PALS Core Team – Enhancing Engineering Education

PALS CHAMPIONS TEAM

C N Chandrasekaran (CNC) is a Professional with 40 years of commendable Information Technology Service Leadership and work experience in the areas of Global Practice/Engagement Oversight, Business Development, Business Operations, Program Management, Project Management, Service Delivery Management, People Management, Competency Development and Training. CNC has provided services to Financial Services, Manufacturing, Automotive, Chemicals, Food and Maintenance clients, Globally and in India. CNC is a graduate of IIT Madras (1977 batch) and holds Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Science and Applications from NCSDCT-TIFR

Anuradha Ramanujam is a 2009 pass out from the MBA program at Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras and Electronics and Communications Engineer from the College of Engineering, Guindy (1982). Before working in Cognizant Technology Solutions in various managerial functions in Delivery and General Management, she was an entrepreneur for about ten years. Post Cognizant, she did general administration and succession planning in her family hospital at Chennai for two years.

Bharanidharan, an Alumnus of IIT Madras and IIT Delhi, has over 30 years of experience running offshore delivery centres for large financial services institutions, eCommerce and HealthCare organizations. A seasoned IT professional having played several senior leadership roles in leading organizations. Also a passionate educator, enthusiastic towards fostering innovation and entrepreneurial spirit among students.

S Krishnakumar – IIT Alumnus with several decades of experience in the Engineering & Automotive industry. SKK has held pivotal roles, including Senior Vice-President at Lucas TVS Ltd for 20 years, overseeing engineering, R&D, and quality domains, and as General Manager at L&T for 22 years, leading profit centers in rubber processing machinery. He has also made significant contributions as an adjunct and visiting faculty at esteemed institutions like RMK Engineering College, VIT Vellore, and Anna University.

Mohan Narayanan is the Founder and CEO of “KUBOS”, a best-in-class Consulting and Analytics Start up. In his last corporate assignment, Mohan was part of the team that set up Cognizant offshore, created & spearheaded Healthcare and Life Sciences vertical, their largest one at that time. Prior to Cognizant, he held leadership roles at Tata Burroughs Ltd (TBI) and Macneill & Magor Ltd. He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from IIT Madras. Mohan has held Board level positions at Sciformix Corporation (now Covance) and Trigyn Technologies Ltd. He is part of the Executive committee of many industry bodies like TiE and SICCI. He is member of IIT M Entrepreneurship Forum (IITMEF) and also runs PALS, a voluntary organization supported by IITM to augment the quality of engineering education in the country.

Palghat Mohan is the current chairman of PALS and an Alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta, having 40 years of work experience mainly in the Paints industry. During his career he occupied various senior managerial positions spanning Manufacturing operations, Sales and Marketing as well as General Manager. Major part of his career was spent in Goodlass Nerolac Paints ( now Kansai Nerolac) in India and Kansai Plascon Paints in Africa. Mohan spent 21 years of his career working in Zambia.

Ramaswamy is an Alumnus of IIT Madras, having obtained his B.Tech and M.Tech degrees in Metallurgy from the Institution. He has served for nearly 40 years in reputed organizations like LMW, Brakes India and Texmo Industries in their iron foundries, last position as head of operations. He has been responsible for setting up green field foundries and in project upgradations. He has been active in Foundry Associations and now serves the Foundry Industry as Consultant, based in Coimbatore.

An Alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta, Ravi has more than 30 years experience in TCS, IDBI, Bank of Baroda and EDS. He has been an advisor with CMC Ltd focusing on the BFSI vertical. He is also a qualified banker. He is one of the promoters of IIT Alumni Industry Interaction Centre(AIIC) and also FORTESS an organisation of ex TCS employees serving the community.

P.V. Ravindran graduated with a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech. Chem) from IIT Madras in 1972. Later on, he further strengthened his qualifications with a management program from IIM-Kozhikode. He has decades of professional experience in diverse fields in India and abroad. 12 years in the field of Aluminium manufacturing, casting, rolling, and anodizing and 36 years as a successful entrepreneur in software development and marketing.

K. Balachandran graduated from IITM in 1982 ( B-Tech Civil) , went on to work in major construction projects both in India and Middle East , in turn working for A class contractors, builders and Project Management Consultancies. Last assignment was as Project Director of PMC, managing multiple Hospital projects in Assam, a joint initiative of Tatasons, Mumbai and the Government of Assam

Dr.Lakshmi Gangavaram is a detail-oriented biotechnology researcher with a M.Tech ( Biotechnology ) and a doctoral degree in Biochemical Engineering from IIT Madras. With considerable experience in being part of world-renowned overseas research labs for collaborative research, she is engaged in the multidisciplinary areas of biotech research ( academic/industry set up) adept in genetic engineering, protein engineering and with expertise in novel enzymes with a focus on applications in agriculture,healthcare and environment.She also has an experience of directing research funding acquisition with related project management and delivery, knowledge of IP development, and management with granted patents in India and U.S. She is passionate education researcher who would like to volunteer for the PALS Program.

