Kumar Sitaraman - Chairman & CEO The driving force behind Auromatrix is its Chairman and CEO, Kumar Sitaraman. An MBA in finance from Los Angeles, California, USA, he sharpened his skills by becoming a Certified Hotel Administrator, the most prestigious certification available to a hotel general manager and hospitality executive, awarded by AH & LA and MHCIMA, U.K. He has garnered more than 25 years of valuable experience in the hospitality industry, having worked in India, Europe and Far East. Working as a Corporate Controller for a hotel group in USA with an annual turnover of over 100 million USD, he was in charge of finance and administration of hotels, which included the likes of The Hilton, The Sheraton, The Marriott, The Holiday Inn, The Best Western, etc. Reporting directly to the Vice President of the group, his core competencies lay in direct involvement for acquisitions of hotels and resorts for ownership and management. His other duties included inspection and restructuring the overall administration of on-going projects. He also shouldered the immense responsibility of formulating budgets and forecasting future capital, cash, and sales estimates of properties under the group. He was invited to the USA as a consultant for Hospitality World Group Inc. in April 1990, to organize various hotel & restaurant operations and has been retained as their consultant for hospitality interests in Eastern Europe and the Far East. He is also affiliated with the International Association of Hospitality Accountants & the National Association of Accountants, both located in Los Angeles, USA.

Udday Kumar Krishnan - Managing Director An MBA in Marketing from Pennsylvania, USA, Udday Kumar Krishnan worked as the sales & marketing manager for a hotel group in California and was in charge of coordinating all the functions of the marketing department there. He has also worked as assistant manager of marketing in the rooms division of a popular hotel. His work profile put him in charge of a team of ten sales assistants with the aim of marketing rooms, food & beverage outlets and banquets of the hotel. It also involved promoting tours, special packages and also promotional advertising & brand building across media. This 2 year experience armed him with an in depth market knowledge and brand acumen. His goodwill and expertise has been recognized by his peers, leading to an affiliation with the American Marketing Association. At Auromatrix, he is actively involved with all the Aloft Hotel projects apart from handling other responsibilities.

S. Rajasekaran - Director A postgraduate in Business, he has an experience of over 20 years in the field of Interior Designing. Rajasekaran has handled prestigious projects, predominantly in the hotel industry, in the USA, UK & India. His association with Auromatrix has added great value to the design, development and project execution aspect of various hotel projects. He specializes in deft co-ordination between architects, designers and the final execution team. He continues to handle these aspects with finesse, apart from overseeing the sourcing and installation of fit outs.

S. Radhakrishnan - Director S. Radhakrishnan‘s academic credentials include an MBA from Nevada, USA, in Management Information Systems; a Diploma in Business Communication & Management from Madras Christian College in India; a Certificate of Achievement in Credit & Financial Analysis from Dun & Bradstreet, New York, USA and several certification courses in Software Development and Networking. Starting his career with Auromatrix, today he heads the MIS functions of the entire organization. He was responsible for planning and implementing India’s first automated hotel room-reservation referral system – HotLink (Hotel Link). Using a dial-up private email network, he developed an intra office electronic mail, an on-line communication system and a comprehensive computerised reservation system as early as 1991. To ensure smooth flow of work and to maintain productivity, Auromatrix strictly adheres to compliance norms, both internal and external. Radhakrishnan’s multi-capability is attested by being at the helm of this sensitive profile, with the responsibility of maintaining project and management compliances, relating to various hotels executed and managed by the Auromatrix team. He also heads the team, which sources the various land sites up to closing and co-ordinates with the teams that execute the various Due diligences. He contributes in various other aspects like customer & corporate relations, research and analysis, budgeting, technical problem solving, policy and procedure implementation, recruitment & training, administration of corporate & branch offices, maintaining hotel MIS operations and the implementation & customization of hotel management systems.

Sushil K. Sharma - Director Sushil K. Sharma, an MBA from IIM, Bangalore is a Chartered Accountant with over 18 years of experience in the field of Asset Management, Private / Corporate & Retail Banking, General Management and Insurance. He was previously with ING Vysya as the Chief Marketing Officer and also with BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, and in the venture capital industry.

