KSA recognizes and values members at all stages of their careers, and believes that engaging Kendall Square’s emerging leaders will ensure the future is bright. With the way we work now–in person, hybrid or remote–it is important to foster connections and to develop and engage our future leaders.
Alex Cheung
Director of Venture Cafe – Cambridge, CIC
Alex is the Director of Venture Café Cambridge–he has devoted the last decade in Kendall Square to connecting innovators for the purpose of improving lives. Entrepreneurs from around the world are drawn to Venture Café’s Thursday Gatherings. Alex is passionate about building platforms for communities to thrive, and he hopes to continuously push the bounds of what it means to connect, learn, and share with others.
Alex brings experience in building innovation ecosystems, both physically and conceptually. At CIC, he has managed operations for C3 (CIC’s coworking community) and the 245 Main Street building in Cambridge. Beyond this neighborhood, he has helped with expansion in Rotterdam and Tokyo, as well as with the opening of MIT’s The Engine.
Alex holds a bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, and Society with a minor in Economics from Vassar College.
Cayla Franco
Senior Associate, Property Manager, The Bulfinch Companies, Inc.
Cayla is responsible for overseeing the property management of Bulfinch’s state-of-the-art life science campus Osborn Triangle, located in Kendall Square. Osborn Triangle includes three buildings totaling over 677,000 SF and is home to several internationally recognized pharmaceutical companies.
Cayla’s background includes operations management experience for TD Garden, where she collaborated with cross-functional teams to resolve operational inconsistencies, track and monitor operational finances, oversee contractors, and manage capital projects.
Dedicated to giving back, Cayla Co-Chairs Bulfinch’s Engage Committee which serves as a vehicle to encourage and empower the Bulfinch Team to actively participate in all areas of civic engagement. A key highlight includes the launch of Bulfinch’s donor-advised fund (DAF), The Bulfinch Engage Fund. The Fund is a charitable giving vehicle that empowers the company, employees, and stakeholders to contribute to causes they care about most.
Cayla also works closely with Building Impact, a non-profit organization that offers corporate volunteering opportunities for Bulfinch tenants and team members that create measurable impact for nonprofits in the community. She is an active member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and is a member of BOMA’s Emerging Professionals Committee.
A graduate of the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a digital marketing and analytics minor, Cayla is an avid Huskies fan.
Alex Jones
Global Sourcing Project Manager, Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Alexander is currently serving as the Global Sourcing Project Manager within Johnson & Johnson Innovation.
He manages a set of tools and executes search landscapes across all therapeutic areas to source external early-stage innovation on a global scale.
Previously, Alexander held multiple positions within Johnson & Johnson in the innovation space, including as a 3D Printing Engineer and a manger providing training to J&J Supply chain on emerging capabilities.
Alex earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University. He currently serves on the advisory board for the Buckeye Leadership fellows The Ohio State University.
Rohan Kundargi, PhD
K-12 Community Outreach Administrator, MIT
Dr. Rohan Kundargi is a member of MIT’s Office of Government and Community Relations team where he serves as the K-12 Community Outreach Administrator. Through his work at MIT, Rohan leads an effort to deepen the relationship between MIT and Cambridge by building collaborative programs that engager young scholars and learners of all ages.
A first-generation Indian-American and child of immigrants, Rohan was raised in Northern California before earning an undergraduate Earth Science degree from UCLA (2010), a Masters in Earth Science from Boston University (2013), and a PhD in Earth Science from Boston University (2016). As a geoscience researcher he investigated the dynamics of Earth’s internal processes by designing and utilizing 3D numerical simulations to better understand how specific volcanoes erupted. While at BU, Dr. Kundargi was also a National Science Foundation GK-12 Fellow and co-taught a 7th grade science classroom at Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, Massachusetts. After graduate school Rohan ran Science In Action!, Gonzaga University’s largest STEM outreach program to the 2nd largest school district in the state of Washington, before returning to MA to work with MIT OGCR.
He is a proud Board Member of Cambridge non-profit CitySprouts and is an active member of the MIT Museum’s Advisory Board.
Varun Ramdevan
Global Digital Health and Technology Partnerships, Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Varun is responsible for external innovation partnering for Digital Health, Data Platforms and Enterprise Technology at Johnson & Johnson Innovation. He works across J&J and the early-stage technology ecosystem to help shape early incubation, investment and partnerships that shape J&J’s health technology portfolio. He also leads a global technology organization supporting the J&J Lung Cancer Initiative and New Ventures group.
Varun has an MBA from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business and has gained rich experiences in areas including Medical Device R&D M&A and economic research. Before his current role, Varun guided strategy and data-driven approaches for J&J’s Medical Devices R&D investment decisions. He also has helped bootstrap digital health initiatives related to post-orthopedic surgical care.
Varun supports a Boston startup ecosystem as a mentor and angel investor in energy tech and health tech.
Megan Keegan Rivera
Senior Manager, Operations, LabCentral
Megan Keegan is a senior manager of operations at LabCentral. She works on LabCentral’s expansion projects, including the buildout and design of the space as well as managing ongoing construction and operational readiness. She also works with companies looking to join LabCentral to help determine their fit for various sites and runs the Selection Committee process.
Megan joined the LabCentral team in 2014 after receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Rhode Island and is currently working on her MBA from Boston University.
Rahul Sangodkar
Principal Engineer, Amgen
Rahul is a Principal Engineer in the Drug Substance Technologies organization at Amgen. He has worked across different stages of clinical and commercial pharmaceutical process development, notably, to develop, characterize, transfer and validate processes that are robust and sustainable, which are enabling to the delivery and supply of drug substance. Rahul has contributed to the advancement of several clinical products and approved products, including, Lumakras®, Corlanor®, Kyprolis®, and Tavneos®. He is passionate about defining and optimizing cross-functional business processes and strategies to enable continuous improvement with focus on technology transfer and risk assessments. In addition to his cross-functional leadership roles at Amgen, Rahul leads collaborative initiatives for new technology development across 15 pharmaceutical and biotechnology member companies through the Enabling Technologies Consortium, and is an advocate and active member of outreach efforts in the community.
Rahul earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering and Graduate Program in Management Practice from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Namrata Sengupta, PhD
Associate Director for Science Engagement, Policy, and Advocacy
Namrata Sengupta is the associate director for science engagement, policy, and advocacy at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Based in Broad’s offices of communications and government relations, she develops and leads programs and community partnerships to advance Broad’s public engagement efforts and organizes strategic thinking and connectivity on matters concerning government relations and public policy across the institute. Sengupta facilitates Broad’s relationships with neighboring communities; local, state, and federal government; international delegations; and the general public. She is also responsible for overseeing the Broad Discovery Center and related public outreach and educational efforts.
Outside of Broad, Sengupta serves as an adjunct professor of science communication at Clemson University. She is on the board of directors of two Boston-based nonprofits, Asian Women for Health and The Innovation Trail of Greater Boston, and is one of the Kendall Square Association’s Emerging Leaders. She speaks at various career panels and gives invited lectures on STEM careers and science communication in the higher education community.
Sengupta holds a Ph.D. in environmental toxicology from Clemson University, an M.S. in biotechnology from Bangalore University, and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Calcutta.