Ramesh 'Ray' Mehra

Nothing can move without expenditure of energy.Thoughts fly: this “flow of thoughts” is the mind. Every thought when it sparks out from us a wee-bit our mental energy is spent. Life is spent in 'meeting challenges'. To meet them efficiently is the game. Sometimes you lose. Meet them we : there is no choice. If you meet them with courage and faith in yourself you win: if you neglect to be dynamic and diligent all the time and sulk and try to avoid meeting them, they will with merciless aggressiveness roll on and crush you in the blind fury. This is the law-of-life. You may win here, and may lose there. It becomes sport, exhausting but exhilarating, no doubt, and one can enjoy it all if it is taken as a life-long sport.
An awakened intellect makes worldly life more readily successful and also it reveals the deeper significance of the very existence. Ray Mehra, a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Roorkee in 1966, is the testimony of the fact that the mightiest power in life lies in intellectual faculty.
Rabindranath Tagore says,
'I have seen, have heard, have lived in the depths of the known, have felt the truth that exceeds all knowledge which fills my heart with wonder and I sing.'
The basic quality of Ray's life and his thoughts are determined by incredible achievements, lofty goals and clear vision.
Ray is the CEO of R Squared, Inc., a manufacturing business with plants in Illinois, Mississippi and Mexico with the focus on acquiring and consolidating OEM component suppliers in the industrial/commercial markets.
Prior to R Squared, Ray was the president of Sunbeam Health, a 200 MM manufacturer of scales for consumer and commercial markets, which was part of the larger consumer products company. During his tenure at Sunbeam, Ray was also responsible for 4 manufacturing operations in Mexico for two years, where he led 1100 employees and all aspects of its operations to improve its contribution margin by four percent points by reducing cost, improving quality and other productivity gain. Ray also led an $80 million manufacturer of gas range components supplying to General Electric, Maytag, Amana; grew sales 35% and profits 100% during second year; general cash flow of over 10 million; produced RONA of 30 along with three successive record years. He is also focused on acquisition and consolidation of OEM component suppliers to the industrial/commercial markets like R&R Metal Craft Inc., r-Squared Systems, and Fox Tool Manufacturing Systems.
Ray is an avid tennis player and enjoys traveling and spending time mentoring friends and family. He lives with his wife Joyce in Naperville, a suburb of Chicago in Illinois.
Ray is actively involved in the IITR alumni association and also currently heads the Midwest chapter of PAN-IIT. He is also on the board of PAN-IIT, North America. Since its inception in 2003, the Pan-IIT annual conference has become one of the leading technology summits for executives looking to build partnerships with leaders in the world of advanced technology. He has been instrumental in successfully hosting programs for IIT Networking meetings in the greater Chicago land area on a monthly basis.
Best expressions of Ray, a man with not only intellect but illumined consciousness, lies in his experiences which unite them into an ever widening individuality.
This year, the seventh Pan-IIT Global Conference is being held in Chicago in October and former American President, Bill Clinton will be among many top leaders to address and Mr. Ray Mehra will be the chairperson of this conference.
According to conference chairman Ray Mehra, 'Entrepreneurship and Innovation in a Global Economy' will be the theme of this year's techie summit. Over 3,000 IITians from around the world will attend the annual gathering to be opened by Sibal and Mr. Chopra will be one of the keynote speakers.
According to Ray, the former president of US and other global leaders in their fields will discuss how ideas can be transformed into actions on both sides of the ocean (in the US and India), which is extremely an important issue, as the entire world is no more a segregated entity but due to globalization, the entire world has shrunk to become a single entity and the concept of integration is a must to be implemented effectively. The holistic approach to problems in the areas like health and energy in India will also be taken into consideration.
Mehra's thoughts and vision is not only unprecedented but is fashioned by heart, intelligence and mind (hrda manisa, manasa) as his goal is to see India prosper and come out of deep-rooted shackles of poverty and consequently seventh Pan-IIT has presented a proposal called Panch Ratnas to the Indian government to revolutionize higher education in the country and this will also be one of the significant topics of the conference. The proposal, titled Pan-IIT Panch Ratnas, presented to the President Pratibha Patil, proposes a five-point action plan to make India the global hub for knowledge creation and talent development by 2022. Pan-IIT's Panch Ratnas include implementation of wholesale policy reforms in education, quality control and increase capacity, and 'quantum improvement in faculty service conditions, deployment of technology for teaching and collaborative research, and the establishment of an industry-academia interface.
The invisible screen of commonplace was removed from all things, and all men and their ultimate significance were intensified in mind...... the unmeaning fragments lost their isolation and Ray's mind reveled in the unity of vision, a vision which sees a harmonious sync of an integrated world and making of a better India.