TOWER FELLOW IMPACT
Tower Fellow Mentorship Ignites High-Impact Entrepreneurship Introduction
Tower Fellow Jayesh Parekh considered how he could give back to UT during his fellowship experience.
Tower Fellow Jayesh Parekh
Jayesh Parekh graduated from UT in 1980 with a master’s degree in electrical engineering. When he heard about the Tower Fellows Program, memories from Parekh’s time at The University of Texas at Austin drew him in.
Parekh booked a flight from his home in Singapore. After a storied career — Parekh co-founded Sony EntertainmentTelevision and worked at IBM — he arrived back on the Forty Acres to start the two-semester, Tower Fellows experience. He joined a cohort of enthusiastic, curious individuals to explore their next chapter of life. Over the course of the program, Parekh and his fellow cohort members engaged in classes and attended events that gave him a behind-the-scenes look at the University.
Beyond educational events, the Tower Fellows Program encourages participants to explore their individual interests and tailor their coursework to match it. Parekh felt inspired to use the program to support the University and its students. “When I signed up and came here for this program I asked, ‘How can I give back?’”
Parekh said.
After getting involved in the Texas Innovation Center, he was introduced to Siddharth Thakur. A senior engineering student, Thakur founded Paradigm Robotics with a mission to save lives.“I started realizing just how dangerous search and rescue and structure fires were for firefighters,” Thakur said. “So, I started building a robot to help with that.” Thakur designed the FireBot to detect signs of life and send crucial data back to firefighters during emergency situations.
Initially, Parekh had the idea of mentoring Thakur. But Parekh said it was the
innovation, impact, and the mind behind it all that motivated him to do more.
“[Thakur] had such a powerful delivery of the entire story, and very rarely at
this age would you find an entrepreneur who has a mature 360-degree view,”
Parekh said.
Now, Parekh and Thakur have a three-way relationship: mentorship, advisory,
and angel investment. The two meet often and in-person since they are both
on campus.
Parekh booked a flight from his home in Singapore. After a storied career — Parekh co-founded Sony EntertainmentTelevision and worked at IBM — he arrived back on the Forty Acres to start the two-semester, Tower Fellows experience. He joined a cohort of enthusiastic, curious individuals to explore their next chapter of life. Over the course of the program, Parekh and his fellow cohort members engaged in classes and attended events that gave him a behind-the-scenes look at the University.
Beyond educational events, the Tower Fellows Program encourages participants to explore their individual interests and tailor their coursework to match it. Parekh felt inspired to use the program to support the University and its students. “When I signed up and came here for this program I asked, ‘How can I give back?’”
Parekh said.
After getting involved in the Texas Innovation Center, he was introduced to Siddharth Thakur. A senior engineering student, Thakur founded Paradigm Robotics with a mission to save lives.“I started realizing just how dangerous search and rescue and structure fires were for firefighters,” Thakur said. “So, I started building a robot to help with that.” Thakur designed the FireBot to detect signs of life and send crucial data back to firefighters during emergency situations.
Initially, Parekh had the idea of mentoring Thakur. But Parekh said it was the
innovation, impact, and the mind behind it all that motivated him to do more.
“[Thakur] had such a powerful delivery of the entire story, and very rarely at
this age would you find an entrepreneur who has a mature 360-degree view,”
Parekh said.
Now, Parekh and Thakur have a three-way relationship: mentorship, advisory,
and angel investment. The two meet often and in-person since they are both
on campus.
Celebrating new connections (left to right): Jayesh Parekh, Stephanie Hamilton, Amit Maheshwari, and Siddharth Thakur. Jay, Stephanie, and Amit are participants in the Tower Fellows Program.
Initially, Parekh had the idea of mentoring Thakur. But Parekh said it was the innovation, impact, and the mind behind it all that motivated him to do more. “[Thakur] had such a powerful delivery of the entire story, and very rarely at this age would you find an entrepreneur who has a mature 360-degree view,” Parekh said.
Now, Parekh and Thakur have a three-way relationship: mentorship, advisory, and angel investment. The two meet often and in-person since they are both on campus.
"I really want to see lives saved with our robots, and I want to see injuries mitigated, and I think our robots can get there,” Thakur said. “[Parekh] really
helps us assess and gives direction to get to those goals. He's a great advisor and helps leap over mistakes that we might have fallen into.”
Now, Parekh and Thakur have a three-way relationship: mentorship, advisory, and angel investment. The two meet often and in-person since they are both on campus.
"I really want to see lives saved with our robots, and I want to see injuries mitigated, and I think our robots can get there,” Thakur said. “[Parekh] really
helps us assess and gives direction to get to those goals. He's a great advisor and helps leap over mistakes that we might have fallen into.”
Paradigm Robotics’ next step is to leverage connections with emergency response teams across the country and scale up production of the FireBot. Parekh and Thakur plan to evolve their mentorship and business for years to come.
“It's a very, very tough journey, and people go through ups and downs,” Parekh said about building a business. “There is nothing, no more joy that I get than trying to make a founder successful, the co-founder successful, the team successful, and therefore the company successful.”
For Parekh, being back on campus as a Tower Fellow brought new opportunities to learn from professors and students alike, where he seized the opportunity to mentor and guide future innovators.
Read Jayesh Parekh's Tower Fellow bio.
“It's a very, very tough journey, and people go through ups and downs,” Parekh said about building a business. “There is nothing, no more joy that I get than trying to make a founder successful, the co-founder successful, the team successful, and therefore the company successful.”
For Parekh, being back on campus as a Tower Fellow brought new opportunities to learn from professors and students alike, where he seized the opportunity to mentor and guide future innovators.
Read Jayesh Parekh's Tower Fellow bio.
“
I'm just absolutely delighted that I'm a Longhorn,” Parekh said. “If you have the risk-taking ability, I definitely tell people — go out, venture out, do a startup, and make a product or service that is useful to humanity.