Avinash Raj

Avinash is Design Leader and Educator with a cross-disciplinary background in user experience design, business, and engineering. His life’s purpose is to drive change for the good in a human-centred way.

After completing a BE in Computer Science Engineering, he was selected for a Postgraduate degree in UX Design from NID (National Institute of Design), Ahmedabad, a world-ranked (India’s foremost) design institute. In Canada, Avinash continued his education with an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, the University of Toronto, majoring in Strategy and Business Design.

In addition to 3 startups, he also co-founded 1 non-profit and has worked in the public sector, consulting, and for three Fortune 500 companies.

Even when not designing, he enjoys aspects of design in cooking and photography. As a photographer, Avinash sees potential everywhere—finding beauty in ordinary places. As a cook, leftovers and food that might go bad also hold potential. His signature dish is Litti-Chokha, a traditional dish from my native state in India.

Education

• University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management - MBA, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Business Design, Strategy, Branding 2009 - 2012
• National Institute of Design - Master’s Degree, Software & User Interface Design 2004 - 2006
• PES University - Bachelor of Engineering (BE), Computer Sci and Engineering 1999 - 2003
• University of Toronto - Certificate in Digital Marketing Management, Search Engine Marketing 2015