Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has appointed Ramesh Kumar, former ESPN Vice President and Head of ESPN (India and South Asia) and Global Head of ESPNcricinfo, as the Chief Executive Officer of Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA), as per the press release.
The institute said that the Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics at IIT Madras will be a global platform for fostering innovation in sports technology and deliver products and solutions to enhance athlete performance and also serve general fitness and health consumers. It will also create and deliver products and solutions across media platforms and work with sporting federations and bodies (creating their platforms and enhancing on ground experience and working with other media platforms) to increase fan engagement.
CESSA will also be establishing an Incubator ecosystem for Sport Tech start-ups. This will be supported by inter-disciplinary faculties accomplished in the field of modelling, data science, IoT and AI and wearables and biomechanics. The center will also deliver high quality Sports science and education courses and sports coaching products targeted at students and coaches through various strategic collaborations with IIT Madras’ credibility, expertise, content and certification.
Over the next few years, CESSA will also take the lead in carrying out cutting-edge research in sports science and analytics in collaboration with leading institutes in the world.
“We are delighted that CESSA will be led by Ramesh, an industry veteran with a proven track record of impact. This aligns with our commitment to be at the forefront of sports tech helping athletes, coaches and all stakeholders,” Mahesh Panchagnula, dean, Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madrasand, Head of CESSA said.
Ramesh Kumar, an alumnus of IIT Madras (BTech (ME), 1992 Batch) comes with more than three decades of industry experience with an initial corporate stint with the Tata Group in India and close to 24 years in the sports industry. He has been providing leadership to drive global digital leadership, innovation and growth of the world’s no 1 digital sports brand ‘ESPNcricinfo’. He also drove overall strategic leadership for ESPN India and South Asia operations.
“I am excited to join the Center and leverage the deep tech knowledge and domain strengths in the fields of AI, ML, data science, IoT/sensors, computer vision technology and biomechanical analysis to envision solutions and products for sportspersons, general athletes, media platforms, sports fans, sporting federations and players in the sports education domain,” Ramesh Kumar, CEO, Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA), IIT Madras, said.
CESSA is already collaborating with leading institutes nationally and globally focussed in the field of Sports science, technology and engineering including Sports Authority of India, National Center for Sports Science Research, Inspire Institute of Sports, Northwestern University and University of Birmingham.