From Learning Games to Games for Learning

“I went from never playing games to running a board game community for six months straight,” laughs Senthil Kumar G stating the irony behind his startup MADIEE, which designs serious games focused on behavioral and leadership training for corporations.

The entrepreneur’s inclination towards revolutionising the education system dates back to his engineering college days. “I came to Chennai with many dreams,” he recalls. The first-generation graduate hailed from Kumarapalayam, a town near Namakkal. His excitement, however, was short-lived. “I valued education,” he says as he describes how his experience in an esteemed engineering program was not everything he thought it would be. 

That was when his mentor and current vice chancellor at Anna University, Professor Velraj, urged him to make a difference. “If you aren’t happy with the system, why don’t you become an academician?” he suggested.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps that was Senthil’s purpose in the grand scheme of things. 

In the following years, Senthil dived into research opportunities in mechanical engineering. He worked with leading scientists at DRDO…