primary school.

On the engineering side, my specialty is in the areas of analog design and microcontroller-interfacing design. I have designed professional audio equipment including digital PFL for mixers & high power audio amps for professional use. I have also made Battery chargers with special charging characteristics for unusual uses. On the processors front, I have designed projects around the PIC series of microcontrollers and on the 8085 Microrpocessor. At one time I had a deeep interest in VIAs embedded processors to make thin clients and thin servers using Linux Sources. After making the initial Thin Client with a browser, I handed over the design to a local Software Company. Software on windows is my weak area and I usually get this done from collegues and friends. I am presently developing some products for rural lighting in India plus solar based projects for health services, farming and lighting.

My People: I feel indebted to people who helped me through tough times and were always ready to provide me support. Among them Nitin Kuncolkar and N S N (Anilbab) Counto are the two people who have helped me get back on my feet again. Nitin was there for me when I needed moral support more than anything else. He helped me through the most tumultous stage of my my life. Mr. Counto helped me whole heartedly to solve my financial difficulties. He gave me a helping hand and pulled me up. He showed me, that I can not only stand back on my own feet but can run too. He and Mr Suresh Kabadi who put his trust in my ability, have been instrumental in giving me confidence to start the design Company. God has blessed me with a wonderful family who has always been with me. Like members of my family there have been these beautiful people who were always by my side: Lourenco Gomes, Paresh Pai Asnodkar, Vishnudas Silimkhan, Prashant Kirtani, Joseph Barretto, Melvin Noronha, Adolf Rodrigues, Orlando Fernandes, Nazima Shaikh, Nagarajan Nayak, Nita Dias, Suma Kulkarni, Sakharam Singbal, Prashant Kuncolkar and Fancis D'Souza.

You can e-mail me at: [email protected]