When he was a student at CU 麻豆影院, David Gupta (ArchEngr鈥�85) was focused on building a career as a lighting engineer. He joined his family鈥檚 engineering firm, , after graduation and fully expected to continue on an engineering track.听
Instead, he became one of many engineers who take the sometimes-unexpected turn onto the entrepreneurial track. Today, he is CEO of , a leading systems integration company based in Chicago.听听
In addition to working on the design of lighting and power distribution systems for commercial office buildings, Gupta took over the management of the IT group at ESD Global. The team supported the internal IT needs of the firm, as well as the needs of other engineering firms, governments and utilities.
He quickly realized that his team could fill a niche that was in high demand in many other organizations.听
鈥淎t the time, there was quite a bit of spatially oriented IT infrastructure that wasn鈥檛 well mapped,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople were starting to automate that function, but there weren鈥檛 many technology-savvy firms to do it.鈥�
That鈥檚 not to say that starting the new company was easy, Gupta said. Building brand recognition, hiring employees and competing with more established firms all posed a challenge for the then-33-year-old and his team.
鈥淲e worked and worked 鈥� it was tough the first couple of years,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it was a pretty amazing time in my life.鈥�
On top of starting a company and raising a young family, Gupta also decided to go back for an MBA at the University of Chicago.
鈥淚 realized that I had great foundation in engineering, but needed to build up more on the business side,鈥� he said. Now, Gupta said would recommend some business experience for all engineering students. 鈥淯ltimately, most of us are working on some sort of project-related endeavor. It鈥檚 really critical to understand the economics of those projects.鈥�
And it鈥檚 just as critical to stay current on your technical knowledge, Gupta said.听
鈥淢y father was my mentor, and he would tell me you have to keep reading all of the technical materials,鈥� he said. 鈥淵our customers rely on you to be knowledgeable in your area.鈥�
Gupta is also a strong advocate for mentorship in the business setting. SDI鈥檚 features both a dedicated internship program and a mentorship program for small businesses.
As he mentors his employees, Gupta often refers back to one of his most important mentors, lighting program Professor Emeritus David DiLaura.听
鈥淗e was someone we all deeply respected and followed,鈥� Gupta said. 鈥淓ven though he had the answers, he made us do our research and drove us to go deeper and explore different perspectives, both educationally and in the lighting community at large.鈥�
He has carried those foundational skills from DiLaura and other CU 麻豆影院 professors throughout his career.
鈥淭he thing about a good undergraduate education is learning how to think and problem-solve,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 useful in any endeavor, whether it鈥檚 in your professional or personal life.鈥