H. Srinivasan - Senior Vice President - Finance/Company Secretary  H. Srinivasan, an associate member in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and an Associate Member of the Institute of Company Secretary of India, he has worked with leading infrastructure companies, publications and pharmaceutical companies in various capacities with rich exposure in secretarial, legal, finance, accounts and taxation.

Inder Thapa - Vice President – Operations (Aloft) Inder Thapa, a post graduate diploma holder in Hotel Management from the Birla Institute, Uttar Pradesh, started his career in the hospitality Industry in 1981 as Assistant Manager of Hotel Rosylin Mussoorie. His exceptional qualities at handling customer relationships earned him the job of Front Office Manager at Sofitel Surya, New Delhi in 1983. He persevered with this job for ten consecutive years, subsequently moving on to The Ambassador Group as their senior manager. His talent furthered his career, making him the Executive Assistant Manager of the Ambassador Group of Hotels, Chennai. After six years with the Ambassador Group he joined as General Mannger of Quality Inn Aruna, a 4 star hotel in Chennai. During his tenure with Quality Inn Aruna, Choice Hotels Internationals awarded the hotel as the Best Hotel of the Year 1999 in Asia Pacific region. He then joined the Days Inn group as General Manager of KK Royal Days, a five star hotel at Jaipur. He was promoted within a short span of time and became the Vice President - Operations at Days Inn in India. Currently, he serves as the Vice President at Auromatrix Hotels, overseeing operations of the Sparsa Resorts.

Bala Kamallakharan - Director Bala Kamallakharan is one of the founding partners at Auro Investment Partners LLC, which was established to invest in the development of the hospitality sector in the United States of America. Before founding AIP, Bala Kamallakharan was part of the M & A team that built a Nordic Investment bank for Glitnir, deploying $750 million in capital. His team was responsible for developing the international strategy of Glitnir and also establishing Glitnir’s capital market and asset management presence in the Nordics through acquisition in Sweden, Norway and Finland. As a part of the Strategic Growth team, Bala Kamallakharan played many leadership roles; he was the integration manager to integrate Glitnir and FIM, after being part of the acquisition team. Bala led the project to investigate and develop the Indian market for Glitnir and in continuation of that role he was appointed the Head of India for Glitnir’s operations. Prior to joining Glitnir, Bala Kamallakharan was a Manager in Cap Gemini in the US, formerly Ernst & Young Management Consulting. He worked with Cap Gemini for 7 years in strategy development and deployment of projects for Fortune 500 companies like Swiss Re, Williams Gas Pipeline, HP, Toyota and GMAC. Bala Kamallakharan's academic credentials include a management degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, a Masters degree in Economics and another Masters degree in Information Systems & Decision Science from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA. Recently, Bala Kamallakharan has been accepted into the University of Iceland’s PhD program in Economics in fall 2009. His area of focus will be on Risk Management, Uncertainty and Randomness.

Sonny M. Khalil - Director Sonny M Khalil brings with him 16 years of experience in the Real Estate industry. Sonny was Chief Financial Officer of a property management company where he helped restructure $350 million in debt capital and raise equity capital. In addition, he was part of the due diligence team that acquired several types of real estate for the company. He has worked for three top Chicago real estate companies like Sudler and Company (now owned by Sotheby’s Residential) in the field of Finance and Accounting. Presently, apart from fully devoting his time to further the group’s efforts to form a private equity fund and acquire hospitality properties, he is the Founder and President of First Real Estate Co. (FRE), LLC, an Illinois company, which has real estate ownership in U.S, U.A.E and India. Before he emigrated to the U.S, Sonny earned a Masters degree in Commerce from the Osmania University, Hyderabad and successfully completed the intermediate exam for the Indian CPA, Chartered Accountants. He added value to these accomplishments by gaining a Masters in Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management (Chicago) and a certification in a course specializing in “Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset management” from Cornell University. Even today, he continues to enhance his knowledge by pursuing other certifications and accreditations.

