Seventh Academic Advisory Council

Prof Ravi Banavar Professor, Systems and Control Engineering Indian Institue of Technology Bombay

Prof Ravi N Banavar is a Professor in the Systems and Control Engineering group at IIT Bombay and was the Convener of the group for nearly 6 years from 2009. The Systems and Control group is a unique interdisciplinary group in India offering graduate education (Masters and doctoral program) in the field. During his convenership, the strength of the group grew from 5 to 9 members, with academic strengths in nonlinear control, switched systems, optimization, geometric mechanics, formation and cooperative control, robotics and adaptive control. His research interests are broadly in the area of geometric mechanics, nonlinear and optimal control, locomotion with applications in aerospace, mechanical and micro robotic applications. He is currently a Visiting Professor for a semester in the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Gandhinagar. Prof Banavar received his BTech from IIT Madras, M. S. from Clemson University and PhD from University of Texas, Austin. He was the Pratt and Whitney Visiting Chair Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IISc from July to Dec 2015. He is an Associate Editor of the Elsevier journal, Systems and Control Letters, as also the Taylor and Francis publication, The International Journal of Control.

Prof Rajendra Kumar Bordia Professor and Chair, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University Clemson University USA

Prof Bordia is currently a Department Chair and Head of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Clemson University in Clemson, SC, USA (since April 2013). He was a faculty member at the University of Washington (1991-2013) and a Research Scientist in DuPont Co. (1986 to 1991). He received his B.Tech from IIT Kanpur (1979), and M.S (1981) and Ph.D (1986) from Cornell University. His research is at the intersection of materials and mechanics and is focused on fundamental and applied studies in the processing and properties of complex material systems for energy, environmental and medical applications. He has authored or co-authored over 135 peer-reviewed technical publications, over 130 technical reports and has presented over 250 invited lectures and seminars. In 2002, Prof Bordia was elected as the Fellow of the American Ceramic Society; in 2010 the Fellow of the Indian Institute of Metals; and in 2012 an Academician in the World Academy of Ceramics. Other significant awards include: the Humboldt Research award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany (2007); the Marsha Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor award from the University of Washington (2007); and was the sole recipient of the Outstanding Educator Award of the American Ceramic Society (2012). Prof Bordia is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society (1988-Present); Editor of the Journal of Ceramic Processing Research (1999-Present); and Editor-in-Chief of the Ceramics International Journal (2009 - Present). He has also served as technical advisor to two startup companies in the area of energy.

Prof Pankaj Chandra Vice Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Management Ahmedabad University Ahmedabad

Prof Chandra has joined Ahmedabad University as the Chairman of its Board of Management and Professor of Operations & Technology Management. He holds a B.Tech from the Banaras Hindu University and a Ph.D from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. A tenured faculty at McGill University, Montreal (1988-1995), Prof Chandra taught at IIM Ahmedabad (1994-2013) and IIM Bangalore (2007-2015) where he was the Director until 2013. He has also taught at several international institutions like Cornell University, University of Geneva, International University of Japan and Renmin University Beijing. He was the Chairperson of the Doctoral Programme at IIM Ahmedabad and the first Associate Dean (Academic) at ISB, Hyderabad. He was part of the founding team at the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIMA and its first Chairperson. Prof Chandra has served as member of the Government of India Committee on Clusters for Development of the Informal Sector, on the Committee for Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yashpal Committee) that relooked at the Indian Higher Education system, as well as the Committee on the Autonomy of Central Institutions. He has also served as the Member of TRAI. Prof Chandra has been involved in several startups, has also been a consultant to large Indian and multi-national firms and serves on the Boards of several firms and institutions. He has published extensively in the areas of manufacturing management, supply chain coordination and technological innovations.

Prof. Nitesh Chawla Frank Freimann Collegiate Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of Notre Dame USA

Prof. Nitesh Chawla is the Frank Freimann Collegiate Chair of Engineering and Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at University of Notre Dame. He is the director of the Notre Dame Interdisciplinary Center for Network Science (iCeNSA), which is at the frontier of network and data science (Big Data) with a strong multidisciplinary focus. He has received numerous awards for research, scholarship and teaching. He is the recipient of the 2015 IEEE CIS Outstanding Early Career Award for 2015. He received the IBM Watson Faculty Award in 2012, and the IBM Big Data and Analytics Faculty Award in 2013. He received the National Academy of Engineering New Faculty Fellowship. In recognition of the societal and community driven impact of his research, he was recognized with the Rodney Ganey Award in 2014 and Michiana 40 Under 40 in 2013. A prolific researcher, Prof. Chawla has brought in over $18M of external research funding and published over 150 papers. He has also received and nominated for a number of best paper awards. He serves on editorial boards of a number of journals and organization/program committees of top-tier conferences.

