 |
|
|
From left, UMD President Darryll J. Pines, Rattan Khosa M.S. ’71, and Clark School Dean Samuel Graham. Photo by Mike Morgan. |
|
Rattan Khosa M.S. ’71 takes his maxim from field hockey, where he went from walk-on to A-team starter as an undergraduate in India. “If you don’t take the shot, you’re not going to score,” he says. Today, the engineering alum is putting his tenacity behind his philanthropic and business efforts to pay forward the shots he was given as a Terp.
Khosa grew up comfortably, thanks to his father’s career as a civil engineer. However, after Khosa earned his engineering degree, he was rejected for a position in his hometown, despite being ranked first among 125 applicants. He decided to pursue his future in the U.S., earning a structural engineering fellowship from the Clark School’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), and left home. He took a risk and left with only $8, due to the foreign-exchange crisis in India at that time.
He remembers arriving at UMD with just $3.75 remaining. Alone and broke, he relied on his classmates, who loaned him money for living expenses. He also recalls the kindness and mentorship he received from his adviser, the late Professor Conrad Heins. When asked by Heins about his experience with computers, Khosa admitted he had never touched a computer before. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to do the work and would have to return to India. “Heins gave me a break,” Khosa says, “and I learned that you have to work hard and find a way to succeed while reaching out to others.” Perseverance, determination, and resilience helped him to complete his coursework and earn his UMD degree.
Khosa refused to give up, was accepted to the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business on the third try, and earned his MBA. He entered the post-tensioning industry with no prior knowledge. While growing professionally, he lost his job many times. Out of desperation, Khosa launched AMSYSCO in the basement of his house in 1981 with a lifetime savings of $44,000, a mortgage, a young family, and three employees. “My dad, a father and a friend, encouraged me to take the risk and convinced me that I had what it took to succeed as an entrepreneur.”
AMSYSCO prevailed and today is a top supplier of unbonded post-tensioning systems, barrier cable, and stud rails with an industry-leading manufacturing facility. Through profit sharing, Khosa has created a company culture of collaboration and enjoys seeing his employees achieve financial success.
Now Khosa, who in 2023 received the Glenn L. Martin Medal, the Clark School’s highest honor, is sharing his gifts with Maryland engineers. In 2014, he funded the Rattan L. Khosa Graduate Endowed Scholarship in Structural Engineering at the Clark School, which provides awards for CEE graduate students. This year, in recognition of his inspirational life story, the Clark School established the Rattan L. Khosa Resiliency Award for Clark School undergraduate students who have overcome obstacles and persisted in realizing academic, personal, and professional accomplishments.
In recognition of his leading philanthropic commitment to the Stanley R. Zupnik Hall Gift Fund, the Clark School will name the building’s multistory student space the Rattan L. Khosa Student Lounge. When completed in 2026, Zupnik Hall will be a nexus for multiple engineering disciplines and university institutes. Khosa is excited for the role engineering students play in solving society’s greatest challenges, such as food and water security as well as sustainable transportation and housing.
At the Rattan L. Khosa Student Lounge, Khosa’s American success story will be featured on a plaque and drinking cups. “My whole endeavor is to inspire students and others to succeed,” he says.
“If I could do it with just $3.75, imagine what you can do.”
November 7, 2025
|
