Alumni Brothers Give Back to Help Create a Strong Kettering Foundation for Others
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The Mahendra brothers wouldn’t be where they are today without the Academically Interested Minds (AIM) program.
Anoop ’06 and Akhil ’02 Mahendra each participated in the precollege residential summer program before deciding to attend Kettering University.
To show their appreciation for the program and provide prospective students the same opportunity, the brothers created an endowed scholarship honoring their grandparents and benefiting AIM students. The Madan and Sneh Mahendra Endowed Scholarship Fund provides scholarships to AIM program graduates who attend Kettering, major in engineering disciplines and maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA.
“I was an AIM student in ’97, and to this day, I am thankful for the wonderful experience,” Akhil said. “AIM provided me an opportunity to understand the rich and varied resources the University had to offer, all while giving me a preview into collegiate life. Through this program, I built lifelong connections, and these relationships remain an important part of my life today. I wanted to find a way to highlight the program, and there was no better opportunity than having AIM be part of the scholarship fund.”
Anoop agreed, noting that giving back was one of the core principles their family instilled in the brothers.
“The goal is to continue to increase that scholarship over the years,” he said. “I think a lot of alumni are concerned that donations need to be in the six-figure range to create an impact, but every little bit adds up, and the endowment structure allows us to build up the foundation over time.”
After completing the program, the Mahendra brothers received scholarships that had a meaningful impact on their academic journey and provided solid footing for their respective careers. However, from Anoop’s perspective, they got so much more out of the program.
“It’s surreal to think a summer program would lead to lifelong friendships while giving you an appreciation for diverse cultures and communities as I had a chance to interact with students from across the world,” he said.
Akhil is now Vice President of Corporate Development at Rivian Automotive; Anoop is the Head of North America Professional Services at Duck Creek Technologies.
Anoop believes in the program so much that he shared the cause with his executive team, and without hesitation, Duck Creek Technologies donated $10,000 to the AIM program.
“I told my employer that I’m creating a scholarship and it’s going to a good cause,” Anoop said. “It’s going to a program that’s going to establish a foundation for students’ education; and my CEO, it took him seconds to say, ‘What can I do to help?’”
His company involvement doesn’t end there. Anoop partnered with leaders across his organization to launch Duck Creek’s first Co-op program, taking on two Co-op students who started this summer.
“To me, this is the beginning,” he said. “... There is so much opportunity, and I think it’s an injustice that we haven’t brought in Co-op students much sooner because you’re getting a fresh set of ideas and talent to execute those ideas.”
Through Kettering, Anoop gained valuable professional experience that jump-started his career, but he highlights the accessibility and willingness of faculty and alumni to connect and help secure many of the opportunities he received as keys to success.
“As an engineer, you have an analytical mind trained to be naturally curious. It’s just not enough to say here’s a problem and a here’s solution; you want to understand the interworkings of that solution. That is a fundamental mental model for any engineer,” Anoop said. “Also, it’s the ability to be able to accelerate your professional experience through the Co-op program and quickly develop a level of professional maturity that sets you up for long-term success.”
For Akhil, he draws on the foundation he built at Kettering every day.
“The mindset that you develop at Kettering through academics and the Co-op program is extremely unique,” he said, “and it’s hard to say where I would be today without them.”
Akhil and Anoop are thrilled to be able to support Kettering, specifically the AIM program, and hope they will continue to create opportunities for students.
For more information on supporting Kettering University, contact University Advancement at (810) 762-9863.
