Uday Dandavate

Uday Dandavate is Co-Founder and CEO of SonicRim, recognized for championing participatory design, co-creation, and social imagination in innovation. As a design researcher, facilitator, and author, he empowers organizations worldwide to foster empathy and insight, inspiring new approaches to strategic growth and transformation.

Uday has guided Fortune 500 companies, startups, and social innovators to balance global vision with local relevance. He is deeply committed to education and mentorship, having taught at institutions including the National Institute of Fashion Technology (Delhi), 180 Academy (Denmark), California College of the Arts (San Francisco), and Carnegie Mellon University’s Integrated Innovation Institute (Sunnyvale).

An active writer and creative, Uday’s work—books, music, and global conversations—encourages ethical awareness and the power of imagination in shaping human futures.

Dr. Peter Kwok Chan

Dr. Peter Chan is a skilled Information Synthesis and Visual Explanations Consultant for SonicRim. With a wealth of experience in Collaborative Design and Brand Design, Peter merges Design Thinking and Design Doing within a comprehensive brand design framework.

In his work, Peter combines human-centered perspectives and innovative problem-solving techniques to generate empathetic and impactful solutions. Drawing from his vast experience advising organizations such as American Electric Power Company, College of Public Health at OSU, Honda of America Performance Manufacturing Center, and Procter and Gamble Company, Peter drives meaningful change and innovation at SonicRim. Peter is also a professor of Visual Communication at The Ohio State University.

Isha Dandavate

Isha has been a Qualitative UX Researcher for 13 years, beginning her career at SonicRim, and later working at Google for 11 years, in multiple orgs including YouTube, Classroom, and most recently, Google Search. She holds a masters in information management and systems from UC Berkeley, and a bachelor's degree from New York University. 

Isha is experienced with a range of qualitative research methods that drive both design decisions and product strategy. At Google, she led research that drove dozens of product launches and influenced exec-level decision making. She has a deep expertise in inclusive design, having led Google Search's product inclusion strategy for four years. Most recently, she worked on a horizontal project innovating new features for AI Mode on Search. 

Isha recently resigned from Google to take a career break, and is consulting in a part time capacity.