Prof Neelkanth Chhaya Former Dean, Faculty of Architecture CEPT University Ahmedabad

Prof Frederick L Coolidge Professor, Psychology Department University of Colorado Colorado, USA

Prof Coolidge is a Professor of Psychology at University of Colorado (UCCS), USA. He received his BA, MA, and Ph.D from the University of Florida and completed a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at Shands Teaching Hospital, University of Florida. He joined UCCS in 1979 and served as the Chair of the Department from 1986-1989 and as the Clinical Director from 1981-1984. Prof Coolidge is a three-time Fulbright Fellowship Award recipient (India, 1987, 1992, 2005). He has received three teaching awards including the lifetime designation, University of Colorado Presidential Teaching Scholar, received the UCCS Letters, Arts, and Sciences Annual Outstanding Research and Creative Works Award, 2004-2005, and the UCCS Annual Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, 2006-2007. Prof Coolidge is a member of the Association for Psychological Science and the European Society for Human Evolution. He teaches introductory statistics, cognitive evolution, dream interpretation as a psychotherapeutic technique, and evolutionary neuropsychology. He has published eight books and over 140 journal articles.

Prof Nuno Guimarães Vice-Rector, Full Professor, Department of Information Science and Technology (ISTA) University Institute of Lisbon, (ISCTE-IUL) Portugal

Prof Guimarães is a Full Professor (Professor Catedrãtico) at ISCTE-IUL, graduated in Electrotechnical Engineering at the Technical University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal, in 1983, where he also completed his MsC (1987) and PhD (1992). He received the title of Agregado em Informãtica in July 1999, from the University of Lisbon. From 1986 to 1997, he taught at the Electrotechnical and Computer Engineering Department of IST/UTL, and from 1997 to 2012 at the Informatics Department of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon. He was Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (2003-2009). In 2010, he was Invited Professor at the Technical University of Berlin, Institut für Psychologie und Arbeitswissenchaft, Fak V - Verkehrs- und Maschinensysteme. From 1982 to 1997, he was a researcher of INESC, Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Lisbon, Portugal, and is a member of LASIGE/FCUL since 1997. From 1989 to 1991, he was a consultant for Bell Labs, AT&T, Murray Hill, New Jersey, "Software Systems Principles Research Lab''. He was a member of Executive Board of PUUG (Portuguese Unix Users Group)(1992-1998), one of the individual founders of Eunet Portugal, later KPNQwest Portugal. From 1996 to 2001, he co-founded of Ergoprocesso (Consulting services), 4VDO - Sistemas e Serviços Multimédia SA (Video indexing services) and OnTV - Sistemas e Serviços de Televisão Interactiva SA (Interactive Television Systems integrator). ACM Senior Member (since 2012), Member of ACEEU (www.aceeu.org), Member (Mgmnt) of ISOC (PT).

Prof Shungo Kawanishi Director Global Communication Center, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) Japan

Prof Kawanishi is the vice president for international relations and the director of Global Communication Center of Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), a national postgraduate university in Japan. He received his bachelor degree from Keio University in Japan (1977), Master's and Doctoral degrees from University of Georgia (1980, 1995). He graduated from all the schools as a honored student. At the University of Georgia he worked as a junior researcher and later as a senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Global Issues that was established based on President Jimmy Carter's suggestion. In 1995 he joined Kansai Gaidai Hawaii College in Honolulu as a professor and the dean of social science department. In 1998 he joined TransPacific Hawaii College as a professor and the head of the instruction department later assumed the roles of the vice president for academic affairs and the interim president. While in Hawaii he received the Best Practice in International Education Award from ACIIE for his global education approach. Prof Kawanishi joined JAIST in 2009 as an international strategy coordinator and professor of Global Communication Center and served in various capacities including Deputy Trustee for Research and International Affairs (2010), Head of the Language Education Department of the Institute of General Education (2011), Director of the Institute of General Education (2014), Head of the Department of Advanced Liberal Arts (2014), Advisor to the President for Global Affairs (2014) and the Vice President for International Relations (2017). Prof Kawanishi is considered one of the founders of Global Education through his 40 years of researching and executing the new approach in education. His other specializations cover International Relations, Global Studies, Japan Studies, Intercultural Communication, Asian Studies, Methodologies of Social Science. Currently he is leading a new research, Diversity Studies by forming an international network of scholars including some scholars at IITGN. He has been very active in promoting the ideas of global education and diversity studies carrying out more than 1200 guest lectures and speeches. Prof Kawanishi has been associated with IITGN as a Scholar in Residence since 2015 having taught an intensive course on Japan Studies every summer.

