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Dr V K Saraswat
Member, NITI AAYOG
Dr. V K Saraswat, is a Member of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and holding many honorary positions in Government and Academic Institutions. Dr. Saraswat was formerly Secretary to the Government of India, Defence (R&D). Dr Saraswat has been credited with development of Liquid Propulsion Rocket Engines and the missiles PRITHVI, DHANUSH, PRAHAAR indigenously. He is the principal architect of the Ballistic Missile Defence programme which included major technology breakthroughs. Dr Saraswat brought new dimensions to the strategic defence scenario through successful test firing of AGNI-5; SHOURYA; Initial Operational Clearance for Light Combat Aircraft TEJAS and induction of INS Arihant. Under his leadership, Defence Research and Development Organization provided the technologies developed by them for societal benefits such as Solar Powered Modular Green Shelters, Bio-Digesters, AAHAR programmes, explosive detection kit, Diagnostic Units for Dengu and Chickengunia and several others.
Dr Saraswat is the recipient of many national and international awards including PADMABHUSHAN (2013) and PADMASHRI (1998). Dr. Saraswat is Fellow / Member of following Professional Bodies: International Academy of Engg, Russia elected as Member of Academy and honored him as Academician (2007), Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering, Fellow & President of Aeronautical Society of India, Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), Fellow of Astronautical Society of India etc.
Dr P Sathyanarayanan
Pro-Chancellor, SRM University–AP
Prof. Manoj K Arora
Vice Chancellor, SRM University-AP
Dr S Chandra Sekhar
Former Secretary, Department of Science & Technology (DST)
Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, born in 1964, completed all his primary and higher education in Hyderabad and Joined CSIR, IICT for a Ph. D Programme. After completing his Ph. D (1991) with the then director Dr. A. V. Rama Rao, he moved to USA for a post doctoral position with Prof. J. R. Falck (1991-94). He joined CSIR-IICT as Scientist C in 1994 and grew upto the level of director in 2015. He is a fellow of all the three Indian Science academies, i.e., National Academy of Sciences, Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian National Science academy. He is also an Alexander von Humboldt fellow. He has made significant contributions in diverse areas of organic chemistry with a special emphasis on chiral chemistry, total synthesis of biologically active natural products and pharmaceutical products. He introduced polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a novel, environmentally benign solvent medium. He has developed technologies for the synthesis of latest anti-tuberculosis drug, bedaquiline; anti-tumor and abortive drug, misoprostol; anti-platelet molecule, beraprost; antidepressive compound, sertralin and drug for treatment of schizophrenia, asenapine. He has more than 285 publications with 7600 citations. 80 students have been already awarded Ph. D. degree under his able guidance and 20 post doctoral associates have worked in his group. He has received several accolades including Eminent Scientist Award for contributions in the field of Chemistry from Telangana State Government in 2017, CNR Rao National Prize for Chemical Research 2012, CSIR Technology award 2014 and Infosys prize in Chemical sciences 2014 for his contributions in synthetic organic chemistry with special focus on the synthesis of complex molecules from natural sources and innovative, practical approaches to pharmaceuticals of current interest to industry.
Prof. K Satyanarayana
Director, IIT Tirupati
Prof. Kalidindi N. Satyanarayana is the Director of IIT Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. He has been a Professor in the Building Technology & Construction Management Division of the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India. His teaching, research and consulting interests are in the areas of project management, construction contracts, construction productivity, construction equipment, C&D waste management and public private partnerships. He has published extensively in these areas.
He is the recipient of many academic awards including the PMI (India) Distinguished Scholar Award (2011). At IIT Madras he served as Advisor - Alumni Affairs (2004-2009) and Chairman - Engineering Unit (2010-2013). He is currently Chairman of the Implementation Committee for IIT Madras Research Park - Phase II (one million sq.ft. facility). He has served on the committees for setting up new campuses including - IIM Trichy, IIT Indore and IIT Jodhpur.
He is Chairman of the Academic Advisory Group, Project Management Institute (PMI) India; Vice-Chairman, Board of Advisors of The Glass Academy; Expert Member on the Board of Management of Building Materials & Promotion Council (BMTPC), and serves as Independent Director on five company boards.
