Board of Governors

Dr. B N SURESH

Dr. B N Suresh is a renowned Aerospace Engineer, with several stellar accomplishments in space technology to his credit. He is an outstanding practitioner and researcher in systems engineering of complex space systems such as Control Systems, Actuation systems, Vehicle electronics, Simulation & Test systems, and Launch vehicle systems. His contributions to the Design, Mission planning and R&D Management for the Indian space program are remarkable.

Dr. Suresh has, from 2003 to 2007, commendably held the prestigious post of Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the lead centre of ISRO in launch vehicle development. As Distinguished Scientist and Director at VSSC, he provided a dynamic leadership for the development of very complex launch vehicles, and contributed significantly for the successful launches of ASLV, PSLV and GSLV. He has been instrumental in establishing full-fledged and state-of-the-art laboratories needed for the evaluation of complex systems. He has nurtured and built world class actuation systems and launch vehicle simulation laboratories. He played a crucial role in steering the very complex Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), which involved several new and critical technologies. The module was flight-tested successfully with perfect re-entry and precise recovery operations.

Dr Suresh has delivered invited lectures at several International Institutions like European Space Policy Institute at Paris, Space Institute at Strasbourg, United Nations conferences at Vienna and many more. He has published more than 45 technical papers in prominent international and national Journals, Conferences and Symposiums. He has guided more than 450 technical reports on various technology developments at VSSC, during his 38-year tenure there.

Dr. Suresh served as the Head of the Indian delegation for the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at Vienna, Austria for four years. In 2006, he was also selected to chair the prestigious United Nations Scientific and Technical subcommittee dealing with the peaceful use of outer space.

He was the founding Director of the prestigious Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology established by ISRO in Thiruvananthapuram. He is currently its Chancellor. Besides, he was Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor at ISRO Head Quarters for 5 years since November 2010, and Distinguished Professor at IIT-Bombay and MIT- Manipal for 3 years. He was also a former member of the Space commission.

Dr. Suresh has bagged several awards and honours. Prominent among them are ‘Dr. Biren Roy Space Science Design Award’ from Aeronautical Society of India in 1993, ‘Distinguished Alumni Award’ from IIT, Chennai in 2004, ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ from the Dept. of Space, Govt. of India, ‘Lifetime Contribution in Engineering Award’ from INAE, ‘INCOSE Pioneer Award’ which is an International Award given by International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) at Washington, USA and ‘IEEE Simon Ramo Award’ from IEEE, for exceptional achievement in Systems Engineering and System Science, at Vancouver, Canada. In addition, our country honoured him by conferring him with a Padma Shri in the year 2002 and Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, in 2013.

Dr Suresh has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, as an ‘International member of the United States of America, USA National Academy of Engineering (NAE)’ in 2022. NAE is a prestigious body which has around 2000 peer-elected members, each one of them among the world’s most accomplished engineers. The American Government often consults this august body, on many policy matters. Becoming an elected member of NAE is the highest recognition every engineer across the globe can aspire for.

Prof. B N RAGHUNANDAN

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. K. RAMACHANDRA

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.

MR. VASANTHA KUMAR

Mr. Vasantha Kumar leads Product Management for AI and Analytics at OpsMx. During his long and distinguished career, he has developed products and platforms in different domains for both multinational companies as well as startups. Technology development and Product Engineering have always been his passion and forte.

Currently, Mr. Vasantha Kumar is building ML-based intelligent risk assessment software in the DevOps space - this is going to be a game-changing development, as it will enable people to deploy software without human intervention.

DR. VIRAJ KUMAR

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.

DR. JITENDRA B. NAIK

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.

PROF. S. CHANDRASHEKAR

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 co-operation with countries like USA, France, 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 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 Earths that 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 Charities 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).

Shri. P S KRISHNAN

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.

Dr. Vivekanand B Huddar

Dr. Vivekanand B Huddar is a Mechanical Engineer from Karnataka University, Dharwad. He obtained his Engineering degree in 1988. After his graduation, he worked in a Process industry as Project Engineer, for 10 years. He then moved to academia, taking up positions as Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering. From 2004 to 2006, he pursued M. Tech in Energy Systems Engineering from VTU, Belagavi, all the while continuing his service as a teacher. In early 2008, he took up the responsibility of heading Mechanical Engineering departments in various institutions. Involved in research since 2010, he completed Ph. D in Thermal Engineering from VTU, in 2019. Dr. Vivekanand B Huddar has published papers in reputed journals. He currently heads the Mechanical Engineering department in MVJCE, Bengaluru.

Dr. P. MAHABALESWARAPPA

Dr. P. Mahabaleswarappa has had an illustrious academic career spanning over 38 years, in teaching, research and industrial consultancy in engineering. Graduating in Mechanical Engineering from Malnad College of Engineering, Mysore University, he obtained his Post Graduation degree from Basaveswara Engineering College, Karnataka University and Doctorate in Engineering in the field of Abrasive Water Jet Machining. He has done extensive work in the areas of Water Jet Machining, especially study of material removal rate in the presence of chemically active liquid media and presence of polymers, as well as in composite materials. His research work includes the study and applications of various brittle materials.

He has successfully handled funds granted by MHRD for projects on modernization of Mechanical Engineering labs, and also involved himself in various consultancy works. He has guided many undergraduate and postgraduate students in their project work and evaluated several postgraduate theses. He has published three papers in International Journals and six in National Journals and Conferences.

He is a life member of the Indian Society of Technical Education. He has served as a member of prestigious academic bodies like Board of Studies and Board of Examinations. He has contributed as B.O.E. member at the undergraduate level, and B.O.S. member at the UG level at Kuvempu University. He was B.O.E. Chairman in Mechanical, Industrial & Production Engineering, and Automobile Engineering in Kuvempu University. He has played a significant role as Chief Superintendent of Engineering Examinations at Kuvempu University and VTU, several times. He has been a member of the Local Inspection Committee of VTU since many years.

Dr. P. Mahabaleswarappa has been nominated by VTU as Academic Council Member of Dayanandsagar College of Engineering, Bangalore. VTU has also nominated him as a member of the Governing Council of Brindhavan College of Engineering and J. S. S. Academy of Technical Education, Bangalore, and A. J. Institute of Technology, Mangalore. He is currently working as Principal, MVJ College of Engineering, Bangalore.

Prof. Hameem Shanavas

Prof. Hameem Shanavas is the Head of the ECE Department 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.

Prof. 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.