Alok Madasani, a 32-year-old engineer from Hyderabad, is an aviation programme coordinator at Garmin, a company that designs and makes communications and information devices in Olathe, Kansas.

His education and career pathway is similar to many bright young engineers from India — after a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering from Vasavi College in Hyderabad, he moved to University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) for a Masters in electrical engineering in 2006. His career fell in place two years on when he landed a job at Rockwell Collins. And in 2014 he joined Garmin, one of the largest employers in Kansas.

The American Dream took a horrible turn for the young man when, on February 22, he and his friend and colleague Srinivas Kuchibhotla were attacked at a pub near their workplace, Austins Bar & Grill. The hate crime by an American shooter Adam Purinton led to the death of Kuchibhotla and injured Madasani and Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old American who tried to save them.  Read more.