Technologies for Energy, Agriculture, and Healthcare

Dr. S. K. Ukarande is the Director of K. J. Somaiya School of Engineering, Mumbai, and the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Technology at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the College of Engineering, Pune, and a Master’s and Ph.D. from IIT Bombay. With 39 years of experience in higher technical education leadership, he has served as Principal of reputed engineering colleges affiliated with the University of Mumbai and Pune University for over 26 years. He has also been the Former Dean of the Faculty of Technology and the Faculty of Science & Technology at the University of Mumbai.

Dr. Ukarande has authored 4 books and published over 50 papers in national and international journals and conference proceedings. He has guided 24 PG dissertations and 8 Ph.D. candidates. He was instrumental in the development and successful launch of the satellite ‘Somaiya BeliefSat-0’ by the team at K. J. Somaiya Institute of Technology, a significant achievement for an engineering institute in India. He has received the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan National Award for Best Engineering College Principal (2018-19) from the Indian Society for Technical Education and was recognized as the Most Inspiring Leader in Engineering Education (2023) by Higher Education Digest. His leadership continues to drive innovation and excellence at KJSSE.

Dr. Shailesh R. Nikam is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai. He earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Bombay. With 26 years of teaching experience, he has published over forty peer-reviewed papers in reputable journals and conferences. His research interests include low-speed aerodynamics, jet and wake flow control, heat exchanger design, and cardiovascular fluid dynamics.

Dr. Makarand G. Kulkarni is an Associate Professor in the Electronics Engineering Department at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai. He holds a Ph.D. (Technology) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Mumbai and has 22 years of teaching experience. He has published twenty-five peer-reviewed papers in recognized conferences and journals, including publications in journals like Progress in Electromagnetic Research and Telecommunications and Radio Engineering. He also serves as a reviewer for international journals such as Wireless Personal Communications (Springer), Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, and Progress in Electromagnetic Research. His research areas encompass RF and microwave communication devices and circuits, optical fiber communication, the Internet of Things (IoT), digital communication, and engineering electromagnetics. He is a Life Member of ISTE and IETE.

Dr. Nandana A. Prabhu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Technology at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai. She completed her Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication Engineering from B.V.B. College of Engineering, Hubli, under Karnatak University. She obtained her postgraduate degree from V.J.T.I., under the University of Mumbai, and her Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from the University of Mumbai. With a total of 32 years of teaching experience, she has published 29 papers in reputable journals and conferences. Her areas of interest include image processing, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), analytics, and machine learning.

Dr. Vaibhav S. Narwane is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai. He received his Ph.D. in Production Engineering from the University of Mumbai and possesses 21 years of teaching and 1 year of industrial experience. He has authored over fifty peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals, with more than 2000 Google Scholar citations, reflecting a high h-index and i10-index. He is a Fellow and active member of the IIIE. His current research focuses on AI/ML for manufacturing, big data analytics, smart manufacturing, and supply chain analytics.

Dr. Ninad D. Mehendale is an Associate Professor in the Electronics Department at K.J. Somaiya School of Engineering. He is a postdoctoral researcher from KIT, Germany. Previously, he worked as a Scientist at the Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, and served as faculty at Vidyalankar Institute of Technology and D.J. Sanghvi College of Engineering. Dr. Mehendale holds a Ph.D. in Microfabrication and Image Processing from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He was a gold medalist during his M.Tech. at NMIMS University. He also holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunication and a Diploma in Industrial Electronics, for which he received the Ratan Tata Scholarship for being the topper in the MSBTE diploma exams. Dr. Mehendale is the founder and served as Chief Researcher for 11 years at Ninad’s Research Lab in Thane, where he completed over 2,400 projects in diverse fields, from computer programming to robotics.

Dr. Nilkamal P. More is the Head of the Department of Information Technology at K. J. Somaiya School of Engineering, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, where she has been working for the past 22 years. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) under the University of Mumbai. She is a Fellow and active member of the IEEE. She was awarded a Gold Medal during her diploma in Computer Engineering. Her current research interests include GIS, remote sensing, AI/ML, and deep learning.