PROFILE

P. V. Madhusudhan Rao is professor in departments of mechanical engineering and design at IIT Delhi. He was also founding head of the department of design. He is a co-founder of Assistech lab in Khosla school of information technology, which works towards development of assistive technologies for empowerment of visually challenged. As a coordinator of IIT Delhi Design Innovation Center (DIC), he is also responsible for initiating and driving multiple programs in design, innovation & entrepreneurship.

He obtained his bachelors in mechanical engineering from college of engineering, Osmania university, masters in mechanical engineering from IIT BHU and his Ph.D from IIT Kanpur. He was a guest researcher to US government's National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST, USA), Five times between 1996-2007. He was visiting scientist to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 2005 summer and visiting faculty to Stanford University during spring quarter of 2012.

His current teaching and research interests include product design & manufacturing with a special emphasis on design of medical & assistive devices. He serves on editorial boards of journal of computing and information science in engineering published by ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and journal of smart and sustainable manufacturing systems published by ASTM (American Society of Testing of Materials). He has also served on the editorial board of International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture (Elsevier) and BMJ Innovations (BMJ Publishing Inc).

He has several patents and design registrations to his credit many of which have been commercialized. He and his team’s translational research efforts have led to successful products and solutions which are presently in the national and international market and have made an impact. Some of these products are among those selected for display at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (USA), Bill & Melinda Gates foundation Discovery Center (USA), Wellcome Collection, London and National Museum of Scotland. He also serves as part-time director and scientific advisor to many start-ups and incubators.

He has carried out many sponsored research, consulting and innovation projects which were sponsored by organizations such as Department of Science & Technology (DST), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Education (MoE/MHRD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), DRDO, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Boeing Company, Microsoft, Wellcome Trust (UK), EPSRC (UK), WHO, Omidyar Network, Bill, Melinda Gates Foundation, BHEL, AIIMS and Government of Ethiopia. He had joint academic and research activities with many global universities which include TU Berlin, TU Darmstadt, TU Dresden, UCL London, The University of Sheffield, EPFL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, IUPUI, Auburn University, City University of Hong Kong and University of Porto.

Apart from being a member of board of governors of IIT Delhi, he has served/serves on many academic, research and innovation committees of government of India which include DST, DBT, Ministry of Pharmaceuticals, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), ICMR, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), University Grants Commission (UGC), BIRAC, MeitY, MSME, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Rashtrapati Bhavan and Government of Gujarat and Government of Rajasthan.

He has delivered more than 100 keynote/plenary/invited lectures and contributed as a panelist in many panels including those organized by World Economic Forum, UNDP, WHO, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE, UK), PAN IIT, CII, FICCI and National Innovation Foundation.

He has organized and co-organized multiple conferences and events which include Indo-Japan joint workshop on manufacturing (with IIT Kanpur), Inclusive manufacturing forum (with NIAS), India social good summit (with UNDP), National aeromodelling challenge (with Boeing), human powered vehicle challenge (with ASME), capacity building workshop for social entrepreneurs (with Harvard Business School & Tata Trusts), inclusive innovation conference (with Omidyar network), multiple capacity building programs related to innovation and entrepreneurship (with Niti Aayog), Joint Innovation Bootcamps (with MIT), Biodesign Workshops (under Stanford India Biodesign programme), Assistive Technology Workshops (with WHO) and Assistive Technology Conference (with Microsoft).

He is a Fellow of ASME. He is a recipient of Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation National Fellowship of INAE (Indian National Academy of Engineering). He is also recipient of IIT Delhi’s K. L. Chopra Faculty Research Award in Applied Research category in its inaugural year. He has been conferred with of 2005 Vasvik Industrial Research Award and has received twice national award by Ministry of Science & Technology.