St Edmund’s College is delighted to congratulate alumnus Dr Nikhil Agarwal (MPhil, Technology Policy, 2006), who has been nominated as a finalist for the Professional Achievement Award in the British Council’s Education UK Alumni Awards 2016.   The award recognises alumni who have distinguished themselves through exemplary leadership and achievements in their professional industry, whilst demonstrating the highest level of integrity and character in their professional career.

Dr Nikhil Agarwal is working as CEO for Innovation with the Government of Andhra Pradesh in India. Andhra Pradesh is ranked second out of 29 Indian states in terms of its ease of doing business in the country, according to a recent World Bank survey. Nikhil aims to develop Andhra Pradesh as the most innovative state in India and one of the most innovative places in the world.

Dr  Agarwal is one of India’s eminent innovation experts and has been entrusted with the task of building the innovation ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh. He believes that innovation is the only way to solve problems in such a large country with a population of 1.2 billion people.

Nikhil remembers his time at St Edmund’s fondly, recalling, “my discussions in the Combination Room with fellow St Edmund’s members acted as a catalyst in developing my initial thoughts on global innovation. One of the life-lessons for me at St Edmunds was learning to play snooker and pool… even now I can beat anybody at the game!”

The awards ceremony will be held in Delhi on 19 March and we wish Nikhil every success on the night.