Akshay Khot is the Founder and Director of AutoGenius Pvt. Ltd. An Automotive Testing Company that tests automobiles to perfection for Automobile Manufacturers and guides its customers in selection of the most appropriate automotive for their needs. He is an entrepreneur, a philosopher, an influencer, a racetrack Racer and a mechanical engineer who believes everything is possible when one believes in himself, has the want of creating something and takes the right efforts in bringing it to life.
The Ideology behind Autogenius Pvt. Ltd.
Akshay conducted a survey which concluded 63% people are unhappy with their automobiles, he researched further to find the root cause of the problem, he found
- People are nearly cheated while Buying and Selling New as well as Used (Pre- Owned) Cars and bikes.
- The automobiles are forced down their throat for sales incentives by the sales person.
- The service offered to them are not up to the mark.
- Any sales guy from a Brand showroom “X” will never ask customers to buy “Y” even when the other is better. Everyone seems to be working for their own stomach it seems 😛
- Buyers are never informed about the service and maintenance costs before purchasing the vehicle.
- Majority of Automobile magazines are paid ransom from the manufacturers to talk good about their automobiles, coz that’s one way people judge automobiles and pre decide their first impression.
- Our genuine buyers are in a trap and don’t really know whom to ask out for help and go with their instincts or with what their family or friends say.
- Buyers wanted an automobile of "X" brand but they found the Sales & Service of that brand unworthy and hence ended up with a automobile "Y" and then regret on their choice.
Within a few months people end up selling automotives coz they aren’t the way the customers expected them to be. Resulting in loss of faith in the manufacturer, depreciation losses while selling the automobile, and unhappiness among the buyers.
Akshay always thought of working differently, and realized there’s a need for an Autogenius, he wanted to change things at a larger scale thereby founded the AutoGenius Pvt. Ltd. Where every car is tested to its perfection, every customer is analysed differently, their needs are understood and are suggested what’s actually perfect for them. His main motive is to see customers extremely satisfied with the automobiles and services offered to them. With this a new era of testing people and testing automobiles began. He spent time learning riding and driving patterns of people, Gained knowledge of every car/bike, every part, their costs, their maintenance schedules, their handling characteristics and then founded his company to help people get what they really desire.
Autogenius is also involved into testing prototype vehicles for automobile manufacturers, helping them manufacture automobiles with advance technologies and advising them on driving behaviour, quality of materials used, stability of the vehicle at high speeds and vehicle ergonomics.
History:
Akshay had a keen interest in automobiles from his school days. After SSC without wasting any time, he started studying Automobile Engineering Diploma from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Polytechnic in Mumbai and later graduated from Pune University affiliated Dhole Patil College Of engineering with a bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering.
During the 2nd year of Mechanical Engineering, he had a thought which changed his thinking towards engineering, the thought was deep and valuable “Every year more than a lakh engineer’s graduate, how would he be different from the others”, with this, he joined a group of friends and motivated each one to be different and specialize in the fields they like, this group was established by the name “Team Screwdrivers” and engineering through a new ideology began.
He strongly believes It makes a difference learning things in the early stages of life especially, the engineering college days, an engineer after his graduation spends almost 6 months struggling to find a job if not campus placed, since he has no experience, he is not treated right and doesn’t get the required motivation to flourish and use his engineering skills even after getting employed, many wish to work for automotive companies but in reality, a very few students get selected. After being selected, for the first 3 years the graduated engineer makes just one part of the vehicle, considering he is great at his job, he gets promoted as a supervisor and now there are newly graduated trainees work under him and he supervises the same product of the vehicle… so for nearly 6 to 8 years of his life, the engineer just learnt to make one part of a vehicle. Imagine the fun when someone in his engineering days could learn to design and manufacture a complete car and drive it. That would mean being 8 years faster than others. Akshay and his team did the same.
