Board Of Governors

Dr. B N Suresh is presently, Chancellor, Indian Institute of Space science and Technology, (IIST) Thiruvananthapuram, Chairman, Board of Governors, MVJ College of Engineering, Bangalore and Honorary Distinguished Professor at ISRO HQ, Bangalore. He was President of Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), a premier Engineering Academy of the Country at Delhi for four years. Dr Suresh served at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, VSSC, Trivandrum for almost four decades and took over as Director, VSSC in 2003 and served for four years. He has contributed significantly for the design and development and successful launches of Indian Launch vehicles SLV3, ASLV, PSLV, GSLV mk2 and GSLV Mk3 which successfully flew Chandrayaan 3.

He took over as Founder Director for the newly established Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) at Trivandrum in 2007 and continued for three and half years. He was a Member, Space Commission for four years. He is a fellow of several professional bodies in India like Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Delhi, Indian National Science Academy(INSA), Delhi, Astronautical Society of India(ASI), System Society of India and Aeronautical Society Of India (AeSI)

He is an elected Fellow of International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) at Paris and also an elected member of National Academy of Engineering (NAE), USA. He was Head of Indian delegation for the United Nations Committee for space on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at Vienna, Austria during 2004-07. He was elected as Chairman of the United Nations Scientific and Technical Committee for the year 2006 by the Asia Pacific Countries.

He has won more than 25 awards and prominent among them are “Agni Award” from DRDO , “Distinguished Alumni Award” from IIT Madras, “Lifetime Contribution Award” from Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) “Aryabhata Award” the highest award by Astronautical Society of India, “Karnataka Rajyotsava Award” a top award from Government of Karnataka, “Life time Achievement Award” from Karnataka State Science and Technology Academy and also by ISRO, Government of India, in 2016.

He has also received a number of international recognitions like “Global Pioneer Award” by International Council of System Engineering (INCOSE) at Washington, DC, “Engineering Sciences Book Award”, by the International Academy of Astronautics, (IAA) at Paris and “ IEEE Simon Ramo award 2020”, by IEEE, USA at Vancouver, Canada.

In recognition of his meritorious contributions for Science and Technology, Govt. of India conferred on him “Padmasree” in the year 2002 and third highest civilian Award “Padma Bhushan” in the year 2013.

Mr. M J Balachandar, the esteemed Chairman of MVJ College of Engineering (MVJCE), is a visionary leader dedicated to shaping the future of education. With a profound commitment to excellence, Mr. M J Balachandar has played a pivotal role in guiding MVJCE towards academic distinction and holistic development. Under his guidance, MVJCE has flourished into a premier institution known for its commitment to quality education, innovative teaching methods, and industry-relevant programs. Mr. M J Balachandar’s unwavering dedication to nurturing young minds and fostering a culture of excellence has earned him widespread admiration and respect within the academic community. His visionary leadership continues to inspire students, faculty, and staff alike, driving MVJCE towards greater heights of success and accomplishment.

Prof. Raghunandan graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, in Aeronautical Engineering, in1971, and obtained his Doctorate from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1976. As a specialist in the area of Aerospace Propulsion and Combustion, he served on the faculty of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, IISc. for 38 years. He has mentored more than 80 students at the undergraduate level and has published more than 250 articles in reputed Journals and Conferences.

Some of the important academic positions he has held at IISc:

• Dean, Faculty of Engineering
• Chairman, Division of Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Chairman, Department of Aerospace Engineering
• Chairman, Centre for Application of Science and Technology to Rural Areas
• Convener, Space Technology Cell

Prof. Raghunandan was a Visiting Scientist at a few Universities in UK, including University of Leeds and Imperial College, London. He was an International Scholar and Visiting Professor at Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan, and has widely travelled all over the world, on academic missions and for technical lectures.

He received the Alumni Award of ‘Excellence in Research’ from IISc. and also held the Satish Dhawan Chair professorship. He represented India at the International Committee on Air Breathing Engines. He was the Director, Centre of Propulsion Technology at IIT Bombay, before returning to IISc., Bangalore. Prof. Raghunandan was also designated as Distinguished Visiting Professor of IIT, Bombay. He played pivotal roles in establishing the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development and the Pratt & Whitney Research Centre at IISc.

A Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering and the Aeronautical Society of India, Prof. Raghunandan has served on many important committees of ISRO, DRDO, DST, CSIR, KSCST and many other academic Institutions. From 2009 until January 2021, he was an Advisor to Director, IISc., piloting the development of the second campus of the Indian Institute of Science. Under PMMMNMTT, he was coordinating teacher training activities at the IISc. campus at Challakere. He is currently the Chairman of the trust, National Committee on Air-breathing Engines (NCABE), and is associated with several engineering institutions in an advisory capacity. With his nearly half a century of experience in Aerospace Engineering, he continues to guide many institutions in this field.

Dr. Viraj Kumar has played a stellar role in the framing of the National Education Policy 2020, in his capacity as a member of the Technical Secretariat to the Kasturirangan Committee which drafted NEP 2020. Besides, he is a Senior Consultant in the Technical Secretariat to the Steering Committee drafting the National Curricular Framework. He is an Adjunct Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. His contribution to the undergraduate programme at IISc. is noteworthy.

After completing his Ph.d in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Kumar taught Computer Science for several years at both a liberal arts college and a premier research university in the US. After returning to India, Dr. Kumar’s primary research focus has been in Computer Science Education.

Dr. Viraj Kumar is an elected member of the ACM India Council where he chairs the prestigious Education Committee. He has contributed to two Task Groups of the Karnataka Knowledge Commission.

Mr.Vasantha Kumar Narayan is a hardware and software enthusiast with a great deal of experience in developing products in the area of Car Infotainment, Continuous Software Delivery, Performance Support Systems & Mobile Communication. Technology development and Product Engineering have been his passion and forte. 

Currently he is part of the Alegeus India Leadership team and heads the development of the Next Generation Data Platform for Healthcare and Fintech domains.

Mr. P. S. Krishnan is a distinguished Scientist, well-known in the field of Science and Technology. He is the former Director of the Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bengaluru, a premier Systems Establishment of DRDO. He has also held the position of Chairman for the AR&DB panel Unmanned Aero Systems (was SIGMA earlier) since 2015.

For 4 years, Mr. P. S. Krishnan worked at DRDL (now RCI), Hyderabad, on the development of Gimbaled Inertial Navigation System which was tested successfully in Avro Aircrafts. And for 37 years, he worked at Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) in various positions, including as its Director. At ADE, he was involved in the development of Flight Control System (FCS) for Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) and systems such as Missile Target, Pilotless Target Aircraft (Lakshya), Mini Remotely Piloted Vehicle (Sparrow), Tactical UAV (Nishant), Subsonic Cruise Vehicle (Nirbhay), Laser Guided Bomb (Sudharshan), Endurance UAV Rustom-1 and Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV Rustom-II. His contribution to the development of Quadruplex Digital Fly By Wire Flight Control System (FCS) for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, is noteworthy. This is one of the very critical technologies that has been successfully developed by our country. Tejas has a record of over 2400 successful flights, without a single in-flight failure! It has been inducted into the IAF, too. Lakshya and Nishant have also been enlisted into the Indian Defense Services.

Mr. P. S. Krishnan has published several papers in reputed journals and conferences. The book written by him titled ‘DFCS for Practising Engineers’ is widely used as reference material by Engineers. He has been bestowed with many awards that include DRDO Award for path breaking research for the development of Fly By Wire FCS for Tejas in the year 2002, and DRDO Performance Excellence Award in 2010 for the development of Nishant UAV. He holds membership of several prestigious Societies. He is a Fellow of the Aeronautical Society of India and the Systems Society of India. He is a Life Member of the Society for Aerospace Quality and Reliability – he was the President of this Society from 2008 to 2013. He was the Chairman of Aeronautical Society of India, Bangalore Branch, from 2012 to 2014. He served as an Independent Director in the Board of Directors of HAL, from 2014 to 2017. He offers Consulting on FCS related issues to DRDO and private companies.

Prof. S. Chandrashekar is JRD Tata Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru. Before joining NIAS, he was teaching Corporate Strategy and Policy Areas at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB). Prior to this, he spent more than 20 years working at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Prof. Chandrashekar’s work at ISRO enveloped all parts of its Space programme – satellites and rockets, as well as the various applications of space technology, including remote sensing and telecommunications. Apart from the noteworthy role that he played in ISRO’s major projects such as the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite, he dealt with activities related to international cooperation with countries like the USA, France, the European Space Agency (ESA), Germany and the Soviet Union. He has represented and led Indian delegations to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS). He was also involved with the space-related activities of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva.

