Pillars
Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way McNeese began offering coursework leading toward a minor degree in Innovation Engineering in fall 2011. Long before that, however, Logeshwaran “Logesh” Janarthanan, a 2004 McNeese master of engineering graduate, was exercising his own innovative engineering in pursuit of his aspirations. Logesh moved to the United States and enrolled in McNeese’s William J. Doré Sr. School of Graduate Studies after completing his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Madras in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. According to Logesh, in India, students are taught a more theoretical approach to engineering, while in the United States student exposure to engineering exceeds the theoretical and moves into the practical application of learned principles. After graduating from McNeese, Logesh remained in the U.S. by working in software development for Dryomatic in Frederick, Md., and Freddie Mac in McLean, Va., with both employers willing to sponsor his application for permanent residency. While grateful for the opportunity to remain state-side, Logesh’s long-range goals were to work with research and manufacturing. With a will to establish permanent residency and work in manufacturing, all Logesh needed was a way. He found that way by establishing two companies during the height of the economic recession – I Scope Technology Inc. and EMPOR Energy Saver (Empores). Logesh established I Scope Technology in October 2006 as a software consulting firm headquartered in Vienna, Va. He was I Scope’s sole investor and continued working for Freddie Mac. Through I Scope Technology’s success, Logesh accumulated sufficient working capital to start his second company, Empores, headquartered in Lake Charles with offices in India and Singapore. Empores is a research and manufacturing company that produces components that
10 Fall 2013
result in reduced electric bills and lower carbon footprints and improves power quality for both residential and commercial use, according to Logesh. Empores clientele include international icons such as IBM, Yahoo, IKEA and Sony. The Federal Communications Commission has recently awarded Empores the technical certification
needed to branch into the U.S. market. Local installations are now underway at four area businesses including Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder. With his ingenuity in starting his own companies while investing in the U.S., Logesh has found a way to become his own employer sponsor as well as the sponsor of approximately 35 of his 100 employees. He is now qualified to apply for a green card to become a permanent resident. Empores has made a financial contribution to the engineering campaign in the College of Engineering in appreciation for the education Logesh received at McNeese. As a husband, a father, an innovator and an employer, Logesh rarely has time to play Cricket, a popular game in India. Logesh was sporting a cast on his hand at the time of this interview as a result of a Cricketrelated injury. “Limited spare time may be a good thing,” he said.
One of the features that makes our program different from others is that we not only teach our students the principles of engineering, but we also teach them that at the end of the day their activities must result in an economic gain for themselves and/or their employer. Logesh is the perfect example of a McNeese engineering graduate who used his engineering skills and entrepreneurship to start a successful technologyoriented business. Dr. Nikos Kiritsis Dean, College of Engineering