Eighth Leadership Conclave

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).

Shri R A Venkitachalam Professor and Chair Underwriters Laboratories Bangalore

As the Vice President - Public Safety Mission, Shri Venki focusses on advancing the cause of Public Safety and ULs mission across the Developing World. The urgent need for enhanced measures to ensure Bangalore, India. Public Safety, in the backdrop of accelerating economic growth and globalized markets for products and services, is something that Venki is passionate about. To facilitate constructive dialogue between multiple stake holders in addressing Public Safety challenges, the establishment of Safety Councils in India as a platform was spearheaded by Venki, the first such one for UL, outside of North America. In his earlier role with UL as the Vice President & Managing Director for Emerging Markets, Venki led the growth of UL in the region covering South East Asia, India, Middle East and Africa over a ten year period. Leading with the "Public Safety Mission" and executing with local relevance with the strategy "UL In India For India" have been at the core of Venkis efforts. During his tenure, he led UL in making significant investments in the region, expanding ULs geographic footprint as well as technical, laboratory and service range as well as capabilities. Prior to joining UL, Venki held senior General Management / Commercial responsibilities at CEO level with leading MNC / Indian companies covering Consumer, Capital Goods and Telecom sectors. Venki is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, holding a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Industrial Management. The Executive Leadership Program at SOM, Yale has been one of his more recent on-going education exposures. Shri Venki has been a speaker at several forums in India and abroad, covering issues pertaining to Public Safety, Government Policy, Industry-specific Product Regulatory aspects as well as General Management.

Shri Harsh Bhargava President Bankworld Incorporated USA

Shri Bhargava is currently the President of Bankworld Inc, a prominent Washington DC based Management Consulting company with experience in over 75 countries including projects on competitiveness strengthening in the emerging markets, entrepreneurship and youth, and access to finance to micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Prior to that as the Vice President (International Division) of a US Corporation, he set up businesses in over 60 countries and was awarded US President's E Award for excellence in international business. Shri Bhargava is also the Founder and the President of I Create Inc, a nonprofit corporation with 20 centers in India and one in Kenya. I Create has provided its highly acclaimed and practical grassroots entrepreneurship programs for the rural and urban women and unemployed youth, numbering over 50,000. Shri Bhargava has personally taught courses in starting, expanding and managing businesses at the Iacocca Institute, Lehigh University and the Wharton School in the US, and has been invited to speak at global conferences and events and institutions including IIT. He has been written up and interviewed in a number of TV shows and newspapers including the New York Times. He has written extensively on entrepreneurship as a career option for youth, and created training manuals and books on financial literacy and entrepreneurship training. He is originally from India and worked as a Tata Administrative Service officer with Tata Motors before coming to the USA. Shri Bhargava is an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Shri Abhay K. Bhushan Technopreneur Board of the IIT Gandhinagar Foundation in US Board of the IIT Gandhinagar Foundation in US

Shri Abhay K. Bhushan was a major contributor to the development of the Internet TCP/IP architecture, and was the author of FTP and the early versions of email protocols. He is co-holder of 12 US patents on semiconductor drying and cleaning technologies. Shri Bhushan obtained his B. Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, in 1965, and Masters in EE and Masters in Management degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shri Bhushan was the Director Rural Development and Appropriate Technology at the Institute of Engineering and Rural Technology, Allahabad in 1978, and was senior manager in Engineering and Development at Xerox Corporation where he initiated and managed the award winning Xerox Environmental Leadership. He was co-founder of YieldUP International, which went public on NASDAQ in 1995, and of Portola Communications, which was acquired by Netscape in 1997. Shri Bhushan has been a mentor to a host of start-up ventures in USA, and is on the Board of Pointcross Inc. and Chairman of Asquare, Inc. He is the founding past president of Pan IIT USA and past president of IIT Kanpur Alumni Association and the IIT Kanpur Foundation. He is presently on the Board of the IIT Gandhinagar Foundation in US. Shri Bhushan is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Kanpur, for excellence in entrepreneurship and his outstanding contributions to social activities, and also received the Community Service Award from the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce., USA.

