On 7th October 2025, we had the privilege of interacting with Mr. Suhrid Bhat, a Stanford-trained engineer and board member at an EV charging infrastructure start-up in the USA, who visited MIT Manipal for an invited talk titled "Tomorrow's Mobility: Autonomous Vehicles and Electric Vehicles."
The session, organised by the Office of the Associate Director under the Collaboration, Consultancy & IPR Lecture Series, offered us an incredible opportunity to learn from someone whose journey spans both cutting-edge industry experience and years of mentoring university solar racing teams across the world.
Learning from a Global Mentor
Mr. Bhat's professional journey includes leadership roles at SolarEdge, ChargePoint, and Volkswagen USA, but what resonated most with us was his experience as a mentor to the Stanford and UC Berkeley Solar Racing Teams, two accomplished teams to compete at the World Solar Challenge and American Solar Challenge.
He shared how these teams built their culture of innovation and excellence, teaching us that the true success of a student project lies not only in engineering expertise, but also in mindset and collaboration.
"One of his most powerful messages was to benchmark ourselves against the best in the world and to never limit our imagination or ambition..."
A Workshop Full of Inspiration
After his formal lecture at the MIT KEF R&D Centre Auditorium, Mr. Bhat joined us in our SolarMobil Workshop for an informal interaction surrounded by our prototypes, solar panels, and whiteboards filled with ideas.
He encouraged us to build a culture where improvement is continuous and curiosity never fades. He reminded us that every great engineering team succeeds because it learns relentlessly, refines constantly, and celebrates progress as much as results.
Looking Beyond Boundaries
As a team with ambitions to compete in international solar racing competitions, we found his advice both motivating and practical. He gave us a clearer picture of what it takes to operate at a world-class level how to align our design processes, testing methods, and teamwork culture with global standards.
His encouragement has strengthened our belief that Team SolarMobil can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best solar racing teams in the world. More importantly, he reminded us that the pursuit of excellence doesn't end with one successful vehicle it's a continuous journey of learning and evolution.
We left the session feeling inspired and grateful, with a renewed sense of purpose for our journey ahead.
