Former Illinois ECE student named in Forbes 30 under 30 list

Named as a Thiel Fellow for his initial work at the University of Illinois, Kalyanpur began his studies at Illinois ECE in 2016 but dropped out after his sophomore year to focus on building his startup Optivolt Labs. While a student at Illinois, Kalyanpur won the Illini Ideas pitch competition, Harper Entrepreneurship Fund scholarship, and the Cozad New Venture Competition. 

Under Kalyanpur's vision as CEO and founder, Optivolt Labs is working to develop a portable solar system that is efficient enough to power machines like e-scooters, electric vehicles, and drones using just ambient light. According to Forbes, Kalyanpur hopes that his solar charger will be able to fill a scooter battery as quickly as a wall outlet in bright sunlight.

The University of Illinois ranked tenth this year out of the top schools that produced the most 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 honorees. It is one of only two public schools to make the top ten institutions list. Kalyanpur joins other notable Illinois alumni including Ashley Moy and Jason Troutner (co-founders of Cast21), Elizabeth Engele and Julie Haried (co-founders of Makergirl), Kimberly Lewis (co-founder of CurlMix), and Andy Lee (chief investment officer at Parallaxes Capital). 

Read more about Kalyanpur's work from Forbes and Gies Business.