How Rishi Padmanabhan Spreads Technology Through Education

Rishi Padmanabhan wanted to make a change in the world. Then, he started a nonprofit organization, the Irvine Repair Consortium.

Rishi Padmanabhan has always had a passion for fixing things. Since a young age, he’s tinkered, plugged, and rewired anything with a screen. At 6 years old, he connected a GPS to a TV. The reason? He felt like it. By 9, he was fixing iPad’s and restoring them to full functionality. 

Now just as a 15-year old, Rishi Padmanabhan has found a way to channel his passion into an outlet that simultaneously serves his community. As the owner of an Irvine-based phone restoration center, he’s been able to service dozens of devices within his local area. 

The Irvine Repair Consortium not only fixes phones-they teach their methods to anyone who wants to learn. The Padmanabhan philosophy is simple: no matter what, he wants to share his passion with as many people as possible. 

Rishi first takes the new students through a training course where they learn how to analyze, repair, and flip broken devices. After the hands-on practice with organization-provided materials, everyone’s caught up to speed. 

From there, they get to work. The Irvine Repair Consortium eventually sells the finished products on a variety of websites. 

Profits, however, don’t go back to the members. As written on the organization’s website, all money is put back into training new members or donating to a local charity in the Orange County area. 

He’s been able to educate, train, and mobilize various groups of students that love figuring out how things work. To date, The Irvine Repair Consortium has created thousands of dollars through its work on broken devices. 

Rishi notes “our mission isn’t about profit. It’s about education. We’re frequently innovating new lectures, programs, and activities for our members to learn from. I think that being able to fix a broken thing is extremely important, especially as we’re seeing technology become a bigger part of our normal lives.”

The Irvine Repair Consortium works on a vast variety of devices. From Apple to Samsung to Windows computers, they’ll fix anything with a screen and some wiry guts inside. Still, iPhones and iPads are some of the most popularly undertaken projects, also among Rishi’s specialties. 

Rishi Padmanabhan hopes to continue his work with The Irvine Repair Consortium in the near future, especially as it continues to represent his outlet for bringing a passion for technology into the community around him. 

The Irvine Repair Consortium’s work can be found on their organizational website and Instagram page. Rishi Padmanabhan’s personal Instagram page can be found here.

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