At Team Screwdrivers Akshay Khot joined in as an innovation specialist and a race driver in 2011. Started working on all prototypes, testing cars and bikes in extreme conditions, He is also well known to test cars with no brakes and manoeuvring them with extreme accuracy and precision. To his luck for the first time there was a National Go-karting Championship being announced. The Team Screwdrivers now had an opportunity to prove their thinking and their ideology of learning engineering in their own way through “The national Go-Karting Championship”, it was an event where students from colleges across India made Go-karts by themselves and raced them to victory. At this Championship the Team screwdrivers started at 22nd position and finished as 2nd runners up of more than 150 colleges participating. They brought the first ever trophy under their name, with Akshay khot as the primary race driver. Within a few months of the championship Akshay Khot was appointed as the State Representative of Maharashtra to teach students of engineering colleges the techniques to make cars with perfection. The first achievement in engineering life Akshay became well known for…
During the period of being state representative of Maharashtra state for Indian society of new era engineers, Akshay conducted several workshops to educate and encourage students in car making technologies, race track racing and motivating them to think differently and innovate new technologies.
Another opportunity knocked his doors when He was also asked to test vehicles for Baja SAE India, he was nominated as a technical inspector and given a technical specification sheet, to which he had to test cars and qualify the teams that made cars according to the spec. sheet. If the cars weren’t made correctly he had to disqualify them coz it would be a risk in racing them on the Baja track. It was a memorable experience and a new journey of testing a vehicle to perfection started.
Winners always have the want for more and Team Screwdrivers had a bigger opportunity this time, it was the next level “The Student Formula Championship”, “Supra SAE India” , a racing championship event organised by the society of automotive engineers, the team screwdrivers participated in the competition and secured 23rd position of 186 participant colleges.
In the recent years Akshay has tested more than hundreds of cars and bikes that include premium cars like the Jaguar’s, Audi’s and bikes that include Yamaha’s Honda’s, Harley Davidson's, Suzuki and others. He is well known for the quality testing he does for his customers and in helping them in the selection of the best automotive for their needs. Till date he has been highly recommended for the work he does with complete honesty and sincerity.
Few of his recent Achievements:
- Published a Research Paper in International Journal for Science and Advanced Research in Technology (IJSART) Volume 2, Issue 6, June 2016 on the “Analysis of Aerodynamic characteristics in Front wing of F1 car using Computational Fluid Dynamics”.
- Team Captain at (Formula Student) SUPRA SAE INDIA 2014 for Team Screwdrivers representing Dhole Patil College of Engineering.
- Primary Race driver at (Formula Student) SUPRA 2014 for Team Screwdrivers, trained under certification from MECO Racing.
- Innovations Dept. Head for Team Screwdrivers from 2012 till date.
- State Representative of Maharashtra for Indian society of new Era Engineers 2013-2014.
- Race driver for National Go Karting Championship 2013. Driving the Go-kart to its victory from 22nd to 2nd Runner’s up position.
- Won the 2nd Runners up trophy at National Go Karting Championship 2013.
- Secured 1st place trophy for Auto Quiz organized by Automotive Engineering Students Association.
- Participated at Yamaha one make Championships for Yamaha factory Racing 2011.
- Engineered & built a prototype: Formula 1 (F1) vehicle’s front wing – as proof of concept on a 3D printer, to create less drag and more downforce to improve the efficiency of the front wing using cfd analysis.
- Designed and Innovated the Automatic Fire Extinguishers which in case of fire detection sprays on 4 primary locations mainly the fuel tank, electrical harness, fuel lines and the engine, protecting the car and its components quickly and effectively.
- Designed and Fabricated the Sodium Polyacralite Firewall for Formula Student SAE India competition to protect the driver from extreme fire situations at 18000C.
- Developed & Programmed the Ultrasonic Sensors for Safety of driver whilst racing to alert and avoid crash. The sensor detected any objects within the range of 4m.
- Developed the Electromagnetic Fuel Saver with the help of Neodymium Iron Boron Magnets, which change the polarity of fuel molecule’s flowing through a copper pipe. Practically experimented of a 2-stroke engine of Yamaha RX 100 resulting into causing complete combustion, higher fuel efficiency and reduction in air pollutants.
- Designed & crafted an actual Flying Aircraft made out of polystyrene, powered by a 22000 RPM electric motor, with proper landing gears & flaps. A sustained flight was attained for more than 10 minutes.