Shri Bipin Shah CEO and Chairman Kovair Software Inc. USA

Shri Shah has been a veteran of Silicon Valley for over 3 decades and has worked both in the Semiconductor and Software domains. He has been VP of Global Operations for Altera - a major PLD- FPGA company - recently acquired by Intel, where he helped operationally grow the company from zero to over $500M in revenue over 11 years. He was then named President of Altera Japan where he grew Altera's business in Japan from $55M to $120M in less than 3 years. Prior to that he started his chip career at Fairchild where over a period of 11 year he held positions in Engineering, Quality and Reliability and Manufacturing Management. His software career started with Kovair where since early 2005 he has transformed the company into an Integrated ALM solutions provider and a leading provider of integrations for major third party development and other tools with Kovair's trademark Omnibus Integration Platform. Shri Bipin holds a BEE (Hons) in Electrical Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata and a MSEE from University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. Shri Shah was one of the three founding members of the IITGN Foundation in the USA in Silicon Valley and has been involved with the Institution since its inception. He has been involved with the Foundation for Excellence in the US and currently serves on its Board in Silicon Valley. FFE funds close to 5,000 engineering and medical students all over India that are academically bright but financially challenged. He has also served on the President's Council at California Polytechnic University at Pomona California for over six years in the past.

Prof Rajendra Kumar Bordia Professor and Chair 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 125 peer-reviewed technical publications, over 120 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. Nitesh Chawla Frank Freimann Collegiate Chair and Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Network Science and Applications (iCeNSA) and Data Inference Analytics and Learning Lab (DIAL) University of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame, USA

Prof. Nitesh Chawla is the Frank Freimann Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Network Science and Applications (iCeNSA), a University Research Institute, and Data Inference Analytics and Learning Lab (DIAL), at the University of Notre Dame, USA. He started his tenure-track position at Notre Dame in 2007, was promoted and tenured in 2011, and received the chaired position in 2012. Prior to Notre Dame, he was a Senior Risk Modeling Manager at CIBC. His research is focused on machine learning, data mining, and network science. He is at the frontier of interdisciplinary applications with innovative work in healthcare informatics, social networks, analytics, and climate/environmental sciences. He was recently awarded the IBM Watson Faculty Award in recognition of his work in Big Data and Analytics. He is also the recipient of multiple awards for research and teaching innovation including outstanding teacher awards (2007 and 2010), National Academy of Engineers, New Faculty Fellowship, and number of best paper awards and nominations. He is the Chair of IEEE CIS Data Mining Technical Committee (DMTC), and also the Chair of IEEE CIS Task Force on Big Data. He is the founder of Aunalytics, Inc

Prof Neelkanth Chhaya Member B&WC, IITGN and Former Dean, Faculty of Architecture CEPT University Ahmedabad

Prof Chhaya has been an academic and practicing architect for nearly forty years. He has taught at the University of Nairobi, the Institute of Environmental Design at Vallabh Vidyanagar, and was a faculty member at CEPT University for over twenty-five years. He retired as the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at CEPT University in 2013. Subsequently he has been an Adjunct Faculty at Srishti School of Design, and also holds the position of Academic Chair at the Goa College of Architecture. His professional practice, spanning over 30 years, has dealt with institutional and residential projects across India. His practice has won many Architectural Design Competitions, and has also won National Awards for completed projects. The practice is focused on culturally and environmentally appropriate design, and has emphasized innovative application of local skills and materials. He has been invited to be a member of several committees connected to the built environment, and is coordinator of the Architectural Documentation work of the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission. He is a regular speaker at conferences in India and abroad. He is a member of the Boards of Hunnarshala and Khamir Craft Resource Centre, both of which are involved in empowering traditional knowledge and sustainable practices.Prof Chhaya studied architecture from CEPT and has been associated with the Masters Program for Architects in Developing Nations in Helsinki.