Apart from teaching courses on corporate and technology strategy, his research interests at IIMB included technology and competitive advantage, technology priorities for India, national technology policy, studies on innovation, telecommunications, national innovation systems, modelling complex systems and national security issues.

At NIAS, Prof. Chandrashekar’s work covers largely, the missile, nuclear and space domains. These include war and deterrence strategies, space weapons, and space war, with a special focus on China. He has also conducted several studies on Chinese strategies in hi-tech areas such as the single crystal turbine blade technology used in aero-engines and Rare Earth which are used in many hi-tech products. Along with his colleagues at NIAS, he has also studied the use of satellite imagery for identifying Uranium Mills.

In his recent book titled ‘Space, War and Security – a Strategy for India’, Prof. Chandrashekar outlines a space strategy for India that links space assets with both developmental and military needs. This book has been translated into Chinese. His significant study of China’s Space programme has also been published as a book by Springer Nature. This is titled ‘China’s Space Programme – from the Era of Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping’. He has also completed a study of China’s Anti-Access Area Denial (A2AD) strategy and its implications for war and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific Region.

Prof. Chandrashekar is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the RBANMS group of educational institutions. RBANMS is a 150-year-old charity trust that provides quality education to the poorer sections of Bangalore city. He is also a member of the Academic Council of the Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S).

Dr. K. Ramachandra is a leading Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Consultant, a Chartered Mechanical Engineer who was the Director of the Gas Turbine Research Establishment, under DRDO of the Government of India. He has over 35 years of R&D experience, and 14 years of Teaching and Training experience.

Dr. K. Ramachandra steered the Aero Engine (KAVERI) for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and the Marie Gas Turbine System and Small Gas Turbines of 300 kgf Thrust class. He had a big role in setting up the advanced Aeronautical Material Testing Laboratory at Hyderabad, established to certify and characterize the Titanium Alloys and High Temperature Super-Alloys developed in the country. He is credited with a major weight reduction program of aero-engines, and the development of On-Line Life and Usage Monitoring system for aero-engines.

He conceived, planned and established the state-of-the-art Rapid Prototyping facility for the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), at the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), Bangalore. During his tenure as the Director of GTRE, he served as the Coordinator of the Propulsion Panel. Under his guidance, Stereo-lithography and FDM technology-based RP Systems were installed at the Centre, which has now grown to be one of the advanced Metal Additive Manufacturing Centers for Aero-space and Automobile Engineering applications. Dr. Ramachandra has launched several projects related to Gas Turbine Engines, including the new Gas Turbine Technology initiative, with nearly Rs. 100 Crores project outlay.

Dr. K. Ramachandra has initiated several on-going Gas Turbine technologies required for the Fifth Generation Aero-Engines. He has networked and integrated all major engine development disciplines: configuration control, CFD, aerodynamics, thermal mapping, heat transfer, stress analysis, structural dynamics, rotor blade and spool dynamics, critical speeds and aero-elasticity. He has developed polymer matrix composites and SiC-SiC ceramic matrix composites – a maiden effort in High Temperature Composites for aero-engines. He spearheaded the challenge of Residual Life Estimation and Life Extension of several aero-engines of the Air Force. As a part of the MRO Program, he was the Project leader of the Turbine Life Improvement Program (TULIP) project.

Under his leadership, many major Certification test facilities required for Certification of Aero-Engines have been set up in India. He is one of the architects of the Airworthiness Certification Process. He played a significant role in the development and testing of indigenous accessory drive gear box, gas turbine engine for Pilotless Target Aircraft, jet fuel starter for Light Combat Aircraft and Wankel Engine for UAVs. He is the anchor person of the program on certification of Aero-Engines in situations like bird strike, ice ingestion and water ingestion. He is the President of the Bird Strike Research Group of India (BSRGI) and has introduced the concept of foreign object damage and mandatory damage-tolerance design of contemporary aero-engines. It was his initiative to introduce smart sensors and actuators, for de-icing and anti-icing.

Dr. Ramachandra is also deeply involved in the development of Fixed Wing, Rotary wing, Flapping Wing Mini and Micro Aerial Vehicles, including Entomopters and Tilt Rotor Aircraft, and has launched a major initiative on Unmanned Mini Underwater Vehicles, Amphibians, Unmanned Ground Robots, Aerostats and Water Surface Vehicles, for agricultural applications and Disaster Management.

