Prof. B. V. Phani

(Jun 2015 - Present)

Prof. B.V. Phani is a Professor in the Department of Industrial Management & Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in finance with a specialization in both MIS and Finance from IIM Calcutta. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of Financial Intermediation, Corporate Finance, Valuation & Real Options, Financial Intermediaries, Credit Risk Modeling, etc.

Prof. Phani received his bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from MVSR Engineering College, Osmania University, 1986. Later, he completed his MBA and Ph.D. in Finance from IIM Calcutta. Before joining academics, he held various positions in the industry including being a CEO of BCIT Ltd. From February 2004 to 2005, he worked as an Assistant Professor, Finance at IIM Calcutta. Soon after, he joined IIT Kanpur as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Management & Engineering and continues to work there. Besides his academic responsibilities, he has been handling several other additional roles. These include Coordinator, Syndicate Bank Entrepreneurship Research and Training Center (SBERTC), Coordinator, SIDBI Innovation and Incubation Centre (SIIC) and Associate Dean Innovation & Incubation (ADII), Office of Research and Development (R&D). Currently, he is the Dean of Resources & Alumni, IIT Kanpur. As a Dean, he is responsible for alumni affairs, international relations and resource mobilization, and is also committed to developing a strong relationship between alumni and the institute. In addition, he has many professional affiliations, publications and presentations to his credit. He continues to serve as an advisor to various organizations and has also been a visiting faculty at IIM Kozhikode.

Awards and Honors

Prof. Prabhat Munshi

(Mar 2013 - May 2015)

Prof. Prabhat Munshi is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur. He specializes in civilian nuclear safety analysis, computerized tomography and its applications in medical imaging, multi-phase flow non-invasive measurements, and non-destructive testing.

He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1977. Subsequently, he earned his M.S. degree in 1979 from the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA, and meanwhile worked as a reactor safety analysis engineer at Commonwealth Edison Company, Chicago, Illinois, USA from August 1979 to September 1989. Further, he went on to pursue Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from IIT Kanpur and completed it in 1989. While pursuing his Ph.D., he also served as a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering from October 1982 to November 1989. Later, he joined the department as an Assistant Professor and continues to be associated with it as a Professor.

Awards and Honors

Prof. Manindra Agarwal

(Jan 2011 - Jan 2013)

Prof. Manindra Agrawal is a Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur. He is also the current Deputy Director of the institute. In 2013, he was honored with the prestigious Padma Shri award. In 2003, he received the most coveted Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Mathematical Sciences.

He received his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1986 and 1991, respectively. He later worked as a fellow at the School of Mathematics, SPIC Science Foundation, Chennai from 1993 to 1995. From 1995 to 1996, he was a Humboldt Fellow at the University of Ulm, Germany. In 1996, he joined as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur. In 2003, IIT Kanpur conferred upon him the Distinguished Alumnus Award in recognition of his work on Complexity Theory and for developing a Polynomial Time Algorithm for Primality Testing and appointed him as the N. Rama Rao Chair Professor. From 2003 to 2004, he served as a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study. From 2006 to 2010, he served as the Head, Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He held several other roles including the Dean of Resource Planning and Generation, 2011 to 2012; and Dean of Faculty Affairs, 2013 to 2015.

Prof. Agrawal has also served on the program committees of several conferences: CCC, FOCS, FSTTCS, Asia Crypt, TAMC etc.; Governing Council of INAE and Science and Education Research Board; member of the Board of Governors, IISER Bhopal, NISER Bhubaneswar, and IIIT Allahabad; Chairperson, INSPIRE Committee for Mathematical Sciences, 2016-2020; member of the Governing Council, Indian National Science Academy, 2016-17; member of the National Board of Higher Mathematics, 2015-19. He also chaired the 22nd Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science conference, Kanpur in 2002 and 20th IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity, Prague, the Czech Republic in 2006.

Awards and Honors

Late Prof. Sanjeev K. Aggarwal

(Jan 2008 - Jan 2011)

Late Prof. Sanjeev K. Aggarwal was one of the highly-reputed professors of computer science at IIT Kanpur. He was primarily interested in interests in compilers, language analysis and compiling for new and novel architectures. He was a luminary of the compiler and programming language analysis community in India. He was serving as the Director of BITS Pilani, Goa, at the time of his demise on 11th January 2014.

