FALL 2023
When Ammar Kinkhabwala (MBA/MS ’23) laced up his first pair of soccer cleats over 15 years ago, he simply wanted to play the game. Little did he know he would be learning valuable business skills.
“Playing and following soccer has taught me to leverage the diverse strengths of each team player, trust their abilities, and foster unity,” he says.
“The sport emphasized teamwork, morale, and bonding, which have become instinctive references for me in various aspects of life.”
MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT
Kinkhabwala didn’t play soccer at Pitt, yet he continued to apply the lessons he learned on the field as the president of the Student Executive Board (SEB) at Katz, co-president of the Business Healthcare Club, and vice president of the Consulting Club.
In his commencement address, Kinkhabwala told his fellow students, “We’ve seen firsthand how a diverse group of individuals can come together to achieve great things.” A few of the ways he collaborated with others to help the community include: being a BNY Mellon Fellow focused on Corporate Social Responsibility, participating in the 2023 Super Analytics Challenge focused on Mental Health, and leading SEB to raise nearly $3,000 at the Katz Annual Ball.
He explains that “overall, the Katz Annual Fall Ball was not just about fun and glamour, but it was also a way to make a positive impact on the world around us.”
COLLABORATING OUTSIDE OF KATZ
Kinkhabwala was among the first team of students to take part in the Pennsylvania Robotics & Technology Fellowship, a Pitt Business initiative supported by federal grant funding. This program pairs Pitt graduate students with small and medium-sized manufacturers to address each company’s immediate technological challenge.
He was also a member of the MIT-PITT-RW autonomous racing team.This collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) University of Waterloo, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was a student-led team to program a race car to drive autonomously around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I enjoyed being part of a multidisciplinary team that was at the forefront of technological innovation,” says Kinkhabwala. “Although I had limited knowledge about autonomous cars at the time, I recognized that this was a perfect chance to challenge myself and contribute to a diverse team of experts.”
COLLABORATING OUTSIDE OF KATZ
He opened his commencement speech by acknowledging that when he first came to Pitt, he had many questions and fears and quickly added, “As I look back on this journey, I feel grateful for the opportunity to have grown personally and professionally. And most of all, I feel grateful for the community we have built together.”
Now working on the Global Risk Oversight team at Vertiv, Kinkhabwala says, “The practical business insights I acquired during my time at Katz have seamlessly empowered me to complement and excel in my role. I can proactively identify and mitigate risks while fostering sustainable growth with a comprehensive understanding of organizational dynamics.”
