Cookies with CoderBunnyz - Talking to a Versatile Inventor and CTO Raju Chithambaram

Welcome to yet another episode of “Cookies with Coder Bunnyz”. Today we have with us someone who leaves me spellbound with his talents. He is a CTO of UST global and previously a chief architect with Intuit. An inventor- who has 30 patents, a music lover who has his own band called Andaaz, a passionate tennis player, and a person who is just so versatile! He's none other than Raju Chithambaram - A very interesting conversation with him. And so much to learn.

Here's a partial transcript of the interview, click on the video to watch the full interview.

After a warm welcome, we started with our interview.

 1. So, Raju, you have 30 patents? Thirty! That's an incredible number!! Could you share the secret with us kids to become more creative and innovative?

"I'll do that but first of Samaira, it's the first time ever I have been interviewed by a 9-year-old CEO. So let me congratulate you on what you have done." [Samaira: Oh so heart touching and humble!]

Raju has such a nice explanation of this question. Thomas Edison failed the first 10,000 times he tried to invent the light bulb, but what he said was - I now know 10,000 ways that it's not going to work, so I am a lot closer to getting it to work. So behind my 30 patents, there are 300 failures, which actually led to innovation. Failure is key to success. If you dare to fail, you dare to innovate.

2. Can you walk me through one of the creations?

Frustration is always a key to innovation. If you are frustrated enough and the same problem applies to a lot of people, then there is an invention about to happen. Raju took real props and explained one of his inventions. You need to watch the video to get the real feel of the process. So easy to understand!

3. You are such a big multi-tasker, music, tennis, inventions, work and so many other things! How do you manage it all?

Let me turn that around and ask you.You are a 9-year-old you have school and you need your play time and you are CEO of CoderBunnyz. You will be on stage with Geoffrey Moore (Famous Economist and author of Crossing the Chasm) and Maria Klawe (Board Member Microsoft, President Harvey Mudd College), you tell me how you do all of this and manage to have fun as a 9-year-old. [Samaira] Question to the interviewer herself. Well, watch the video for my answer :)

Raju's answer "Time expands to accommodate your passions and priorities." So powerful! And if you have been saying, I am so busy, that I don't have time for things - Time will expand. Remember this, my friends!

 4. I heard you are a visiting scholar at one of the most prestigious university at MIT. Could you tell a bit more about that?

Where do I begin? At MIT I work for Prof. Dr. Sandy Pentland. He is rated by Forbes as one of the 7 greatest data scientists on earth. So even if I stay there and breathe the same air, I get a lot of learning. They apply AI and Machine learning to problems related to human connections and dynamics.

 5. What makes you happy?

 Well .. click here to see the answer :)

6. Any piece of advice you want to give to kids of me and my generation?

The doctor 2-3 years from now could actually be a robot backed by data-science, so do whatever you want, but be aware that things are changing. And always keep some "white-space", the time when the ideas and creative energy come from.

 7. Cookies chocolate or cake - Which one is your favorite?

Hmm.. I will probably go with cake.

Time for a mashup!(Song mix)

Raju is such an amazing singer and we did a Mashup between Bollywood and Hollywood Song for some amazing fun! You don't want to miss this.

Thank you, Raju, for so much of wisdom for all kids and adults. Now we all know what it takes to be a fearless inventor and a problem solver. We wish you and all your ventures a lot of success.

This is a partial transcript of the interview, click on the video to watch the full interview.

"Cookies with CoderBunnyz", is an interview series and talk show byCoderBunnyz. Kids need to learn a lot on their journey to become an amazing adult, from those who have been there. In this series, I ask simple questions to Entrepreneurs, Educators, Leaders, Librarians, Technologists, and Individuals, who are making an impact. Kids could learn a lot from their experience. Not only I learn a lot myself, I try to work as a conduit for conveying that message for kids through these series of interviews. If you would like to nominate someone that could help shape kids of the future, I will be glad to talk to them. Please send a mail to [email protected]

(c) CoderBunnyz 2017, All Rights Reserved. https://www.coderbunnyz.com

Thank you, our dear Karthi for your support in this episode!