Shri Kamalesh Dwivedi Chief Information Officer Bellsystem24, Inc., Japan Japan

Shri Kamalesh Dwivedi joined Bellsystem24, Japan's largest customer care solutions company owned by Bain Capital in September 2010 as the Chief Information officer of the company. He had been the CIO of five companies at junctures of profound changes in these companies' business model and also in their industries. Shri Dwivedi has successfully led technology organizations through all these transformational vectors and change vortices. He has led global technology organizations in more than fifteen countries in North and South Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. Shri Dwivedi has served on the Boards of TeleTech India, ADC Telecommunications India and is currently a Director on the Board of Bell China. Shri Dwivedi has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in India, Master of Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and has graduated from the Program for Management Development (PMD) from Harvard Business School in the US.

Shri B V Jagadeesh Managing Partner KAAJ Ventures USA

Shri B V Jagadeesh is Managing Partner at KAAJ Ventures. He has successfully invested and guided companies such as Nutanix (IPO), Yodlee (IPO), Arkin (acqd: VMWare), Elastic Box (acqd: Century Link), NetMagic Solutions (acqd: NTT), Ocarina Networks (acqd: Dell) and Ankeena (acqd: Juniper) to name a few. Before founding KAAJ, Shri Jagadeesh served as a founding investor and CEO of NetScaler. NetScaler pioneered the concept of Application Delivery and was successfully sold to Citrix for $325M and served as Group VP and GM for Citrix's Application Networking division. Prior to Netscaler, he co-founded and served as CTO of Exodus communications in 1993 that pioneered the concept of Internet data centers. He was instrumental in the successful IPO of Exodus in 1998. Currently Shri Jagadeesh is an active investor and serves on the board of several Silicon Valley Startups. He is also an adjunct faculty at the Leavey School of Business, SCU. Shri Jagadeesh is also very actively involved with several non profits for the betterment of the world such as UVCE Foundation - providing scholarships to deserving students, One School At A Time - Constructs School buildings for the under privileged, Akshaya Patra - providing mid day meals to 1.6 Million children everyday.

Mr. Sarthak Jain CEO and Cofounder GridAnt Technologies (GridAnts)

Mr. Sarthak Jain is a graduate of the first batch of IIT Gandhinagar. He was the recipient of the Directors Gold Medal for outstanding overall performance. While he was in college, he along with 3 of his batch mates started a company called GridAnts. The company has received international acclaim and investments from Silicon Valley investors and the 2 top VC firms in India Accel Partners and Helion Venture Partners. GridAnts is building software that will enable to devices to seamlessly communicate with each other. They have a vision to do for the Internet of Things what Microsoft did for PCs.

Shri Maulik Jasubhai Chairman & Chief Executive Jasubhai Group Mumbai

Shri Jasubhai is the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Jasubhai Group which includes Jasubhai Engineering, Jasubhai Media, CHEMTECH Foundation & Jasubhai Foundation. Under his leadership CHEMTECH has expanded the scope of services by adding technology verticals, and key business networks for the Indian Chemical Processing Industry. He is passionate about the Student Outreach Program, an initiative of CHEMTECH Foundation launched by the Founder Chairman Shri Jasu Shah which aims at Developing Future Leaders for the industry. Currently, he is spearheading the Indian and international operations of Jasubhai Engineering Pvt Ltd, provider of complete engineering solutions across Process Automation, Material Handling and combustion Engineering. Prior to his current role he was the Founder CEO of Jasubhai Digital Media. Jasubhai Digital Media was a pioneering IT Media company with brands like Digit, Chip, Skoar and ZDNet.com. Shri Jasubhai holds an undergraduate degree in Industrial management from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton Business School, Pennsylvania. He started his career with Executive Director with Fischer Rosemount, now Emerson Process Management Systems. Shri Jasubhai is also the Honorary Consul of Austria in Mumbai.

