Prof Manoj K. Arora is a renowned academician who has been making milestone contributions to higher technical education and research for over the last thirty-five years. He was conferred PhD in Remote Sensing from Swansea University, UK. Besides, he has also been a post-doctoral research fellow in a NASA-sponsored project in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Syracuse University, USA. His areas of specialisation include Remote Sensing, Digital Image Classification, AI and Machine Learning, and Hazard and Risk Studies.

Prof Arora received his Master’s in Civil Engineering from the University of Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee) in 1986 and a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, in 1984. He was also the Director of Punjab Engineering College (Deemed University), Chandigarh, for a five-year tenure from July 2013 - October 2018 while on lien from IIT Roorkee where he served as a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, and later as the Dean of Academic Studies during his thirty years of service there. In his recent assignment, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of BML Munjal University from November 2018 to September 2022.

Prof Arora has an enriching experience that also extends over to countries like the UK and the US. This includes teaching in the areas of geospatial technology and computer sciences, developing and establishing new laboratories and centres, executing sponsored research and consultancy projects of national and international repute, research guidance, university administration, coordinating national level examinations GATE, JMET and JAM, and serving on several national committees of regulatory bodies, research organisations, and boards of academic institutions.

Some of his notable academic achievements include the initiation and execution of 42 sponsored research and consultancy projects with funding of over INR 90 million, the establishment of a Centre and a Research Chair with an endowment of INR 125 million, publication of 2 books and 16 book chapters, publication of more than 250 research papers in International and National Journals and Conferences and rendered several invited talks and keynote addresses. He has guided 24 PhD theses (plus one currently registered) and 56 Master's Dissertations.

Prof Arora’s intense collaboration with prestigious institutes in India and abroad such as Syracuse University, USA; University of Nottingham, UK; Norwegian Geotechnical Society, Norway; Defence Electronics Applications Laboratory, Dehradun and Snow and Avalanche Establishment Center Chandigarh of DRDO; Space Application Center, Ahmedabad; IIIT Delhi; Tehri Hydro Development Corporation; Rail Vikas Nigam Limited and Indian Railways; CPWD has played a seminal role in defining his growth as an eminent academician.

He was also the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. He received the IIT Roorkee Outstanding Teacher Award twice (in 2006 and 2010), the Commonwealth Scholarship Award for PhD in the UK, the DST Young Scientist Award, the AICTE Young Teacher Career Award, and a post-doctoral fellowship in a NASA-sponsored project in the US. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Member IEEE. He also has been a member of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society, and the Indian Society of Remote Sensing.