About
Dharm is a Chartered Professional Engineer and is registered with the Board of Engineers, Malaysia and the Institution of Engineers, Australia as well as registered as an APEC Engineer.
Born in 1967 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Dharm Navaratnam did his secondary education at the Victoria Institution. He did his South Australian Matriculation at Taylors College in Kuala Lumpur and then furthered his education in Melbourne, Australia where he qualified for a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical and Computing) from Monash University.
After completing his degree, Dharm worked for a while in Melbourne in a small manufacturing business that specialised in component manufacture for Semi Trailers.
Upon his return to Kuala Lumpur, he worked, for a brief period, in an Australian based Engineering software house before realising his dream and passion for Aviation by joining Malaysia Airlines in the Engineering Division. He held various technical roles focused mainly on MRO for Airframe and Aircraft Engines. He was also involved in Project Managing the construction and set up of the new Engine Maintenance Centre.
He then moved to General Electric Aircraft Engines where he headed the Information Technology and ReEngineering department. This is also where he gained vast exposure to Six Sigma methodologies for process improvement.
After the downturn in the aviation industry in the late 90s he moved to Maxis in 2003 and then to Time dotCom in 2011. In both companies, he held various Engineering and strategy roles covering Quality Management, OSH Management, Fiber Deployment, Coverage and Rollout, Network Audit and Network Operations.
After more than 27 years in the Corporate World, he decided to move out on his own. He now does freelance consulting on matters relating to technology, strategy and also media. He is also taking the time to explore his passion for writing and photography and continues to write opinion pieces and other articles for various publications.
In his spare time, Dharm enjoys sports, music, reading, as well as theatre and the arts. He is also passionate about cooking and used to maintain a food blog.
He has maintaned strong links with his old school and served as one of the coaches for the Victoria Institution U15 and U18 hockey teams for 5 years. He was also a member of the VIOBA Management Committee for 6 years.