Shri Saurav Jindal Portfolio Manager Tower Research Capital USA

Shri Jindal has been working at Tower Research Capital since 2002. He uses Quantitative Trading strategies to trade a broad range of asset classes on electronic markets around the world. He did his B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Kanpur in 2001.

Prof Shungo Kawanishi Director 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. Surendra Prasad Former Director Indian Institute of Technology Delhi He is currently a member of the Board of Governors of IIT Gandhinagar.

Prof. Prasad has held many responsible positions in his illustrious career at IIT Delhi. He has been its Director, Deputy Director, and Dean of Undergraduate Studies. He was a Visiting Research fellow at the Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough, UK from 1976 to 1977 and was a visiting faculty at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. Dr. Prasad has received numerous awards and honors during his career viz. the Vikram Sarabhai Research Award in 1987 and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Engineering Sciences in 1988. He is a Fellow, Indian National Sciences Academy of Engineering; Fellow, Indian National Science Academy, and Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore. He is currently a member of the Board of Governors of IIT Gandhinagar.

Shri Hasmukh P Rama Chairman and CEO JHM Hotels, Inc. Greenville, SC. USA.

Shri Rama holds a Master of Business Administration degree from St. Xavier University, USA and was awarded the degree of Hospitality Management, Honorary Doctorate Degree by the Johnson & Wales University USA. H.P. Rama has been in the lodging industry for almost four decades, beginning with a 40 Room independent property in Pomona, California. Today, JHM owns and operates 42 hotels in USA and India under Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, Sheraton and Taj. Mr. Rama has been the Founding Chairman of Asian American Hotel Owners Association - with a membership of 12,000 hotel owners in USA. Many honors have been awarded to H.P. such as the Oberoi Award for Excellence, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Hospitality Leader of the Year, Industry Person of the Year, U.S. Small Business Administration Entrepreneurial Success Award, Arthur Landstreet Award - for promoting education in Hospitality and the Above & Beyond Humanitarian Award by Lodging Conference USA. Mr. Rama has served as a Board of Advisor to many hospitality schools including Johnson & Wales University - New York University, University of Houston, University of South Carolina and California Polytechnic University. Also, Executive Professor in Residence Cornell University Hotel School and Visiting Professor at Penn State University and Michigan State University. He is currently serving as a Founder and President of Auro University of Hospitality and Management in Surat, India.

Shri Sanjiv Rangrass Divisional Chief Executive Agri Business Division - ILTD Andhra Pradesh

Shri Sanjiv Rangrass took over as Chief Executive of the Agri Business Division - ILTD in July 2010. With almost a century of working with the Indian Farmers, the Agri Business Division- ILTD, employs close to 4000 people, and deals in Leaf Tobacco and Spices. This vertical exports over USD 250 million worth of agri produce to over 50 countries. A Mechanical Engineer from IIT Kanpur, Shri Rangrass joined ITC in 1982. Prior to his current assignment, he spent 27 years in various capacities, primarily in manufacturing, engineering and projects, where he introduced novel approaches to innovation on the shop floor and spearheaded process excellence initiatives involving Lean and Six Sigma. During 2001-03, Shri Rangrass took up a cross-functional assignment and served as General Manager- HR, where he drove HR practices cutting across Manufacturing and the Trade & Marketing functions. During this period, he also aided the establishment of HR practices in ITCs foray into the Foods Business. His passion lies in driving organizational change through Talent Management and Process Excellence. He is a keen proponent of transparency and systemic orientation in all organizational practices and has a penchant for identifying and developing talent. A multi-faceted personality, Shri Rangrass is an avid sportsperson and a biker, and plays tennis and golf with equal aplomb. He has been on the Board of Governors of IIM Shillong and on the Board of PAN IIT Alumni Association of India.

