296: Nick Santhanam, Is there a decline in US industrial prowess?

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 296, an episode with Nick Santhanam, the CEO of Fernweh Group, an investment company adapting an engaged investor & operator model (EIOM) to create alpha in the industrial and industrial technology sector.

In this episode, we dig deep into the prevailing narrative about the decline of manufacturing in the US and if that is the case, the actions needed from the government to bring back the US as a thriving manufacturing nation.

Nick Santhanam is a former Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company’s Palo Alto office and was the leader of their global industrials practice. In addition, Nick was the global convener of several McKinsey annual events, including the Industrial CEO event (GILS), Industrial-tech and Semiconductors CEO event (T-30), Food Processing CEO event (FPH-30), and Senior Tech Influencers Summit (TEDS). He co-authored several of their leading industrials research: McKinsey on Industrials, McKinsey on Food Processing and Handling, and McKinsey on Packaging.

He is also on the Advisory Board of Smithsonian Libraries, given his passion in continuous learning.

Early in his career, Nick worked as a technical manager at a printed circuit board (PCB) and ceramics manufacturer in New York. He also worked as a manufacturing engineer at another PCB and ceramics manufacturer in their Delaware facility.

Nick has an MS in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois and an MBA in Strategic Management and Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Ford and Palme Scholar.

Get Nick’s book here:

The Titanium Economy: How Industrial Technology Can Create a Better, Faster, Stronger America. Asutosh Padhi, Gaurav Batra, and Nick Santhanam

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