Devina Kothari, daughter of Parag and Julie Kothari was born in Rajkot Gujarat. She has a brother Maulik who is a businessman like her father. Devina’s mother is a home maker.
Even as a child, Devina has always been a thinker and had an analytical mind. Her mother facilitated her activities and ensured she was involved in learning new skills every year. No boundaries – be it swimming, painting, art and craft, music to dancing ( Kathak). She was allowed to indulge in all that she enjoyed. Since she had an exposure across so many platforms, it gave her a broad perspective and helped her choose from a larger platter, as it were as compared to her contemporaries. At an early age of thirteen, she expressed a desire to become an Architect. Her father took her to a famous Architect’s office in Rajkot to understand the intricacies of architecture and what it entails. Getting the idea of the bigger picture was important.
Devina pursued her under-graduation ( Bachelor of Design) from Faculty of Design at CEPT University and post- graduation ( Master of Design) from the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay in Industrial Design. At IIT she learnt how to design industries products and designing systems. To this day she looks up to her faculties as mentors at IIT Bombay for guidance. Devina feels she just did not gain professional knowledge from them but she understood life skills and she feels comfortable reaching out to them whenever the need arises. Her ability to learn from failure, make the right changes and improvise to make a better attempt the next time, comes from these highly intellectual faculties at IIT Bombay. She believes that the ability to learn and unlearn is the biggest virtue not just for a professional but for a human being. This principal applies more for those who are in the designer and innovation field, as undoing something that’s done, in order to make something better is what they are trained for.
Devina, works at the confluence of Data, Consumer Behaviour, Neuroscience of Design and Systems design. Her involvement spreads across verticals like hardware, healthcare, agriculture, e-commerce and consumer goods. Devina is also a visiting faculty at many educational institutions and shares her knowledge and experiences with young budding designers.
Devina is the recipient of many awards and accolades. A few of them listed below gives us an idea of her professional skills and the appreciation she has rightfully been conferred upon
- Ranked amongst Top Ten Social Innovation Start-Ups, Mumbai -August 2019. Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
- Honourable Mention, California – July 2019.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation &Open IDEO’s Worldwide Immunization Innovation Challenge. - Google Developer Expert (Product Strategy) April 2019. Google I/O, Mountain View, California. May 2018.Invited by Google to attend the I/O.
- Leading Lady 2018, Pune 2018. For Business Excellence: Innovation and Technology.
- Product Strategy and UX-UI Mentor, Google Launchpad, Bangalore 2017. Helping Start-ups develop better profitable user centric products.
- Who’s Who of Gujarat, Ahmedabad 2017.
Featured as one of the most distinguished personalities of Gujarat - TEDx Talk, at IIT-Kharagpur 2017.
Power to change the world with one solution. - Power of Asian Design 2016 at Taiwan.
International Speaker representing India along with six others from Asia.
Presenting the problem solving framework and conducting a workshop for the same. - TEDx Talk, at Mumbai 2016. Dissecting the art of problem solving. Link to the video is here
- TEDx Talk, at Bangalore 2015. How Design is taking on Diabetes. Link to the video is here
- Daughter of Gujarat Award 2016, Felicitated by the Mayor of Ahmedabad for social entrepreneurship.
- Swayam Siddha Award 2015, Felicitated by the Hon. Governor of Gujarat for outstanding achievements in Innovation, organised by Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries, India.
- Women’s Excellence Award 2015, by Utkarsh Foundation, Ahmedabad. India, for outstanding achievements in Industrial Design.
- Winner,Red Dot Award: Design Concept (Life Sciences), 2014, for the design of an innovative self-administered closed loop ‘Insulin Delivery System’.
- Winner,International Ignite Ideas Challenge, 2013, by SANOFI, USA, for the design of an innovative ‘Self-administered closed loop insulin delivery system’.
Devina is of the opinion that the coming decade is going to be of designers and innovators. The pace at which the world is changing, the need of the hour is services and products that are invented and innovated keeping the need of the consumer relevant, by adapting to the changes and at the same time adding value to the company, the professional and stakeholders. The vision for the future as was in the past for professionals like Devina is bringing technological advancement to the door step of rural India by creating simple, easy to understand methods that solve day to day issues. Success is when you bring knowledge to those who have never been to a formal school and when they understand your design, that’s true success!
On the social services front, Devina’s contribution to give back to society comes in the form of being a social entrepreneur focusing on designing services and products for those at the lowest rung of society – the underprivileged, poor, uneducated and those who cannot afford technology. Devina is associated with project “JAYA”, that uses technology to ensure pregnant ladies below the poverty line and infants under the age of five are immunised on time and their healthcare requirements taken care of.
When one puts education, intelligence and positive thoughts to the use of society, without a financial benefit the value of that education and intelligence multiplies exponentially. This brand of goodness has a way to spread fast and touch the lives of those far and wide.