S. Santhana Krishnan - Director S. Santhana Krishnan completed his Master’s Degree in Marine Biology from Annamalai University and pursued research in Marine Bio-Chemistry. His keen interest and focused knowledge in marine technology resulted in the setting up of Maritech in 1989. As head of Auro Maritech, he has since its inception implemented various integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Projects (Hatchery and Farms) in India and other countries. He has also conducted Aquaculture technical feasibility studies and project technical audits in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman, UAE, Tanzania, Zambia, Eriteria, Djiberita, Maldives, Surinam, etc. He has also founded and is currently the president of the Society of Aquaculture Professionals (SAP), an organization formed to give a platform to the grievances and as a means of sharing ideas and communication between peers in the industry. His interest in the field is well complemented by his academic & professional credentials. He holds certain key posts such as that of auditor, certifier and advisor for various bodies like Surefish (USA), Aquaculture Certification Council Inc. (USA), British Retail Consortium (Global Standard for Food Safety), etc. Apart from these, he also has the honour of serving as an advisor to committees like Tamil Nadu Coastal Aqua Farmers’ Federation (TANCAFF) and Prawn Farmers Federation of India (PFFI). He is an active member, lending valuable inputs to certain committees like World Aquaculture Society (WAS) and Board of Studies (Zoology), University of Madras, Chennai. In all, his knowledge and experience contributes to more than 15 committees, associations and societies.

S. Parthiban - Director S. Parthiban (AMIEE), qualified in electrical and electronics engineering, started his career as a design engineer in 1981. The remarkable experience he earned there motivated him to establish his own manufacturing unit in 1983. He also began importing water treatment equipments from Australia, USA and UK, which were used in many industries. He has been a key contributor in helping several industries establish water treatment plants when the water treatment industry itself was in its nascent stage. The worthy experience he gained in this field prompted him to import special types of water and beverages for distribution in India. He has through his years of experience, established a wide range of domestic and international contacts and is looked up to by his associates, clients and suppliers as a mentor and guide with unique capabilities and diversified experience. At Auromatrix, he heads Auro Fleet Services, a profile that brings to him the responsibility of managing a fleet of vehicles, matching services with client requirement and maintaining a distinct quality of service. Additionally, he lends his knowledge of trade networks and distribution channels to the smooth functioning of Auro Southland Food Services.

P.S. Umashankar - Director P.S. Umashankar did his post graduation in commerce, after which in 1985 he embarked on a career as a marketing executive in the cement division of Coromandel Fertilizers, owned by Chevron chemicals of USA. A desire to surge forward and learn earned him varied experience in the Indian beverage industry, working for prestigious companies like Shaw Wallace & Company Ltd, United Breweries Ltd, Cobra Beer India Pvt Ltd. in the area of marketing and distribution. Extensive interactions with supply chains & trade networks throughout his career earned him a position at Auro Southland Food Services, overseeing operations involving establishing trade networks, managing distribution channels, and setting up of sales offices & teams across India.

Kadir Andavan - Director - Food & Beverage Kadir Andavan passed out of the Institute of Hotel Management in Chennai with a Diploma in Hotel Management & Catering Technology in 1982 and after a year’s training at the Oberoi’s School of Management in Delhi, he joined the Taj Coromandel Hotel in Chennai, rising to become a Sous Chef, in charge of the flight catering operations. During the 3.5 years at the Taj he had the opportunity to oversee and handle VIP movements such as that of the Queen of England, the President and the Prime Minister of India. Kadir Andavan's career highlight was his 15 year tenure as a Personal Chef for the Ruler of Dubai. Kadir joined HH Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum at the royal palaces in the UK, in 1987. During the 15 years that he was with HH, he travelled the globe and was in charge of the kitchens based in the UK, USA, Europe and Africa. Catering to a wide section of distinguished international guests of HH and to be able to meet them, provided both a challenge as well as an honour. This extensive international exposure has made him one of the most coveted chefs across the globe. With Auromatrix since 2006, he has been involved in various new hotel and resort projects. Currently, Kadir Andavan is the Director - Food and Beverage for Auromatrix Hotels and has been fully involved with the all its entities. He has been instrumental in the planning and implementation of the various kitchens, restaurants, bars and banquets as well as procurement of the allied requisites such as crockery, cutlery etc. Menu planning for the various outlets, staff selection and training also fall within his scope.