Sai Chandra Pujita Vazrala

Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business

“A global citizen and humanitarian entrepreneur at heart!”

Hometown: Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: Avid multi-linguist raised in Uganda; I learned Hindi by watching Bollywood movies as a child.

Undergraduate School and Major: Milwaukee School of Engineering, BS Industrial Engineering.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Tekra, A Division of EIS Inc – Process Engineer.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: The troubleshooting time reduction project that I led at Tekra tops my list of professional achievements. Initially, the other team members were convinced that this project was a completely futile one. It turned out that the low morale was a manifestation of the failure of a similar project in the past. The previous project failed primarily because the operators were not on board during the implementation phase. To combat the team’s bleak mindset, I performed a comprehensive, current state analysis to uncover the root causes of major downtime categories. As I shared my findings with my team members, they were all alarmed by the resource wastage in the current state. The fear of failure waned off, marking the pivotal point at which the members showed full commitment to the project. Realizing the urgency for a lasting solution, I steered my team to develop a real-time parameter troubleshooting model using Statistical Process Control tools that would allow operators to remediate downtime causes swiftly. To drive the task to closure, the team ensured impeccable quality control checks and gained feedback from operators before implementing this model across the board. Within four months, we realized a 65% decrease in the time spent on the most common troubleshooting incidents and over a 100% increase in the adjustment precision; a goal deemed unachievable!

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Collaborative. The synergy that my classmates bring to the program is refreshing and invigorating. We are passionate about working towards not just our individual goals but also driving our peers towards their goals.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? One of my primary deciding factors for the MBA programs was the level of personalized attention I could receive from and give to others. While the MBA program is typically about connecting within the larger network, I also wanted to be able to make more profound, impactful connections in a smaller class. On the other hand, I wanted to be part of a large, bustling university that had an abundance of resources for its students. The combination of intimate connections within the program clubbed with the “big school prowess” was what led me to pick the Fisher MBA.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am most enthusiastic about Fisher Board Fellows. This club provides students with the opportunity to serve as board members on the boards of Non-Profit organizations while leveraging their prior experience. The opportunity to channel my humanitarian entrepreneurial spirit and interact with top-level management to understand the intricacies of strategic decision making is what drew me to Fisher Board Fellows.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Prior to the MBA program, I found myself craving more diversity – diversity in projects, diversity in industry, diversity in challenges. As a result, I hope to leverage my background in manufacturing operations while transitioning in the consulting sector. To make my transition into consulting effective, I need to chisel my skills effectively through a well-rounded MBA program in the three areas listed:

• Global business acumen (I strive to understand global business cultures and conditions to propose optimal solutions)
• Multi-dimensional managerial sense (I need a comprehensive understanding of the cohesiveness of business units)
• Agile leadership (I hope to sharpen my ability to think on my toes and lead diverse teams)

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? Over the years, my understanding of key manufacturing constraints has been enhanced, and my capacity to work around them to create value for the organization has been refined. However, in order to take my passion for continuous improvement to a macroscopic organizational level, I knew that I needed an MBA. I needed to broaden my scope by understanding the connectivity of various business functions. I believed that the broader business knowledge and diverse interactions from the MBA program would groom me to become the global business leader that I aim to be.

What other MBA programs did you apply to?

Indiana University (Kelley)

Washington University (Olin)

Notre Dame (Mendoza)

Georgetown (McDonough)

Emory (Goizueta)

How did you determine your fit at various schools? The three factors that I prioritized when picking an MBA program were the class intimacy, the suite of international experiential features offered, and the job search facilitation services provided by the program. Fortunately, I was able to visit a few campuses which enabled me to understand what attributed to the “school culture”. I was able to experience, first-hand, the approachability, intellectual stimulation and comfort that these programs build around.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? One of my most uplifting community endeavors was the Cameroon project with Digital Bridge, formerly known as Project Community Computers (PCC). My team’s primary goal was to install a need-sensitive computer lab for visually impaired high school students in Bafut village, Cameroon. My team and I had to plan on-ground logistics with the officials of the Cameroonian high school well in advance. After a year of strategizing, fundraising and networking, we were finally in Cameroon, and it was time to hand over the newly-installed computer lab to its enthusiastic end users. Within minutes of powering up the new lab, the students were excitedly typing away on their first word documents. That moment – watching the students indulge with such an eagerness to learn – I will never forget. It was a wonderful feeling to be the bearer of opportunity and education. It took me back to my childhood in Uganda as it reminded of an important lesson that my parents taught me, “Be relentless even when opportunity is scarce. Once you find an opportunity that is worth it, be grateful and maximize its positive impact.” I consider this experience with PCC to be a seminal event in helping me reinforce my core belief that it is paramount to recognize the resources at our disposal and how we can use them to enhance the conditions of our local and global communities.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Post-MBA, I would like to transition to the consulting industry. As an operations consultant at a top consulting firm, I hope to lead multiple projects – collaborating with diverse teams to implement lasting solutions that would sustainably boost the operational efficiencies and profitability of my clients.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years, I see myself being a senior manager at a global consulting firm. I aspire to use my global business exposure, progressive leadership, and strong work experience to shape the future of global manufacturing with the teams with whom I work.