Dr Mahendra Dev
Ex Director and Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai
Dr. Mahendra Dev is currently Director and Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India. He was Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Govt. of India, Delhi. He was Director, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad for 9 years during 1999 to 2008. He received his Ph.D. from the Delhi School of Economics and his Post-doctoral research at the Yale University and was faculty member at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai for 11 years. He is member of the Board of Trustees of International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. He is also member of National Statistical Commission in the rank of Secretary to Government of India.
Prof. Dev has more than 100 research publications in national and international journals. Oxford University Press has recently published his book Inclusive Growth in India. Recently his book Perspectives on Equitable Development was released by the Prime Minister of India. He has been a consultant and adviser to many international organizations, such as UNDP, World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute, ILO, FAO, and ESCAP. He also conducted collaborative projects with IFPRI on food security and poverty. He is the Chairman of the Committee on Terms of Trade on agriculture constituted by the Ministry of agriculture, Govt. of India. He is also member of the newly constituted Expert Panel on poverty estimates chaired by Dr. C. Rangarajan.
He has been a member of several government committees including the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Employment and Rangarajan Commission on Financial Inclusion. He was member of several working groups for 9th, 10th and 11th Five Year Plans. He has received honors for eminence in public service.
Prof. B S Murthy
Director, IIT Hyderabad
Prof. B. S. Murty is an Institute Professor and Girija & R. Muralidharan Chair Professor at the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Madras, India. He pioneered the entire field of advanced materials, such as High entropy alloys, Nanocrystalline materials and nanocomposites and bulk metallic glasses. He is a famous electron microscopist of our country and one of the few atom probe tomography experts recognized globally. He has authored 395 journal publications and published 4 books. His Scopus metrics are: h-Index-48; Citations-9450; i10-205. He has supervised 38 PhDs and 17 PhDs are pursuing their Ph.D., degrees under his guidance. He has completed over 55 sponsored research projects and currently handling 13 projects and filed 19 patents.
A National Facility for Atom Probe Tomography has been set up at IIT Madras under his leader ship. The facility can be remotely operable Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) (first such facility globally) that can characterize materials in 3D at the atomic scale.
He has also set up Deakin-IITM Centre of Excellence on Advanced Materials and Manufacturing at IIT Madras jointly with Deakin University, Australia.
He is a recipient of numerous awards that includes Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (2007) and JC Bose Fellowship award (2018-2023). He is a fellow of various national and international academies of science and engineering, such as The World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS, 2018), Indian Institute of Metals (FIIM, 2015), Asia Pacific Academy of Materials (FAPAM, 2013), Indian National Science Academy (FNA, 2013), ASM International (FASM, 2010), Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc, 2008), National Academy of Sciences (FNASc, 2008), Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE, 2007).
Prof. U B Desai
Chancellor, Anurag University, Hyderabad
Prof. UB Desai, till recently, was the is the Director of IIT Sri City. He is the Mentor Director for IIT Bhilai and IIIT Chittoor. Dr. Desai is a Fellow of Indian National Science Academy, Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering. He is the recipient of J C Bose Fellowship. He is also the recipient of Excellence in Teaching Award from IIT-Bombay. In 2015, he received the Outstanding Alumni award from University of Buffalo and in 2016 he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from IIT Kanpur.
He has held faculty positions at different Universities, Assistant and then Associate Professor at Washington State University and Professor at IIT Bombay. He has held Visiting Associate Professor position at Arizona State University, Purdue University, and Stanford University. He was a visiting Professor at EPFL, Lausanne. He has been the Director of HP-IITM R and D Lab. at IIT-Madras.
His research interest is in Cyber physical systems, Internet of things, digital fabrication, wireless communications, cognitive radio, wireless sensor networks and statistical signal processing. He has been a coauthor of 9 research monographs and author of nearly 300 peered reviewed papers in international journals and conferences. He is a member of several committees constituted by the Government of India and also governing councils of academic institutions. He was a member of the high powered committee for review of AICTE. He is on the board of Tata Communications Limited.
