All ABOUT SCALE

A well known industrialist, Dr. Naushad Forbes is Co-Chairman, Forbes Marshall, India's leading steam engineering and control instrumentation company. He is on the Board of several educational institutions and public companies and was recently listed in the Indian Express list of the 100 most influential Indians. His is also a familiar name in Indian design circles. As former Chairman Governing Council National Institute of Design (NID), and Chairman India Design Council (IDC), Dr. Forbes has been able to work at bridging the still large gap between industry and design in the country.

How did your years as a student at Stanford University impact your career?

NF: I received my Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD Degrees from Stanford University. I hugely enjoyed my student years. I found myself taking courses all over the university - in history, economics, literature and art in addition to my course work in engineering. Indeed, if I were to go back to university again, I wouldn’t study engineering but would instead do economic history.

Three life-long impacts from my student years:

When one considers any issue, going back to first principles always helps. What does the underlying theory say? Rigor in thinking that makes one keep asking why something is so, ensuring that whatever one observes must fit into a broader pattern of understanding, this to me is critical.

Some of my greatest professors were also the quietest. In a discussion one rarely heard them express a view, or they argued the opposite to whatever the majority view was. The best learning happened that way.

Learning was good for its own sake, for the simple joy of knowing or understanding something new; it didn’t need to be useful.

What did teaching at Stanford teach you?