Prof. Akshai Runchal President Analytic & Computational Research Inc California, USA

Prof. Akshai Runchal initiated the CFD Virtual Reality Institute (CFDVRi), Dharamsala, a registered non-profit institute in Himachal Pradesh. He also established ACRi group of companies that have provided advanced technology CFD Simulation and Modeling services to a number of international clients in the US, Europe and India since 1979. Prof. Runchal started his professional career as a faculty member at IIT Kanpur 1969. He has taught at a number of leading institutes including IIT Kanpur, Imperial College, London, Cal Tech, Pasadena and University of California, Los Angeles. Prof. Runchal obtained his Ph.D from Imperial College in 1969. He was a key member of a small group of 3 persons led by Prof. D. Brain Spalding that invented the Finite Volume Method (FVM) of CFD in mid- 1960's.

Shri Kushal Chand Sacheti CEO Galaxy USA Inc and Key Items Inc New York

Shri Kushal Sacheti, is the CEO of Galaxy, a diamond business company in New York. He is a philanthropist with a passion for education. He obtained his M. Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He has set up a Centre for Desert Development Technologies at BITS Pilani, from where he obtained his B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering. He is a donor for many other educational and humanitarian causes.

Prof Supreet Saini Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Mumbai

Prof Saini is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai. 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). He is the recipient of the Young Engineer Award 2017 (Indian National Academy of Engineering) and the Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award 2011 (Department of Biotechnology). His research interests are in the area of evolutionary microbiology.

Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor IIT Kanpur IIT Kanpur

Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi is currently Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and the Dean of Academic Affairs at IIT Kanpur. From 2008 - 2010, he served as the Director, LNM Institute of Information Technology (LNMIIT), a public-private partnership University in Jaipur. His administrative experience includes running the Institute Computer Center, managing Graduate Admissions, cultural advisor to students, Student Counselling, managing UG education at IIT Kanpur (as Chairman of Senate Under Graduate Committee), design of CS curriculum, and Chairman of Health Center Users Committee. He has visited about 70 colleges in India to discuss issues related to career planning, future of IT industry, curriculum and various technical/research talks. Professor Sanghi has a B. Tech from IIT Kanpur, and M. S. and Ph. D. from University of Maryland.

Shri Kushal Chand Sacheti CEO Galaxy USA Inc and Key Items Inc New York

Shri Kushal Sacheti, is the CEO of Galaxy, a diamond business company in New York. He is a philanthropist with a passion for education. He obtained his M. Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He has set up a Centre for Desert Development Technologies at BITS Pilani, from where he obtained his B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering. He is a donor for many other educational and humanitarian causes.

Prof Chandrima Shaha Professor of Eminence 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.

Ms Amita Sharma Former Additional Secretary Technical Education, MHRD India

Ms Amita Sharma served in the Indian Administrative Service (1981) and superannuated in 2014. Her core professional experience relates to social development policies and programmes, particularly related to education, social protection, gender, inclusive growth and sustainable development. Her professional assignments included serving as mission director of Shiksha mission in MP, joint secretary, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Additional Secretary technical education, MHRD. She has received several awards for her work such as the Common Wealth Gold Award for best Global Innovation in Public Service (education) in 1998, the President of India's Award for female literacy, 2001, the Government of India's award for the best website for MGNREGA in 2010, the India Today award for "Woman in Public Affairs, 2010". Ms Sharma has also received the MP government's Raza award for her poetry. She is presently visiting faculty IIT Bombay and also working with IPE Global (a development consultancy organization) as a consultant.

Prof. S. P. Sukhatme Professor Emeritus Indian Institute of Technology Bombay IIT 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 Mahesh Tandon Managing Director Tandon Consultants Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi

Prof Tandon is an international expert in the field of Structural Engineering. Many of the structures designed by Prof Tandon have been widely acclaimed and have received recognition in India as well as internationally. He is President, Indian Association of Structural Engineers (2015-16) and President, Indian Society of Wind Engineering (2015-16).Under the AICTE-INAE program he was appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor at IITs @ Kanpur, Roorkee & Gandhinagar (2005-2015). He is a Fellow of INAE, the past Chairman of the National Information Center for Earthquake Engineering at IIT Kanpur and the past President of Indian Concrete Institute. Some of his major projects include the Viaducts, Bridges, Stations Underground Constructions and Depots of the Metros at Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Noida, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Lucknow and Gurgaon. Other transportation structures include the Bangalore-Electronic City Elevated Expressway, several Flyovers and Interchanges in the cities of Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Guwahati at important road crossings, and the structures of Kuala Lumpur Light Rail, Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and Delhi-Badarpur Expressway. Monumental Building projects include the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi, the Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex at Anandpur Sahib, Punjab and the Precast Factory for Samtel at Ghaziabad. Prof Tandon has made significant contributions in the development of a culture for innovation in structural engineering both within and outside his organization by sharing his expertise and experience. His special areas of interest also include motivating the next generation to adopt Civil Engineering as their profession and vocation in life.

Prof Nitish V Thakor Director, SINAPSE, Provost Chair Professor, Elec & Comp Engineering, Bioengineering National University of Singapore Singapore

Prof Thakor is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at National University of Singapore (NUS). He 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.

Shri Ashok Thakur Former Secretary Higher Education, MHRD India

Shri Thakur has a Post-Graduate Degree in History from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Later was awarded Diploma in International Economic Relations from International Institute of Public Administration, Paris, in the year 1984-85. He has also been an alumni of Kennedy School of Government and also IDS Sussex University, where he did programmes on Infrastructure Development in Market Economy and Poverty Reduction, respectively. Since he retired in October 2014 he has been an Honorary Professor in Public Administration at Punjab University. He is also a member of the Circle of Friends of Cambridge University UK. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1977 and since then has held several posts including Principal Secretary, Tourism ,Culture, Youth Services and Sports, Industries, Forests , Home etc in the State Government of Himachal Pradesh. At the Centre, he worked in the Ministry of Rural Development in the rank of Joint Secretary. He also served in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, as a faculty member. In May 2008, he joined the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, as Additional Secretary Technical Education and later took over as Secretary [Higher Education] in May 2012. During this period of more than 6 years, Shri Ashok Thakur took a number of steps to improve the quality of higher education in the country by initiating reform measures through UGC, AICTE and DEC. These are the principle regulators in the country affecting the lives of more than 30 million students enrolled in more than 700 universities and 300 engineering colleges ,most of which are in the private sector. An unprecedented number of top - class institutions of higher learning were set up under him .Till 2008 there were only 7 IITs which increased to 16. Similarly the number of IIMs increased from 6 to 13 and NITs from 20 to 30; Central Universities from 24 to 40, SPAs from 1 to 3, IISERs and IIITs in PPP mode from nil to 5 and 12 respectively. Indeed very few individuals would have the experience of establishing so many new premier institution in the country or even elsewhere. The budget for higher education also increased 9 times during his tenure. The overall Gross Enrolment Ratio of the country also increased from 12% to 20% during this period thereby making the target of achieving 30% by 2020 well within the country-s reach. Similarly in the area of Skill Development , which is the single most important issue facing the youth and future of the country, he had an important role to play in the formulation of the National Skill Qualification Framework which mainstreams skills into the higher education system for the first time in the country. But more than the increase in GER or the expansion in the top class institutions, his main passion has been to improve the general quality of higher education in the country. In this his main thrust has been to provide more autonomy to the universities, working with the State Governments, reforming private universities, making accreditation an important tool in improving quality, laying more emphasis on industry - academia collaborations and advocating an open door policy for the best education providers in the world to participate and enrich the experience.

Shri A. M. Tiwari Managing Director Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited, Vadodara Vadodara

Shri. A. M. Tiwari, IAS, has had diverse set of responsibilities in the Government of Gujarat. These include Principal Secretary (Education), Secretary (Social Justice & Empowerment), and as Secretary (Tribal Development). He is currently the Managing Director of Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited since August 29, 2014. Shri. Tiwari served as the Managing Director at Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited during July 14, 2011 to May 2, 2013. He holds B.Sc in Chemistry, Zoology and Botany at Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University and also holds M.Sc in Zoology from same University. He holds MBA from the Univerza v Ljubljani.

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.