Dr K I Varaprasada Reddy
Chairman Emeritus, Shantha Biotechnics Ltd
Dr. K I Varaprasad Reddy is the Founder and currently, Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Shantha Biotechnics Pvt Ltd. An electronics engineer by profession, Dr. Reddy established the company in 1993 with the sole purpose of developing efficacious and cost effective vaccines, within the reach of common man. Shantha Biotechnics’ successful development of recombinant products heralded the bio-pharma revolution in India which motivated many scientists and entrepreneurs to develop and produce life-saving drugs indigenously. Under his leadership, Shantha Biotechnics won several awards for the company’s contribution in the field of bio-technology. For his efforts in developing an affordable indigenously developed vaccine against Hepatitis B, Dr. Reddy was conferred upon the Indias most prestigious National Award – Padma Bhushan – by the Hon’ble President of India. Among his numerous achievements. Dr. Reddy received awards twice by Technology Development Board (TDB), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. He also received an Honorary Doctorate from Sri Venkateshwara University for his pioneering efforts. Dr. Reddy is fond of music and literature and has been felicitated by many local literary, cultural organizations and non-resident Telugu associations abroad. He pursued a Diploma in Computer Sciences from Biblingen University, West Germany in 1971. He also got his Masters in Business Administration Degree from Osmania University. An electronics engineer by profession, Reddy worked as a defence scientist for 8 years. After which he worked for Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation and Hyderabad Batteries Ltd.
Dr S R Rao
Vice President, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Pondicherry
Dr. S. R. Rao was Senior Adviser, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. He completed his Ph.D. in Mycology and Plant Pathology from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He was Post Doctoral Fellow at Tottori University, Japan and visiting Scientist at Waite Agricultural Experimental Station, Australia. He served as an active member in establishing several technologies and schemes; oil palm cultivation, several sophisticated biotech infrastructure facilities, forging bilateral collaboration with Asian and European countries, introduction of Golden rice, formulation of National Biotech policies, strategic planning and investment matters. He also initiated several programmes on public health access in villages through public private partnerships, interventions in judiciary reforms, technology assessment of bioenergy and biofuel resources and various issues of public policy interface. He is serving as member of several Technical Committees of the Government of India; Academic /research councils of Universities/institutions; member-Golden rice Humanitarian Board; Elected Member-Asia Steering Advisory Committee on Capacity Building of Cartagena protocol Secretariat, Convention of Biodiversity Montreal; Member, Liaison Group on Capacity Building of Protocol. He is also coordinator for the establishment of National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority and new biotechnology regulatory Bill. He specializes in core and cross-sectorial policy issues of Biotechnology development, regulation, safety, public private partnership, international relations and biotech R&D Innovation and Development, and public concerns and consensus building; He is founder and editorial board member of Asian Biotechnology Development Review. He has published 30 research papers in national/international high impact Journals in his specialized expertise of Molecular Pathology.
Prof. P Appa Rao
Former Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad
Prof. Appa Rao Podile is the Vice Chancellor of University of Hyderabad. He is recently awarded with the Millennium Plaques of Honour for his achievements in Life Sciences by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi (2017).
He obtained his Ph.D. in 1987 from the Sardar Patel University in Gujarat. He was a postdoctoral fellow (1998) of the Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan and subsequently was a visiting scientist (2000), at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica. Prof. Appa Rao also completed postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Munster, Germany in 2006. He received several awards and honours for his academic excellence and outstanding research contributions, the utmost notable ones include; Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Elected President for the Association of Microbiologists of India. Elected Fellow, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences. He has guided 14 Ph.D. students and published 85 peer review publications in reputed journals within the area of recombinant bacterial chitinases, non‐host resistance, nanotechnology for crop protection, and molecular interactions of rhizosphere bacteria with plants.
Prof. B V R Chowdari
Senior Executive Director, Nanyang Technological University Singapore
Prof. B.V.R. Chowdari worked at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, in different capacities at different times and Professorship at both NUS and NTU. Currently he is the senior executive Director, NTU – India Connect, a special initiative of NTU, Singapore, to connect NTU with the Indian Universities and Institutions of Higher Learning in India through a variety of initiatives.
