Rajiv Ramchandra
M.Eng, MBA, SEP, AWS Specialist
Rajiv is a Special Advisor who joined the WaterSMART team in 2022, bringing his broad industry experience, which includes over 10 years of international and multistakeholder experience. He focuses on developing and executing sustainability strategies and solutions, and has worked extensively to improve the environmental sustainability footprint of various manufacturing industries, including pulp and paper, metal fabrication and finishing, food, and chemical.
His recent projects include developing the GHG Emissions Inventory with a U.S.-based multinational corporation operating in India, and working with the Delegation of the European Union in India on multi-stakeholder engagement to identify collaboration opportunities between E.U. and Indian companies to accelerate the transformation of the automotive sector in India towards greater circularity, sustainability, and zero emissions.
Rajiv is the founder of Recreate India Research Foundation (Re:CREATe), India’s first and only research and advocacy think tank that aims to catalyze and advance the remanufacturing industry in the nation. In December 2020, Re:CREATe received the ‘Remanufacturer of the Year’ (RotY) Award, in the ‘Best Reman Ambassador’ category from Rematec. These global awards are given to a person or business that has served remanufacturing with particular distinction, and are considered a major accolade within the industry. Previously, he served as the Business Manager and in engineering roles for nearly seven years at the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I), housed at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS).
Rajiv is an accomplished writer and speaker and is passionate about solving our collective sustainability, climate, and industry challenges. Over the years, he has guest lectured at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, Wells College, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), National CSR Hub, and the Center for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). He has also spoken at numerous conferences in the U.S. and in India.
Rajiv holds a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering (2006) from the University of Sussex in England, as well as a Master’s in Engineering Management (2009) from the Kate Gleason College of Engineering and an MBA (2014) from the Saunders College of Business, both at RIT. He is also a graduate of the Business Sustainability Management (2017) program from the University of Cambridge in England, and holds the Sustainability Excellence Professional (SEP) credential (2022), developed by the International Society of Sustainability Professionals and administered by Green Business Certification Inc.