S. Krishnakumar has been a consistent first ranker across his undergraduate and postgraduate education. A mechanical engineer from College of Engineering Guindy, he went on to do his PG from IIT Madras and his MBA from the University of Madras post which he went through the management development programmes at IIM Ahmedabad and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has over 46 years of work experience across various companies like The English Electric Co of India Ltd, Larsen & Toubro group and Lucas TVS Ltd. He finally retired as the Senior Vice President of Lucas TVS Limited after 20 years of service. He has also worked with several Japanese and American consultants, filed 17 patents and serves as an expert in OEM customer management, R&D and Lean manufacturing  management.