Chief Guest:
Dr. R Chidambaram,
Inaugural Session

Formerly Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India

Dr. Rajagopala Chidambaram is a Physicist who is known for his integral role in India’s nuclear weapons program. He coordinated test preparation for the Pokhran-I (1975) and Pokhran-II (1998). He previously served as the principal scientific adviser to the federal Government of India. He also served as the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) — and later as chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of the Government of India and he contributed in providing national defence and energy security to India. Dr. Chidambaram was chairman of the board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during 1994–95. He was also a member of the Commission of Eminent Persons appointed by the Director-General, IAEA, in 2008 to prepare a report on “The Role of the IAEA to 2020 and Beyond”.

Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Asim Tewari,
Inaugural Session

Professor, IITB

Dr. Asim Tewari is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a faculty member of the Center for Machine Intelligence and Data Science (C-MInDS) at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai. He graduated with a B. Tech degree from IIT Kanpur, followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. He has over two decades of work experience working in both corporate R&D and National research laboratories. His area of research is in mathematical models for microstructural – mechanics and applied machine learning. He has over 100 international journal & conference publications and ten international and four Indian patents. He has graduated thirteen Ph.D. students and more than fifty M.S. students. Over the last decade, he has secured research funding of over 15 million USD.

Dr. Vinod C Prabhakaran,
Plenary Talk 1

Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-NCL, Pune

Dr. Prabhakaran completed his MSc in Physical Chemistry from the school of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, in 1995. He obtained PhD in Chemistry from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. He did post-doctoral work at various institutes including the Technical University Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Denmark Technical University, Denmark; and Cardiff University, United Kingdom. He joined CSIR-NCL in 2010 and started his independent research group at the Catalysis Division.

Title of the Talk: Sustainability through Catalysis

Mr. Gajanan Palsule,
Plenary Talk 2

Chief Architect, TCS

Mr. Gajanan Palsule currently working as ‘Chief Architect’ for CIO organization, heads cluster of Architecture and Engineering CoEs with focus on digital transformation leveraging cloud native architecture and hybrid cloud environments. He has more than 22 years of experience in the IT sector. He worked in the roles of Solution Architect, Business Analyst and Project Manager in various industry verticals including Banking, Insurance, Service and manufacturing. Contributed in business systems transformation as well as digital transformations for multiple global customers.

Title: With Metaverse – Let us make our cities smarter and sustainable

Dr. Srivalli Shrikanth,
Plenary Talk 3

Professor and Head, MGM Dental College

Dr. Srivalli Shrikanth is a Oral And Maxillo Facial Surgeon in Vikhroli, Mumbai and has an experience of 31 years in this field. Dr. Srivalli Shrikanth practices at Godrej Memorial Hospital in Vikhroli, Mumbai. She completed MDS – Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery from Dr. TN MGR Medical University in 1992.

Title: Computer assisted Maxillofacial Surgery: A Precision Tool

Mr. Avinash M Shabade,
Plenary Talk 4

Transportation Engineer (Special Projects) at CIDCO

Mr. Avinash M. Shabade, a visionary professional with an unwavering passion for transforming urban landscapes and improving the lives of citizens. Avinash’s journey began in the serene town of Latur, Maharashtra, where he completed his Civil Engineering degree in 2006. Fuelled by a desire to create impactful change, he embarked on a remarkable academic voyage, earning his M.Tech. Degree from the prestigious institute, The IIT Bombay in 2009.

Title: 3 Generations of Railway Stations in Mumbai Metropolitan Region

Mr. Belur Krishnamurthy Sethuraman,
Plenary Talk 5

Managing Director, Celanese Corporation, India

Sethu is the Managing Director for Celanese India, with responsibilities of charting a profitable growth path for Celanese in India. He and his team are committed to catalyzing usage of engineering plastics and specialty chemicals in a wide spectrum of end-use markets, and working with customers to develop innovative solutions in emerging segments like 5G, Advanced Mobility, Medical Devices and Sustainability.

Before joining Celanese, Sethu spent 14 years with Dow Chemical and Rohm and Haas, where he held various sales, marketing, country and business leadership responsibilities in the Asia Pacific region.

Sethu has a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras, an MS from Clarkson University, USA and an MBA from Sasin School of Business, a Kellogg-Wharton program. He is also a Certified CEO Coach from Coaching Foundation of India, a partner at Social Venture Partners and Member of the Celanese Global Diversity and Inclusion council.

Title: Advanced and Sustainable Engineered Plastics for Future Cities

Dr. Priam Pillai,
Plenary Talk 6

COO, Mahatma Education Society

Dr. Priam Pillai graduated with a PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT in 2011. He is currently an Associate Professor at PCE in Mumbai, India as well as serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Mahatma Education Society (MES). He has started many new initiatives at MES including launch of Pillai Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Google Apps for Education in the 48 institutions, founded the Urban Expansion Observatory, numerous Industry-Institute Interactions, development and adaptation of open-source software and technologies for education and many others.

As a faculty member at PCE, his research interests include development of instruments for material testing. His research interests also include applications of GIS and remote sensing for development of maps that can be used for Urban planning. He is the founding partner of the Urban Expansion Observatory, a joint research initiative in Geospatial technologies between Mahatma Education Society and New York University. He is also the director of Valectus Pvt Limited, a geospatial analytics company, that specializes in providing geospatial solutions to small and medium businesses as well as government agencies. The company was the winner of the Maharashtra State Innovation Society’s startup award in 2020.

Title: Combining GIS and Remote Sensing with Artificial Intelligence to Study Cities

Mr. Bijon Roy,
Plenary Talk 7

Principal Lead Product Manager- Microsoft

Bijon is a lifelong learner in technology innovation. He is currently a leader building product in the cloud and AI space for Microsoft. In his two decades of career, he has played multiple roles starting with a developer, a delivery manager, a seller, a startup incubator to currently a manager of product managers. He wants to be the best team player with strong individual contribution and spread positivity around in all situations. Apart from technology, he is passionate about history, philosophy and anthropology. If you want to know how to measure your “maturity”, he can help you assess yourself with his tips.

Title: How to survive in the age of ChatGPT

Mr. Sunil Pote,
Panel Discussion

Executive Director (Operations), Mahapreit – Government of Maharashtra (Undertaking)

Mr. Nikhil Mahadeshwar,
Panel Discussion

Cybersecurity Expert, Digital Forensics Investigator & Tech Innovator

Mr. Bhavesh Mehta,
Panel Discussion

Deputy General Manager – Engineering Design, Reliance Industries Limited, Navi Mumbai

Chief Guest: Dr. Debdatta Ratna,
Valedictory Session

NMRL