New Leadership Team Takes over Assam Society of America

Ganesh Bora has recently been given the responsibility to lead Assam Society of America (Axom Xangha). He has worked for developmental activities in Assam, Thailand and in the US, associating with various organizations. Ganesh is an Agricultural Engineer by profession and currently an Assistant Professor in North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND. He is a well-known Precision Agricultural Technologist and has received award and honor from ‘American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers’ and ‘International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR)’. Ganesh was an excellent sportsman and represented his university in field hockey and athletics. He also writes poems in Assamese and popular science articles.

Dhruba Das has been married to beloved wife Susan for over 29 years and is blessed with three beautiful children.  He currently lives in Pennsylvania, USA.

Although born in Barpeta, Dhruba Das grew up on the Gauhati University Campus in Jalukbari.  He attended GU Model School. He is a graduate of Cotton Collegiate High School. He completed BS and MS in Electronics Engineering from Banaras Hindu University in 1973 and 1975, respectively.  After a short career in teaching at the Assam DhrubaDas.jpgEngineering College, he came to the USA and earned a second Master’s degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from University of Wisconsin 1979.  After graduating from UW Wisconsin, he worked almost for 20 years with the General Electric Company in Malvern, PA as Senior Development Engineer.  Currently he works for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in King of Prussia as Senior R&D Engineer working on real-time embedded development.  He has several professional publications and holds a patent on called Current Differential Algorithm.

Utpal Borah is currently involved with Camphill Soltane Communities, a worldwide non-profit organization in the area of special education, established in the year 1942. He is also actively involved with Soltane Foundation, helping in various fundraisings events worldwide. In addition, he is also  involved in the development of special education programs in India, through the Camphill Soltane India Initiative Program. He has also served in advisor roles for various small non-profit organizations in Assam and as well as in Gujarat,

Utpal has been invited by Jorhat Agriculture University, MS University, Baroda and Tezpur University to share and give lectures about his experiences in working for non-profits in various countries.

Utpal comes from the town of Eternal Love Tezpur. He left home when he was 20 and decided to explore his life through volunteering abroad. His first assignment was in a kibbutz in Israel in 1999. Since then he has never looked back. He has worked in Ireland, England, and travelled and explored other European countries. Currently, he is also pursuing further formal studies on Non-Profit Management, which is like a dream comes true to him.

Utpal  has genuine interest in sports: He  spends time  skiing, biking and motorcycling for pleasure. He is also passionate about  "youth guidance and social changes".

Samar Bhuyan is originally from Tezpur and came to Kansas State University in 1997. After completing Masters and Doctoral studies in Environmental Engineering in 2001, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Since then he has been working with Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in Phoenix. Samar has been married to Rashmi for 13 years. They have a 11-year old daughter Nikita and a 7-year old son Neil. Samar and his family are looking forward to meeting everyone in the upcoming Assam 2009 convention in Colorado.

Dr. Nilakshi Phukan currently lives in Morrisville, North Carolina with her husband Debananda Neog and son Prithu Neog. She is a Lecturer in Asian Department (Hindi-Urdu) at UNC, Chapel Hill, NC. She loves to write stories, poems and travel related articles. Her writings have been published in different newspapers and magazines. She volunteers at a Public Radio Station and at non-profit organizations. She loves to cook. She also loves to organize local shows and parties.

Kedar Bhuyan lives in Mays Landing, New Jersey with his wife Dr. Ruprekha Bhuyan and two talented twin sons Rick and Nick.

Arindam Barkataki currently lives and works in Orlando, Florida. He is a native of Guwahati, Assam where I grew up and finished his schooling. He completed my Bachelors of Engineering from Orissa, India and then Masters from Texas. He has been in the US for four years. Since moving to Florida he has met many Assamese families and has been fortunate enough to interact and make a connection with them. He hopes that through this opportunity given to him to be a part of the larger Assamese community in North America, he will be able to contribute in a constructive manner. Hopefully, we will continue to keep our culture and community together.

Jugal Kalita, a native of Nagaon, is a professor of Computer Science at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He went to Natun Bazar Nimna Buniyadi School (Nagaon), Government Boys School (Nagaon), Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith (Deoghar, Jharkhand) for his elementary through secondary education. He is a graduate of IIT, Kharagpur, University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and the University of Pennsylvania.  Jugal lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Bonmayuri, a professional Bharatanatyam and Xatriya dancer and his daughter Ananya Lonie.

Barnali Talukdar is a resident of Omaha, NE and currently a nursing student at Metropolitan Community College, Omaha. She loves to read Assamese novels and short stories, watch movies and listen to music besides discussing different cuisines.