He completed his B.Sc. with Honors in Physics from Hindu college and M.Sc. in Physics from the Delhi University. Later, he received an M.Tech. degree in Nuclear Engineering & Technology and a Ph.D. in computer science in 1987 from IIT Kanpur. From 1986 to 1990, he worked as a research scientist at the Tata Research Development and Design Center, Pune. Following it, he joined IIT Kanpur as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and continued to work there till July 2013. He served the institute in different capacities and in each role demonstrated his high level of academic excellence. He served as the Head of the Computer Centre; Head of the CSE department; and the Dean, Resource Planning and Generation. He later took a long leave and became the Director of BITS Pilani, Goa.

Throughout his career, he handled various industry and government funded projects. He also published a large number of papers in international forums. He mentored over 89 M.Tech., 2 Ph.D. and a host of B.Tech. students. He had strong links with industry and had joint projects with Sun Microsystems (now taken over by Oracle), IBM and Intel. He was also a Coordinator of the erstwhile Prabhu Goel Centre on Computer and Network Security and played a significant role in organizing the first Security and Privacy Symposium in 2013. The second edition was held in February 2014 where his presence was sorely missed. He was credited with creating a popular web version of the course for NPTEL (National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning).

Prof. Sudhir K. Jain

(Jan 2005 - Jan 2008)

Prof. Sudhir K. Jain is an expert in earthquake engineering field and an ardent academic administrator. His research interests include study of damaging earthquakes, reinforced concrete buildings, bridges, and seismic codes, earthquake engineering and structural dynamics. Since 2009, he has been serving as the founder Director of Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar.

He obtained a B.Tech. degree from the University of Roorkee in 1979 and master’s and doctoral degrees from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, in 1980 and 1983, respectively. In 1984, he joined the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur as a lecturer and rose to become a full professor. He served as the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering from January 2001 to December 2003. Besides his academic commitments, he discharged several other duties to perfection including that of a Chairman of the Students Placement Committee; Coordinator of the Center for Development of Technical Education; and Dean, Resource Planning and Generation. He has also been a visiting faculty at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand; and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

Prof. Jain set up the National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) at IIT Kanpur and developed the National Programme on Earthquake Engineering Education (NPEEE), supported by the Government of India. His has made immense contributions to the development of Indian seismic codes, and conducted numerous short courses and seminars on seismic design for practicing engineers and college teachers. He has carried out post-earthquake surveys of most of the disastrous earthquakes in India since 1988 and disseminated “Learnings from Earthquakes” through publications and seminars. He has been a consultant for major projects such as bridges, petrochemical pipelines and concrete dams and has published more than 150 scholarly papers.

Prof. Jain was on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering in 2000 and is currently its President-Elect. From 2002 to 2009, he served on the Board of Directors of the World Seismic Safety Initiative. Since 2008, he has been the Executive Board Member of Asia-Pacific Association for Public Safety Science and Technology.

Awards and Honors

Prof. Prem K. Kalra

(Jan 2002 - Jan 2005)

Prof. Prem Kumar Kalra is currently the President of Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, India. He also oversees the National Mission of Education under NMEICT, MHRD, as a mission director. He is the Editorial Board Member of International Journal of Bio-Sciences and Technology. Prior to his current position, he served as the Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan, and played a pivotal role in distinguishing it from the other IITs.

He completed his B.Sc. Eng. from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, in 1978. He continued working at the institute as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Electrical Engineering for a year. Later, he received his M.Tech. from IIT Kanpur in 1982 and his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba, Canada, in 1987. Soon after, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, as an Assistant Professor and worked there for a year. In September 1988, he joined IIT Kanpur and became a full professor in 1997.

Throughout his career, Prof. Kalra has served IIT Kanpur in different capacities including Dean, Resource Planning & Generation; Head, Department of Electrical Engineering; Chairman, Senate Scholarships & Prize Committee; Student’s Placement Committee; Telephone Advisory Committee and Visitor’s Hostel Management Committee. He has also served as a member of the Advisory Board for International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications in June 1991, Edinburgh, U.K.

