True to the meaning of her name, Ingrid Rasquinha, stands as one proud daughter of a father she takes to be her hero, for all his devotion to work and his achievements. But, what more, she didn’t stop at hero-worshipping; she instead took inspirations to take her father’s effort to new heights. Today, Ingrid Rasquinha, Jt. Managing Director of Electropneumatics & Hydraulics (I) Pvt. Ltd has established her company as the best in its segment.
According to Scandinavian people, the name “Ingrid” means “hero's daughter”. One can't find a more apt name for the proud daughter of Antony Rasquinha; Ingrid Rasquinha. Ingrid was born into a family where engineering flourished and was always around whirring machines that were many times bigger than little Ingrid. Today, Ingrid Rasquinha follows in her father’s footsteps to make her company the best in its sector.
Electropneumatics & Hydraulics India Pvt Ltd founded by Antony Rasquinha in 1972 was the first company to launch an indigenously designed pneumatic valve that was an affordable import substitute. From then on, the journey towards indigenous development and the creation of several pioneering products began.
Ingrid had a natural affinity towards manufacturing. She put forward an approach for the firm to be more dependent on machines than workers to reduce errors and increase efficiency. This technical contribution has helped a lot in making the firm the leading company in its segment today. Ingrid believes that a working woman can raise the most confident and independent children as they have someone who never gave up on their ambition to look up to.
Love for Machines from a Young Age
From a young age, Ingrid was drawn to the whirring machines that were many times bigger than her. She adds, “Watching my father devoting everything for his work inspired me to become an engineer and achieve something big in my life. Rather than playing dollhouse at home like most other girls, I always preferred to be in the factories of Electropneumatics & Hydraulics India Pvt Ltd at the side of my father.”
After graduating in Mechanical Engineering at University of South Florida Tampa, she joined the Electropneumatics family as a basic mechanical engineer in the machine designing department. Now as the company is about to celebrate its golden jubilee and herself being there for the past 25 years, Ingrid still remembers walking down the shop floor holding her father’s hands and throwing tantrums in his cabin with her brother Ashley Antony Rasquinha, who is also serving the Electropneumatics & Hydraulics. Developing a deep passion for machines and engineering was literally in her blood.
A Perfectionist who only strives for the Best
While some may believe that Ingrid was spoon-fed as the daughter of the founder, they cannot be farther from the truth. Ingrid achieved success due to her own hard and perseverance, she fought her way up like any other successful entrepreneur. She wasn't given or didn't ask for any special consideration or concession. Like every other employee, she too had to be on time and punch her card and also had the same salary. After years of constant hard work and dedication, she reached the Hydraulics design and then production team and went on to become the Jt. Managing Director.
Ingrid was always a day-to-day hands-on person. Even now as the Joint Managing director she looks after operations, production, planning, sourcing, some amount of HR, and design. Being the person of power was never her excuse to boss around. Ingrid adds, “It is said that “with great power comes great responsibilities”, and being the most powerful woman in the firm isn't an easy task. The art of balancing career and family while sparing time for you is still an enigma. It doesn't have a clear answer or code of conduct. Being a wife, a mother, and most importantly being a woman, made it even harder.”
Support From the Family
Mr Rasquinha, on his part, fully supported the passion of his daughter. He never doubted or complained about Ingrid choosing the field of engineering, which was mostly male-dominated; in fact, he was more than proud of his daughter and gave his blessings for her success. This support and being treated equally as her brother Ashley Rasquinha helped to build up her self-confidence and trust in herself.
Ingrid adds that she is blessed to have a husband in Mr Prashant and supportive in-laws who understand and respect her space while also supporting her ambitions as an entrepreneur. Despite long-work hours, Ingrid manages to set aside time for her family whenever possible. While being there for the company and her family she also tries to have her ‘me time' occasionally. “Whenever I manage to spare a little bit of free time from my schedule, I take the opportunity to go out and meet with old friends or go shopping,” Ingrid adds.
Taking Care of Her Employees
With over 700 workers, woman leader of Electropneumatics has a personal level connection with them all. Be it a financial crisis or health issues or at the time of any sort of hardships, she was always there for them. “I follow the model set up by my father to stand beside my employees in the face of any hardship. My father treated every single one of his employees as his family. Following in his footsteps I always try to help my employees as much as possible.”
Electropneumatics is implementing a lot of social activities like schools and financial support for the underprivileged, which were started by Mr Rasquinha and are successfully carried on by his children and son-in-law. In the beginning, when Ingrid first started, they had a hard time convincing clients about their products as it was a popular belief that high-end machinery can't be produced in India.
Today Electropneumatics is on par with any other organization in the world as they are producing everything in-house. Supporting the “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar” policies, Electropneumatics & Hydraulics India has produced new and advanced technologies like the next-gen missile launcher – Akash, stimulators for the Indian Navy and other specific military-grade products were indigenously devolved for the first time in India by them.
Adding a touch of Equality in the Manufacturing sector
The amount of self-confidence and self-esteem Ingrid Rasquinha possess is admirable. She is determined to spread her enthusiasm among her fellow women employees as well. She adds, “Two years back the company had only 6-7 female employees but now it's up to 24-25 and is looking forward to accommodating more. I strongly believe that women and men are equal but different. Both have their own strengths and complement each other in a way that brings two different aspects into one and resulting in a unique synergy.”
Ingrid believes that there is a certain level of softness and finesse that only a woman can bring into an organization and helps in the smooth functioning. On the issue of gender equality, Ingrid is quick to add that the Government has taken many positive steps to try and reform outdated laws and implement different policies to empower women to have the freedom of choice.
“I believe that there is talent hidden among all of us. We just need to take a step forward and try to reach our goals. The freedom of choice should be given to every individual- men or women to allow them to reach their potential. I have never put any pressure on my children to join the family business. They are free to choose what they want to be in life and be happy.”
