CEO Revathi Advaithi donates $1 million scholarship to empower women engineers at BITS Pilani

• Revathi Advaithi announces $1 million scholarship at BITS Pilani.
• Endowment will support women from economically disadvantaged families.
• Scholarship honors the couple’s mothers, Visalam Swamy and Sucheta Mulgund.
• Advaithi shared her journey from India to leading global manufacturer Flex.
• BITS Pilani says the gift will benefit generations of future women engineers.

AN Indian American business executive and her husband have announced a scholarship for women students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds at a renowned Indian university.

Revathi Advaithi, the CEO of Flex and a 1990 mechanical engineering graduate of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, are behind a $1 million endowment, called the Visalam Swamy and Sucheta Mulgund Scholarship.

Advaithi announced the contribution while addressing students as the chief guest at BITS Pilani’s Convocation 2026.

“My story begins in India like a lot of people who are in this room with parents who believed very deeply in the power of education and making sure their five daughters had access to it,” she said.

Advaithi recalled losing her father when she was 15 and how her mother, despite not attending school and having limited financial resources, remained determined to educate her daughters.

“My mother never had an education, never went to school, didn’t have any money when he passed away. But she knew one thing: her daughters were going to get an education. She was determined that all five of her daughters would go to college one way or the other.”

The scholarship is named after the couple’s mothers, honoring the women who shaped their lives and their belief that educating daughters can have a lasting impact on families and communities.

Receiving a memento during the BITS Pilani Convocation 2026BITS

After completing her engineering degree in India, Advaithi moved to the US, where she began a career that eventually led her to the top of the global manufacturing industry.

She described her journey as one built on opportunity and persistence.

“I came from India after graduating from engineering college to Oklahoma and like many immigrant people my journey was a leap of faith. It was rooted in the simple idea that access created opportunity.”

Her first role was on a factory floor in Shawnee, Oklahoma, where she managed workers operating heavy machinery.

Today, she leads Flex, a global manufacturing and supply chain company with operations across multiple countries and approximately 140,000 employees.

Advaithi told graduates her experience taught her the importance of problem-solving, adaptability, and pursuing opportunities across industries.

“I hope my story shows to many young people across the Asian community that you can build and pursue your dreams in many different industries in entertainment, in business, in technology, in a shop floor, in manufacturing.”

BITS Pilani vice chancellor Prof V Ramgopal Rao welcomed the endowment, saying it would support generations of women students and reflected the institute’s strong culture of alumni philanthropy.

The announcement came as BITS Pilani awarded degrees to 1,477 graduates during the convocation ceremony, including 1,087 undergraduate students, 271 postgraduate students, and 119 PhD scholars.

The institute also recognized students for academic achievements and research excellence across disciplines.