Prof Deepak Kunzru Distinguished Professor (Chemical Engineering) Ahmedabad University Ahmedabad

Prof Kunzru is a Distinguished Professor, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Chairman, University Research Board, Ahmedabad University. Prior to this position he was the Chevron Chair Professor at IIT Kanpur and served the institute as the Head of Department of Chemical Engineering, Dean of Resource Planning and Generation and Dean of Research & Development. He has been an expert in several national committees. He received his B.Tech from IIT Kanpur in 1968 and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 1972. Prof Kunzru's main research interests are in the area of microstructured reactors, chemical reaction engineering, pyrolysis of hydrocarbons and petroleum processing. His current research focuses on the use of monolithic reactors for gas-liquid reactions and steam reforming of methane, production of hydrogen from ethanol in micro channel reactors and the development of catalysts for hydrodesulfurization. Presently, he is Chairman of the Program Advisory Committee (Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering) of Science and Engineering Research Board, New Delhi and Independent Director of Green Gas Ltd. He served as Member, Board of Governors, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology from 2007-16 and Member, Research Advisory Committee of HPCL R&D from 2012-16. He has been elected as Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (2002) and the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad (2009), and has been a recipient of the Herdillia Award, IIChE (1992), Kuloor Memorial Award, IIChE (1999 and 2015) and the G.M. Abhyankar Memorial Distinguished Fellowship in Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai for 2010-2011.

Prof. Surendra Prasad Former Director IIT Delhi delhi

Prof Prasad has held many positions in his illustrious career at IIT Delhi including Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Deputy Director and Director. As a Director, he was responsible for a number of innovative schemes for attracting top faculty talent, creating an environment for impactful research and significant up-gradation of infrastructure. Currently he is an Emeritus Professor at IIT Delhi, and the Chairman, National Board of Accreditation. He was a Visiting Research fellow at the Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough, UK from 1976 to 1977 and a visiting faculty at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. Prof Prasad has received numerous awards and honors during his career including the Vikram Sarabhai Research Award in 1987 and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Engineering Sciences in 1988. He is a Fellow, Indian Academy of Engineering; Fellow, Indian National Science Academy, and Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.

Prof Supreet Saini Assistant Professor Indian Institue of Technology Bombay

Prof Supreet Saini is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai (since 2012). Prior to joining IIT Bombay, he was an Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering at IIT Gandhinagar (2010 - 2012), where he also headed the Faculty Recruitment Committee among other responsibilities. Prof Saini completed his PhD in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2010) and B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Delhi (2005). His research interests are in the area of evolutionary microbiology.

Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor Department of Computer Science, IIT Kanpur. Kanpur

Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi is Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur. From 2008 – 2010, he served as the Director, LNM Institute of Information Technology (LNMIIT), a public-private partnership University in Jaipur. He was Dean of Academic Affairs at IIT Kanpur from 2011 to 2014. His administrative experience includes running the Institute Computer Center, managing Graduate Admissions, Student Counseling, managing UG education at IIT Kanpur (as Chairman of Senate Under Graduate Committee), design of CS curriculum. He is passionate about improving higher education and runs a popular blog on the topic. During 2006, he visited about 70 colleges in India to discuss issues related to career planning, including the need to do post-graduate studies. Professor Sanghi has a B. Tech from IIT Kanpur, and M. S. and Ph. D. from University of Maryland. His research interests lie in Computer Networks and Network security.