Ramesh P R has over 46 years of structural engineering experience in various types of projects including high-rise buildings, schools, hospitals, hotels, leisure complexes, shopping malls, mosques, oil and power plants, atomic reactor buildings, water and waste water treatment plants, and industrial structures like desalination plants, district cooling plants, and water retaining structures in UAE, Qatar, India, Nepal and Oman. Have a long career covering various types of structures including post tensioned, conventionally reinforced concrete, and steel. At present a consultant to Dubai based consulting firm.

PALSH HUB CHAMPIONS

Prof. Muralikrishna Iyyanki, a distinguished expert in Geospatial Modeling, Environment, and Health Analytics, holds a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and an M.Tech from IIT Madras. With extensive experience spanning academia, research, and consultancy, Prof. Murali has chaired significant international initiatives like the ISPRS Working Group III/9 on Geospatial Environment and Health Analytics. Dr. Murali has served in pivotal roles such as the Chairman of the Smart Village Movement, Consultant for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Project on Population Health Analytics, and as a Distinguished Fellow at DRDO, Government of India. As a prolific academic, he has mentored numerous scholars, led research projects, and founded esteemed journals like Geospatial Today and Technology Spectrum. With a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation, Prof. Muralikrishna fondly called IVM continues to shape the landscape of geospatial technology and its applications in diverse domains.

C P Madhusudan is co -founder of Vyuhaa Med Data a Startup focused on Preventive Healthcare which is incubated at IIT Hyderabad. He is also Director of Lucid Software Ltd. which develops software for Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) industry. Lucid’s focus is on industries where safety is a critical issue and secure operations are a must. These include Nuclear Power, Aerospace, Civil Engineering Infrastructure, Oil and Gas. In addition, he is supporting the scale up of CPath Laboratories, national chain of diagnostics laboratories. He is an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore. He has led alumni activities for both institutes for many yearsC.

Narasimham Ganti graduated from IIT Madras with BTech degree in Mechanical Engineering, subsequently worked with Tata Consulting Engineers, Sripur Paper mills, Binny Limited and Greaves Limited. Currently Associated with Cheema Boilers Limited as advisor after retiring as Vice President. Presented Technical Talks/Papers related to Industrial steam boilers in various technical workshops conducted by All India Distillers Association, South India Sugar Association, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & AP State Boiler Directorates, National Productivity Council, Central Boiler Board, AP Steam & Fuel Users Association, MSME in Collaboration with MNRE etc.

Ravindranath Jonna completed his B.Tech (Metallurgy) from IIT, Madras in 1977. He joined SAIL, Salem Steel Plant, Salem in 1978 as Management Trainee (Technical) and worked in Production, Planning, Customer Services, Market Development, Domestic Marketing and Exports. He has travelled across the globe during his fifteen years stint as in-charge of Exports. He received Jawahar award for his contribution in improving exports from SSP. He has also received Regional Top Exporter Shield from EEPC (SR) for record growth of Exports. He superannuated in 2015 as DGM (Marketing), in-charge of Stainless Steel Marketing from SAIL, CMO. He has settled down in Visakhapatnam and presently helping ISSDA as advisor in spreading the knowledge about Stainless Steels & cost-effective uses of SS to improve the consumption in India.

Pingili Vikram Kumar (विक्रम कुमार విక్రమ్ కుమార్), well known as vikram bhayyA in academic circles, is basically a science communicator. Was with bharatiscript.com project at IIT Madras till 2022. Worked in the industry as a DSP engineer for a short while. Served as faculty in Engg colleges for about 4.5 years. Visited 550+ schools & has been the resource person for signal processing / MATLAB / embedded systems/ Robotics workshops/ FDPs at 90+ colleges across the country. Given lecture cum demo sessions for over 250 hrs online. Taught mathematical magics & basic science demos to over 1 lakh students, teachers, and the general public. Concurrently does several activities such as mentoring/ supporting students in doing socially relevant projects.

VVB Anjaneya Prasad (Brahma) Completed M. Tech (Power Systems & Power Electronics) from IIT Madras, B. Tech (EEE) from ANU, DEEE from MBTS Govt. Polytechnic. Having 25 years of industrial experience in Design, Testing, Commissioning, QC, Project Management Consultancy & Engineering Consultancy in Oil & Gas and Electrical Industry in India & GCC. Worked in top EPC & Engineering Companies CCC, Worley. Worked in Schneider/SIEMENS/ABB Channel Partners Companies, Voltamp Energy SAOG. He founded Veerabhadra Elite Electrodynamic Solutions LLP and doing R&D in HVDC (>500kV DC) and applied 4 PATENTS (HVDC Generators & Converters).