The Team
 An IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Startup in Chicago Atul.jpg)
 An IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Startup in Chicago Emadi-thumb.jpg "Dr. Ali Emadi")
 An IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Startup in Chicago Anderson-thumb.jpg "Robert F. Anderson")
 An IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Startup in Chicago Atul-thumb.jpg "Atul Thakkar")
 An IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Startup in Chicago Darcy-thumb.jpg "Darcy Evon")
 An IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Startup in Chicago Anthony-thumb.jpg "Anthony Baroud")
Investor and Business Development
Atul received his M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Chicago in 1971. Prior to that, he received his B.Tech. degree from another IIT, Indian Institute of Technology, in Bombay, India. In 1974, Atul received his MBA from Loyola University of Chicago. Before starting his own business, Atul worked at various firms in the telecommunication industry. In 1983, he founded Attronica Computers, Inc. in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which has grown to a $50 million plus company. He currently acts as the CEO. Atul, through Attronica, has shown leadership in many innovative social concepts such as: non-smoking policy for customers and employees since the early 80's, on-site, free baby nursery for employees since the early 90's, and 100% paid medical insurance for all regular employees. Atul is bi-coastal and lives in both, San Diego, CA as well as Rockville, MD. He has two sons. His older son, Nilay, his wife Crystal and daughter Maya live in Portland, OR. His younger son, Nishant, lives in Seattle. Atul believes in taking small steps to help mankind and that from small inventions can come significant impacts on humanity. He has also been supporting development of solar powered 3-wheeler vehicles at IIT. Millions of such gasoline powered vehicles, commonly known as auto-rickshaws, are used today in Asia and Africa. They are highly polluting and contribute heavily towards global warming. By improving such vehicles to operate on free solar energy via an intermediate step of practical, electrically operated auto-rickshaws, Atul is hoping to change our world for the better. Atul, along with his wife Kalpana, has been supporting such development through a grant to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of IIT.