His 50-year research career enabled him to work at various universities and institutions across globe. His research interests lie in the development of electrode and electrolyte materials for energy storage applications including Lithium Ion Batteries. He has published about 300 papers and trained more than 20 students for Ph.D degree. He has ~19,200 citations with h-index of 72. He is on the Editorial Board of a number of reputed international journals.
Prof. Chowdari was conferred the titles of the "Officer in the Order of Academic Palms" by the French Government and the "Business Event Ambassador" by the Government of Singapore. He received the "Outstanding Science Entrepreneur" award given by NUS. He is the Honorary Fellow of the Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences, elected-member of the "ICSU Regional Committee for Asia and the Pacific.",
He has served as the President of the "International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS)" and the "Asian Society for Solid State Ionics", and Chairman of the 15th Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO 2014). Currently he is the President of the Materials Research Society of Singapore and Chairman of the International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies (ICMAT) series.
Prof. Kamanio Chattopadhyay
Professor, Department of Materials Engineering, IISc, Bangalore
Prof. Kamanio Chattopadhyay is an honorary professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. He is the chair of the Mechanical Sciences Division of IISc and a former chair of the Department of Materials Engineering. He was a Visiting Research Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Tohoku and Kyoto University, Japan, Visiting Scientist at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, llinois; and a few other institutions.
Prof. Chattopadhyay is best known for his discovery of decagonal nanoquantum quasicrystals which he accomplished in 1985. He is also credited with researches on synthesis and characterization of quasicrystals and nanocomposites. Later, he turned his attention to the synthesis of nanocomposites and phase transformations at reduced length scale, and discovered large superheating phenomenon during melting, role of shape in phase transformation and mixing at nanoscale.
He is fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences as well as the Indian National Academy of Engineering. He is the Chairman of the International Committee on nanostructured materials. Professor Chattopadhyay received the INSA Medal for Young Scientists (1979), SS Bhatnagar Prize (1995), National Metallurgist's Day Award (1989), Materials Research Society of India Medal (1990), GD Birla Gold Medal of IIM and Excellence in Research Award of IISc. He also played pivotal role in setting up ISRO-sponsored National Microgravity Research in the country and is currently its co-ordinator.
Prof. R Balasubramanian
The Institute of Mathematical Science, C.I.T Campus Taramani, Chennai
Prof. R Balasubramanian
Ramachandran Balasubramanian, till recently, was Director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai. He is known for his work in number theory, which includes settling the final g(4) case of Waring's problem in 1986. His works on moments of Riemann zeta function are highly appreciated and he was a plenary speaker from India at ICM in 2010. He was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1980-81.
He has received awards including
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (1990),
The French government's Ordre National du Mérite for "furthering Indo-French cooperation in the field of mathematics" (2003),
Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India (2006),
Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2012)
The Lifetime Achievement Award, 2013 awarded by Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India,
Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (1988)
Prof. G P Das
Emeritus Professor, TCG Centres for Research and Education in Science and Technology Sector V, Salt Lake, Kolkata
Prof. G. P. Das is presently working as a professor in the Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, jointly with the Department of Physics and the School of Nano Science & Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He is also the Chairman, MRSI Subject Group on Computational Materials Science. His research areas are, (a) multiscale modeling of alloys (b) simulation and design of spintronics materials and (c) hydrogen storage materials based on complex chemical hydrides and nanostructures. He has authored and co-authored more than 150 research papers, including a number of review articles and book chapters. He has successfully completed several major projects funded by DRDO, DAE, VR-SIDA and other agencies. Prof. Das is the recipient of the MRSI Silver Jubilee Medal Award in 2014, ACCMS Award in 2013 and he is a Fellow of the West Bengal Academy of Science & Technology. He is serving as a member of DST’s Project Management Board on Supercomputing Facility, and is also member of the steering committee of Asian Consortium for Computational Materials Science (ACCMS) and of Asian Hydrogen Storage Materials (ASHM) initiative.