Awards and Honors

Prof. Deepak Kunzru

(Jan 2000 - Jan 2002)

Prof. Deepak Kunzru is currently a Professor at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Ahmedabad University. He retired as an Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at IIT Kanpur.

He received his B.Tech. degree in 1968 from IIT Kanpur and his M.S. in 1970 from Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA, in Chemical Engineering. In 1972, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. In 1974, he joined IIT Kanpur and continued to work there till his retirement. During his stay at the institute, he held several positions including the Chevron Chair Professor; Head, Department of Chemical Engineering; Dean, Resource Planning and Generation; and Dean, Research &Development. He has also served as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, U.S.A.

His core research interests include micro-structured reactors, chemical reaction engineering, pyrolysis of hydrocarbons and petroleum processing. He has published more than 100 papers in reputed international journals and has edited one book also. 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.

Prof. Kalra has served as an expert on several national committees. Currently, he is a Chairman of the Program Advisory Committee (Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering) of Science and Engineering Research Board, New Delhi; Research Advisory Committee of HPCL R&D and Independent Director of Green Gas Ltd. He has also served as a member on the Board of Governors of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology from 2007 to 2016.

Awards and Honors

Prof. Sachchida Nand Tripathi

(Jan 1997 - Dec 1999)

Prof. Sachchidanand is one of India’s leading scientists in the field of atmospheric sciences. He is an adjunct Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and the Coordinator of the Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur.

He received his B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from IIT BHU in 1992, master’s in Environmental Engineering from MNIT, Allahabad, in 1994, and Ph.D. from the Department of Meteorology, the University of Reading, UK, in 2000. He did two post-docs, one in Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai from 2000 to 2002, and second at the Oxford University from 2002 to 2003. In July 2003, he joined IIT Kanpur as an Assistant Professor and became a full professor in 2012.

He is interested in the development of new techniques for measurement of aerosol absorption. His work is primarily on the impact of aerosols on climate. He has published 68 peer-reviewed publications with more than 1050 citations. During his tenure, he has established a world-class laboratory at the institute to study the aerosol-related issues. His work has won him several prestigious accolades including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award in 2014 in recognition of his contributions to the understanding of dust-carbonaceous aerosols in the Ganga basin through innovative experimental design and mathematical modeling. Currently, he is working towards establishing the National Aerosol Facility at IIT Kanpur, which would be the first such facility in Asia.

Prof. Sachchidanand has been a visitor to the Aeronomy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA; the University of Tokyo, Japan; Laboratoire de Physique Et Chimie de Environment, University of Orleans, France; and Georgia Institute of Technology. He was a senior fellow at NASA Goddard Research Flight Center for a year from August 2009 to July 2010. He has also served as an Academic Editor of PLOS ONE.

Awards and Honors

Prof. Ashok K. Mittal

(Jan 1994 - Dec 1996)

Prof. Ashok K. Mittal is a Program Director of CPMOM, Indian School of Business. He has published his research in journals such as IIE Transactions, International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, Operations Research Letters, etc.

He completed his B.Tech. with honors in Mechanical Engineering in 1969 and his M.Tech. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research in 1972 from IIT Kharagpur. Further, he obtained his M.S. degree in 1973 and Ph.D. in Operations Research in 1975 from the Case Western Reserve University, USA. In 1975, he started working as an Assistant Professor in the IME Department, IIT Kanpur. In 1984, he became a full professor. At the institute, he held several additional responsibilities including that of a Head, IME Department; Dean, Planning and Resource Generation; and Dean, Research and Development. He also served as the MHRD IPR chair professor, IIT Kanpur.

He has also been a Visiting Faculty to the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA; and Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. From January 2014 to December 2015, he served as a President of Operational Research Society of India and Vice President of Quality Circle Forum of India.

He is a fellow of Institution of Engineers, India and a life member of ISTE. He has given informative lectures on a large number of courses organized at industry sites such as Sail, Allen Bradley, TELCO, State Planning Institute etc. He has supervised 5 Ph.D. and 55 Masters Thesis in the areas of Operations Research, Operations Management, and IPR. He was the coordinator of Institute Industry Interaction Project and Management of technology project of AICTE. He also worked on the National Technical Manpower Project of Government of India.