Prof Chandrima Shaha Professor of Eminence and Former Director National Institute of Immunology New Delhi

Prof Shaha is currently Professor of Eminence at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, where she served as Director till late 2016. She also served for a year as the honorary executive Director of the Indian National Science Academy spanning 2016-2017. Prof Shaha received her M.Sc and Ph.D degrees from University of Calcutta followed by a stint for post doctoral work at Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas and The Population Council, New York, USA. Prof Shaha is a JC Bose Fellow and was elected as Vice-president (International Relations) of the Indian National Science Academy (2015) and is currently serving the term. She is elected Fellow of the The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) (2014), Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Delhi (2008), Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (2004), Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad, India (1999) and a Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology (2011). She is Council Member of the Indian National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. She is recipient of the Ranbaxy Science Foundation Award for Basic Medical Research (2010), Om Prakash Bhasin Award (2014), Prof Archana Sharma Memorial Award, National Academy of Sciences (2013), Chandrakala Hora Memorial Medal from Indian National Science Academy (2013), Darshan Ranganathan Memorial award (2010), Department of Biotechnology ‘Special Award’ (2003) and Shakuntala Amirchand Award of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi (1992). Prof Shaha’s current research interests include elucidating the regulatory processes of cell death and the associated mechanisms.

Prof. Suhas P. Sukhatme Professor Emeritus Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Professor Sukhatme has been a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Bombay since 1965. He was the Director of IIT Bombay during 1995-2000, and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Govt. of India during 2000-2005. Prof Sukhatme's areas of specialization are Heat Transfer and Energy. He is the recipient of many honours and awards and was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in 1983. He was elected as a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1986, a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering in 1987, a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1995 and a Fellow of National Academy of Sciences in 1999. He is the recipient of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2001 and was the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of IIT Bombay. Prof Sukhatme obtained the degree of B.Sc (Engg.) from Banaras Hindu University, S.M (Master of Science) and Sc.D. (Doctor of Science) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T). He is currently a member of the Board of Governors of IIT Gandhinagar.

Prof. Nitish V Thakor Director, Provost Chair Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering, Bioengineering, National University of Singapore USA

Director, SINAPSE, Provost Chair Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Bioengineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, USA

Prof Thakor is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at National University of Singapore (NUS). Prof Thakor has also been appointed Director of the University level research centre SiNAPSE (Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology: Advancing through Partnership of Scientists and Engineers). Prof Thakor received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay (1974), and PhD from University of Wisconsin (1981). He has been a Full Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University since 1994. He has authored 370 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of neurological instrumentation, biomedical signal processing, micro and nanotechnologies, neural prosthesis, and clinical applications of neural and rehabilitation technologies. He has also generated 20 patents and co-founded 4 companies. His research has been funded mainly by the NIH, NSF and DARPA. He is Editor in Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Neural and Rehabilitation Engineering. Prof Thakor is a recipient of a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health and a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a Founding Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society. He is also a recipient of the Centennial Medal from the University of Wisconsin School of Engineering, an Honorary Membership from Alpha Eta Mu Beta Biomedical Engineering Student Honor Society and a Distinguished Alumnus Awardee as well as Distinguished Service Awardee from IIT Bombay.

Prof. Satish K. Tripathi President State University of New York Buffalo, USA

Prof. Satish K. Tripathi serves as President of the University at Buffalo. An internationally recognized computer scientist, Prof. Tripathi joined UB as Provost - the university's chief academic officer - on July 1, 2004, after serving as Dean of the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside. He was one of the creators of the UB 2020 strategic plan to achieve academic and research excellence. Prior to joining UC Riverside in 1997, he was a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, where his 19 years as a faculty member included being chair from 1988 -1995. He was a visiting professor at the University of Paris-Sud in France and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany while at the University of Maryland. He has published more than 200 papers and supervised more than 30 Doctoral and Postdoctoral student. He is a fellow of the IEEE and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Buffalo Urban League. Prof. Tripathi is the first international-born president in UB's history, a fitting distinction for one of the most international universities in the U.S. In addition to a doctorate in computer science earned from the University of Toronto in 1979, he holds three master's degrees, one in computer science from the University of Toronto (1976) and two in statistics from the University of Alberta (1974) and Banaras Hindu University (1970). He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree from IIIT Allahabad.