Award celebration and student pitch event will take place October 21 in the EMPAC theatre
September 29, 2026
The Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has named Ajit Prabhu ’98, Co-Founder and CEO of Quest Global, as the 2026 recipient of the William F. Glaser '53 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The honor recognizes Ajit's role in co-founding and leading Quest Global, a global engineering services company.
Established in 1990, the Entrepreneur of the Year award honors RPI graduates who have achieved success as entrepreneurs and now serve as role models for current students and aspiring entrepreneurs. The annual honorees bring the world of entrepreneurship into the classroom by sharing their career experiences with students.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place on October 21 at 1 p.m. in the EMPAC theater on RPI’s campus. In addition to the awards ceremony and a fireside chat with RPI President Marty Schmidt ’81, the event will include a startup pitch competition and poster presentations by RPI students and faculty. Pitch and poster topics include a wide range of products, from healthcare and e-commerce to energy and space technology.
“Ajit is an entrepreneur whose experience across diverse sectors reflects commitment to innovation and positive business impact,” said Eric Ledet, Director of RPI’s Severino Center. “We challenge our students to think big, and Ajit exemplifies this mindset with a passion for solving complex engineering problems.”
Ajit was a student at RPI when he and his partner started Quest Global in 1997. Under his leadership, the company has grown to global scale, operating in more than 20 countries with 104 delivery centers and more than 23000 employees.
Dedicated to the premise that culture is as impactful as business strategy, Ajit built Quest Global on the principles of aspiration, humility, and hunger. Quest is one of the world’s fastest-growing engineering services firms, providing innovative end-to-end solutions for customers in the aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, high-tech, medical device, rail, semiconductor, and communication industries.
"RPI is where my entrepreneurial journey began, and this recognition means a great deal to me," said Prabhu. "We started Quest Global with a simple but powerful belief: that engineering can address complex challenges. I hope our story shows the next generation of engineers and founders that thinking big, staying humble, and never giving up is the only way to build something that truly matters."
Event Details
Entrepreneur of the Year Award Celebration
1:00PM -Wednesday, October 21, 2026
EMPAC – Troy, New York
Please RSVP for the event here.
About Quest Global
Quest Global is a global engineering services company that supports customers across a range of industries, including Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Energy, Hi-Tech, MedTech & Healthcare, Rail and Semiconductor. The company operates in more than 20 countries with 104 delivery centers and more than 23000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit https://www.questglobal.com/.
About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Founded in 1824 for the application of science to the common purposes of life, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the first technological research university in the United States. Today, it is recognized as a premier university, noted for its robust and holistic learning community that connects creativity with science and technology. RPI is dedicated to inventing for the future, from shaping scientists, engineers, technologists, architects, financiers, managers, and entrepreneurs who will define what’s next for humanity, to research that bridges disciplines to solve the world's toughest problems. Learn more at rpi.edu.