He has held many prestigious positions. He is the CEO of the National Program on MICAV-NDRF Consortium NDRF, Institution of Engineers (India). He is a Member of the Steering Committee, NAFEMS (INDIA), and the Standing Committee on Autonomy to Engg. Colleges, VTU. He is a Member of Governing/Advisory Council of several Engineering Colleges in India like MVJ College of Engineering, PES College of Engineering, Acharya Institute of Technology, Government Tool-Room and Training Centre, BMS College of Engineering, Christ University, Sastra University, Dayanand Sagar University etc. He was the former Hon. President of the Engineering Design and Analysis Forum (EDAF), Institution of Engineers, and former Member of the Academic Senate of VTU.

Dr. Ramachandra is a Member of several prestigious Societies like Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), USA, Aeronautical Society of India (Ae SI), Material Research Society of India (MRSI), Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), Institute of Smart Structures and Systems (ISSS), India Rapid Prototyping Society of India (RPSI), Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Institute of Defense Scientists and Technologists (IDST). He has several publications to his credit, in 95 National / International Publications in Journals and Conferences. He contributes his valuable experience and knowledge as a Research Advisor in 15 Ph.D., 4 MS and 40 M.Tech programs.

Professor Dr. Jitendra B. Naik brings to the table 24 years of Teaching experience combined with a good 27 years of Research experience. He has published papers at more than 120 National and International forums and attended more than 75 prestigious conferences. He has been granted 3 patents. He has guided many students for their Doctorate – as many as 20 of the students he guided have been awarded Ph.D. Many of his Projects have received funds from reputed bodies – 4 from UGC, 1 each from CSIR, DST and DRDO. Besides, he is working on one more Project that is being funded by DST. He is the proud recipient of several awards and accolades – the UGC-BSR Mid-Career Award and an Award from the Materials Research Society of India, to name a few.

Dr. Jitendra B. Naik is the member of many reputed professional bodies. He is serving as Coordinator at SAP-DRS, UGC, New Delhi, and at the august TEQIP, World Bank. Besides, his name has been shortlisted for the post of Vice-Chancellor, for interaction with the Search Committee. He is a member of the Expert Committee of UGC and AICTE. He is a Peer Team Member of both NAAC, Bangalore and NBA, New Delhi. He is also a Member of the Management Council, Academic Council, Board of Studies and Senate at the KBC North Maharashtra University. He has contributed his valuable experience as Member of the Board of Studies at TEQIP and UICT. He has been nominated by UGC as Advisory Committee Member to the Chemical Engineering Department at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Currently, he is Director at the University Institute of Chemical Technology, KBC North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon.

It is a matter of great pride that he is on the Board of Governors at MVJ College of Engineering, Bangalore.

Dr. Brindha Mohan is a consummate researcher and accomplished academician, with an impressive 17-year track record in the field of Education. She did her Masters degree at College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University. She is a Gold Medalist in her Postgraduate studies. With a Ph.D. in Networked Control System, Dr. Brindha Mohan has continuously demonstrated an exceptional expertise in curriculum development, classroom instruction and administration. Throughout her academic journey, she evinced a lot of passion and commitment that endowed on her, various leadership positions with increasing responsibilities – offices like Head of the Department, IQAC Coordinator, NAAC and NBA Coordinator and Vice Principal at MVJ College of Engineering, Bangalore.

She is certified by National Instruments as a LabVIEW Associate Developer. She has trained many faculty and students in LabVIEW. She has several papers to her credit, including Scopus and IEEE. Her research areas include Embedded Systems, Control Systems, Computer Networks, Distributed and Real time systems. She has attended a good number of FDPs, Workshops and Conferences, and organized more than 40 workshops/FDPs/Conferences.

Dr. I Hameem Shanavas is the Dean- Student Affairs at M.V.J. College of Engineering, Bangalore. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication in 2006, Master’s in VLSI Design in 2008, Master’s in Business Administration in 2009 and PhD from Anna University, Chennai, in 2015.

He has worked in the Electronics and Communication department at various institutions, across many states in India. He has published 65 articles in national and international journals and conferences. He is on the Editorial Committee of many international journals, and Reviewer for many journals like IEEE Transactions and Science Direct.

Dr. I Hameem Shanavas is a member of professional bodies like ISECE, IACSIT, IAEng, ISTE etc. His research areas include VLSI physical design and testing, low power, DSP implementations and CAD algorithms.