Page 23 - CEMS News Summer 2020

ALUMNI NEWS
Adapting to change across the globe
Alumni from around the world share insights into their pandemic experiences.
To address challenges associated with the pandemic, CEMS alumni worldwide are exploring enterprising ideas, leading in the face of change, and forging ahead by using the skills and knowledge developed from their time in the department.
A Time to Pause and Reflect
online learning and telemedicine.
Personally, for me, as Chief Technology and Information Officer at A.P. Moller-Maersk, it has meant zero travel for the last four months, and I have really enjoyed being at home, closer to family. I have been traveling for work for the last 25 years, at least once a month, and this has been truly an eye-opening experience about what is possible without doing so. 75% of the office staff
in my company was able to work from home and be productive. We were able to serve our customers around the world and support the communities we were a part of, while keeping the safety of our employees as top priority.
As a dad of a 22-year-old, who has just moved to Minneapolis to start working with Target, it has also meant not being able to be with my son as he graduated.
While the crisis has been debilitating for so many
around the world, it represents an inflection point in
the evolution of mankind. What’s possible? Trillions of dollars of productivity to be unleashed; inclusion into
the workforce of those with limited opportunities before; education accessible for all; new business models; broad based prosperity.
Finally, the crisis has also reinforced the importance of science and technology for our future, whether it
is helping find vaccines for the virus or creating PPE kits and ventilators at a much lower price point, or just enabling the world to operate remotely.
Personally, I am grateful for having pursued doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota, which have been fundamental to shaping my thinking process; instilling a sense of curiosity; developing a first principles approach to modeling the world; and for being able to deal with complexity and uncertainty.
Here’s wishing you all a safe and energizing journey at the U of M, and to a lifetime of continual learning.”
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Navneet Kapoor
Navneet Kapoor (MS EE
’96, PhD ChE ’96), Chief Technology and Information Officer at A.P. Moller-
Maersk, has spent his career serving in various corporate leadership roles in several different countries. Currently spending time primarily between Bangalore, India and Copenhagen, Denmark, his professional role has required a substantial amount of travel. However, when COVID-19 forced a worldwide pause, Kapoor reflected on how
necessity continues to remain the mother of invention.
“Inventions have transformed human lives over centuries. The invention of electricity, the steam engine, aircrafts, motor cars, the shipping container, the computer, and the Internet have had a quantum impact on human productivity and reach and have changed lives forever.
But sometimes life changing technology already exists and yet it is not easy to fathom the possibilities. For the last five years, we have had technologies that can enable work from home, reduce travel, facilitate telemedicine, enable education in the remotest parts of the world, and streamline farm to table and more.
Yet, it has needed a once in a millennium crisis to provide the clarity that has eluded us. On one hand, seven
billion people impacted simultaneously. Economies struggling, businesses going bankrupt, high joblessness. On the other, millions working from home productively. Reduction in traffic congestion and pollution, accelerated
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