Dr Anil Kumar
JC Bose National Fellow, Physical & Materials Chemistry Division, CSIR – National Chemical Laboratory
Dr. Anil Kumar is a Senior Scientist, Physical Chemistry Division at National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune. He joined National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune (1978) and obtained PhD degree in Chemistry. Then, he moved to the University of Oklahoma (1981) for his post-doctoral research under G Atkinson. He received Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (1985) in the research group of EU Franck at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany.
Dr. Kumar contributed in the areas of experimental and theoretical thermodynamics of aqueous ionic systems. The equations developed by him are in extensive use for predicting thermodynamic properties of concentrated ionic systems, including at elevated conditions. He has published about 140 research articles, written chapters in several monographs. He is on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Solution Chemistry and Indian Journal of Chemistry. He has been Council Member (2005-06) and Vice President (2007-08) of the National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad.
Dr Kumar was awarded a Bronze Medal (2000) and later Silver Medal by Chemical Research Society of India. He is also a recipient of Scientist of the Year Award of the NCL Research Foundation (2001), FICCI Award (2006), CHEMITO Award (2007), and NR Dhar Memorial Lecture Award of the National Academy of Sciences, and Homi Bhabha Gold Medal ISCA. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences and Maharashtra Academy of Sciences.
Prof. M.R. Rao
Former Dean, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
Prof. B P Sinha
Professor, IEEE Fellow, Advanced Computing & Microelectronics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 203, B.T Road, Kolkata, West Bengal
Prof. Bhabani P. Sinha is a professor in the Indian Statistical Institute. His research interests include computer architecture, algorithms, parallel and distributed computing, mobile communication and wireless networks. He made important contributions in the area of high-performance hardware implementation for RC4 stream cipher and genetic algorithm based on geometric symmetry, etc. Prof. Sinha is a Fellow of the IEEE, USA and also a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, India, Institution of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering and West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology. He published more than 170 articles in the reputed scientific journals. He received many awards and honours in recognition of his excellent academic performance and outstanding research contributions, the most notable of which include: i) M.K. Singal Memorial award from the Indian Science Congress Association in 2012 awarded by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Homi Bhaba award of the University Grants Commission, (1998) for his outstanding contributions to applied sciences and others.
Dr Tata Narshimga Rao
International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad
Dr Tata Narshimga Rao is currently the Director (Additional charge) of International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI). He served as the team leader for the Center for Solar Energy Materials and the Center for Nanomaterials, ARCI. He has made major contributions to projects of national importance including National Electric Mobility Mission, Nanotechnology mission, and National solar mission. He is a leading expert in the area of electrochemistry and he has published more than 100 research articles in reputed journals. He has received numerous awards including Materials Research Society of India (MRSI) award, 2009; FAPCCI Excellence Award (2011) for his contribution as an outstanding scientist or engineer for the benefit of industry, trade or Agriculture (received from Chief Minister, AP); Costal Chemical Research Award (CCRS) award-2013; Tokyo University of Science (TUS) President Award-2014, and “Technology Day National Award-2016 (received from the President of India). He is also a fellow of various academies including Fellow of Telangana Academy of Sciences-2017, Fellow of AP Academy of Sciences-2017, and Bangalore India Nano Innovation Award-2018.
Prof. Shyam R Asolekar
Centre for Environmental Science & Engineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai
Prof. Shyam R. Asolekar is a professor of Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. His research interests are on hazardous, municipal & biomedical waste management, Eco-industrial networking, Eco-centric and low-cost wastewater treatment, Treatment of leachates and special industrial wastewaters, Environmental policy and preventive environmental management. Prof. Shyam demonstrates the effectiveness of the constructed wetland (horizontal sub-surface flow) to treat wastewater. He and his team constructed wetland to treat wastewater at Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai. He is member of Project Implementation and Coordination Committee, Ganga River Basin Management Plan, Government of India.
Dr R Premkumar
Registrar - SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh
Prof. Ranjit Thapa
Dean – Research, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh
