Faculty Bio

Prashant R. Nair currently serves as an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore Campus. He also coordinates the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) process at Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore campus.

Service to Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

Teaching

• Engineering Faculty (2000 onwards)
• Business Faculty (2004 onward)
• Faculty, Amrita-TIFAC Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security (2007-2011)

Academic Administration

• Chairman, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) and Member Secretary, NAAC Accreditation steering committee (2018 onwards)
• National Board of Accreditation (NBA) Coordinator for Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore (2018 onwards)
• Vice-Chairman, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) (2008-2017). Instrumental in Amrita getting the highest grade, ‘A’ for all its 5 campuses, 14 schools, 150+ departments and 250 programs by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), the Indian government’s Quality Assurance (QA) agency for universities twice in 2009 and 2014.
• Vice-Chairman – Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department @ Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore campus (2014-2019)
• Vice-Chairman – Information Technology department @ Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore campus (2007-2014)
• Core Committee member, Institution of Eminence (IoE) initiative (2017-2018)
• Nodal Officer, National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) university rankings of Government of India (2015 onwards). University secured 8th position in 2019 & 2018 and 9th position in 2017 among all 900 universities in the India rankings. The university was also ranked 5th in medical category in 2019. 2018 rank certificate was presented by Shri Prakash Javadekar, then Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD), Government of India. Also did the presentations whereby Amrita emerged as the top technical university in Swachhta rankings in India in 2017 and 2018. Represented Amrita to collect Swachh Campus Ranking certificate from then HRD Ministers, Shri Prakash Javadekar and Dr. Satyapal Singh in 2018.
• Nodal Officer, University Grants Commission (UGC) review of the university (2016)
• Member, Board of Studies in Information Technology (2005-2009)
• University representative in international conclaves of ‘Study in India’ Program of Government of India in various countries (2019 onwards)

Research & Mentoring

• 6 books, 2 edited books, 1 book chapter and 40+ research publications in leading journals and conferences (12 Scopus-listed and 1 Science Citation Index (SCI) indexed papers; this includes 5 Springer, 1 IOS Press and 1 IGI Global publication)
• H-index of 6 with 115+ citations in Google Scholar
• Current Areas of Research: Application of ICT tools for Supply Chain Management, Management Information Systems, Cyber Security, Business Analytics
• Mentor, Team Vision, student team with following accomplishments (2018-2020):
  • Top 5 rank in the Singapore-India Hackathon 2018 after being chosen to officially represent India by HRD ministry of Government of India. The team also was felicitated by Shri Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister at Singapore.
  • Victories in prestigious international and national competitions such as Smart India Hackathon 2018 for Ministry of Commerce & Industry of Government of India; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) EnginX Digital Twin Challenge contest 2018 and Rajasthan Online Hackathon 2018.
  • Top ranks and positions in Titan Technology Tune-in 2.0 in 2019, Linux Foundation National Mobile App Innovation Challenge (MiC) 2019, N/Core Ideathon 2018 and India Innovation Growth Program (IIGP) 2.0 in 2018 held at IIT Bombay
• Mentor, Team Bend, student team with following accomplishments (2018-2020):
  • Ranked in the top 15 teams nation-wide in Cisco ThingQbator Program 2019
  • Selected for representing university in Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)’s Innovation Cell (MIC) National Exhibition Challenge 2019
• Member, Management Team, Amrita Technology Business Incubator (TBI) (2013-2014)
• Co-investigator for the Cyber Security research project titled, “Predictive threat evaluation in Complex IT systems” sponsored by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), India for Rs. 24 lakhs (2014-2015)
• Has secured conference, workshop, techfest & research funding to the tune of Rs. 2 crores from agencies and industry such as DRDO, AICTE, IBM, Facebook, Infosys, Cognizant, Directi, British Council etc

Student Engagement & Outreach

• Advisor, Co-Curricular and University Techfest (Anokha) Convener (2011-2019). Anokha is the one of the top techfests in India and the first to have United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) accreditation.
• Associate Site Director @ Coimbatore campus, ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Asia Pacific Region – Amritapuri site, which is the Semifinals of the ACM World Championship/Olympics of Collegiate Programming (2006, 2010-2018)
• Student Branch Coordinator, Computer Society of India (CSI) student branch (2007 onwards). Instrumental in winning Best CSI Student branch for Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The student branch was selected among from almost 1000 colleges and universities in India with CSI institutional memberships and student branches and this is a record recognition for any university in India. Organized the major events of the student chapter, the Regional Student Convention (RSC) in 2011 and 29th National Student Convention (NSC) in 2013.
• Magazine Editor (2000-2018). 2016 and 2017 editions of this annual college magazine had messages from the President and Prime Minister of India.
• Organizing Committee member, South Zone Inter-University Table tennis (2011, 2017) and Chess (2015) & Football (2015) tournaments of Association of Indian Universities (AIU)
• Student Association, “TITAN” coordinator, Information Technology department (2000-2006)

Conferences @ Amrita

• Publicity & Industry Relations Chair, IEEE INDICON 2018, 15th IEEE India Council International conference held from 16 to 18 December, 2018. This is the biggest and premier IEEE event in India
• Organizing Chair, NAAC Sponsored National Seminar on “Design of Curriculum for Sustainable and Societal Development: A Road Map” on 12th and 13th August, 2016
• Coordinator, 2nd IETE Student Forum National Congress 2015, the premier student event of the IETE professional body
• Host Coordinator for Launch of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Worldwide Rankings by Subject 2014 during ET MasterClass Shine Summit on Higher Education: Innovation and Excellence held on 25th February, 2014. This is the first time an international ranking agency has released a World University Rankings (WUR) list in India.
• Organizing Secretary & Program Committee member for International Conference on Interdisciplinary Advances in Applied Computing (ICONIAAC) 2014.
• Organizing Co-chair, 15th International Conference on Distributed Computing and Networking (ICDCN) 2014 – one of the top distributed computing conferences in the world, Ranked as ‘B’ in Computing Research and Education (CORE) conference rankings
• Program Coordinator, IEEE All India Student Congress (AISC) 2013 – Top IEEE student event in India
• Convener & Organizing Chair, CSI 29th National Student Convention (NSC) 2013 – oldest computer science students conference in India being held since 1986
• Coordinator, IETE National Technical Paper Contest (NTPC) 2012
• Publicity Chair, 1st IEEE International Conference on Technology Enhanced Education 2012
• Organizing Secretary, CSI Regional Student Convention 2011
• Organizing Secretary, IETE South Zonal seminar on Networking Paradigms and Cyber Security 2010
• Organizing Secretary, Amrita-IBM International Conference on Cloud Computing, Smart Grid and Green IT 2009
• Organizing Secretary, AICTE sponsored National Seminar on Mobile & Network Security and Cryptographic Protocols 2007
• Local Arrangements Chair, Launch of Indo_US collaborative initiative in Higher Education and EDUSAT network by then Indian President, Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in 2005
• Organizing Secretary, International Colloquium on Digital Libraries 2005

Service to Profession and Society

Other University Service

• Visiting faculty, University of California, San Diego (2003)
• Visiting faculty, Sofia University, Bulgaria as an Erasmus Mundus fellow (2009)
• Member, Expert Committee for conferring autonomy status on institutions of University Grants Commission (UGC) (2019 onwards)
• External Expert member, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of
  • Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati (2018 onwards)
  • Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering & Technology, Coimbatore (2019 onwards)
• Member, Board of Studies of:
  • Hindustan Institute of Technology, Coimbatore (2019-2022)
  • Kalaignar Karunanidhi Institute of Technology, Coimbatore (2019-2022)
  • Dr. G.R. Damodaran College of Science (Autonomous), Coimbatore (2016-2019)
  • Karpagam Academy for Higher Education, Coimbatore (2011-2013)
  • Sri Krishna College of Arts and Sciences, Coimbatore (2011-2013)
• Chairman & Expert member for syllabus re-orientation of B.Tech (Agricultural Information Technology) of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore (2017, 2019)
• Member, Governing council, Nehru Institute of Technology, Coimbatore (2016-2017)
• Member, Expert Committee for selection of all enterprise software purchases of the Coimbatore corporation (2011)

Mentoring

• Reviewer, Fulbright-Nehru Specialist Program of United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) (2019)
• Panel expert, Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) (2019 onwards)
• Mentor, Atal Tinkering Labs, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Aayog (2018 onwards)
• Mentor for iB Hubs, Pan India Start-Up Hub (2016 onwards)
• Career Counseling for school students after 10th and 12th standards (2014 onwards)

Editorial Service

• Editorial Committee member, IEEE Region 10 Newsletter (2019 onwards). IEEE R10 Today is the newsletter of the Asia-Pacific region of IEEE with almost 1.5 lakh members including Japan, China, Singapore, Australia and India
• Editor, Computer Society of India (CSI) Communications (2017, 2018). This is the oldest computer science journal & magazine in India being published for last 43 years with a circulation of 151,000. Ranks along with Digit, Chip, and Dataquest as a widely circulated computer science publication in India. Started a history series and tech leader interview series in the tenure as editor with interviews of prominent personalities such as Dr. Deepak B. Phatak, Padmashri awardee and e-education pioneer from IIT Bombay; Dr. Gulshan Rai, then National Cyber Security Coordinator, Government of India and Prof. Mike Hinchey, President, International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP)
• Columnist & science writer with articles, Op-eds and columns published in reputed publications like University News of Association of Indian Universities (AIU), IEEE India Info newsletter for IEEE India Council, Career 360 & Higher Education Review magazines and Dream 2047 published by Department of Science & technology (DST) of Government of India
• Chair, Publications Committee and Editor, IEEE MAS Link newsletter, IEEE Madras Section (2016, 2017)
• Associate Editor of Computer Society of India (CSI) Transactions on ICT published by Springer (2012 onwards)
• Editorial board member of :
  • International Journal of Data Modeling & Knowledge Management (2011)
  • MASAUM Journal of Software Engineering (2012)
  • International Journal of Recent Research Aspects (2016)
  • International Journal of Institutional & Industrial Research (2016)

Leadership Positions in Professional Bodies and Industry Associations

• Founder Treasurer, ACM Coimbatore chapter (2018)
• Honorary Treasurer, Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) Coimbatore center (2010-2020). Expanded IETE movement in Tamil Nadu by starting 3 centers and over 100 student chapters in universities and colleges. The IETE Coimbatore center has provided over Rs. 25 lakhs of funding support for various labs, conferences and workshops of Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore.
• Computer Society of India (CSI) Distinguished Speaker (2015-2018)
• Chair, National Students Committee & National Student Coordinator (NSC), Computer Society of India (CSI) (2016-2017). 8th NSC in the history of CSI
• Member, National Students Committee & Regional Student Coordinator (RSC), Region 7 (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry), Computer Society of India (CSI) (2014-2015)
• Member, National Students Committee & State Student Coordinator (SSC) – Tamil Nadu, Computer Society of India (CSI) (2013-2014)
• Secretary, IEEE Education Society, India Council chapter (2015, 2016)
• Vice-Chair, IEEE Education Society, India Council chapter (2013, 2014)
• Joint Secretary, IEEE Computer Society, India Council chapter (2014, 2015, 2016)
• Student Activities Chair (SAC), IEEE Computer Society, India Council chapter (2013)
• Chair, Industry Outreach, IEEE Education Society, India Council chapter (2012)
• Member, Executive Committee, IEEE Madras section (2012-2014)
• Secretary, IEEE Education Society chapter, IEEE Madras section (2013, 2014)
• Member, National Students Committee and National Quiz Coordinator (NQC), Computer Society of India (CSI) (2011-2013)
• Honorary Secretary, Computer Society of India (CSI) Coimbatore chapter (2010-2012)
• Managing Committee member, Computer Society of India (CSI) Coimbatore chapter (2007-2013)
• Founder Honorary Secretary, IETE Coimbatore center (2008-2010)
• Honorary Secretary, IETE Coimbatore sub-center (2006-2008)
• Executive Committee member, IETE Coimbatore sub-center (2004-2006)
• Member, ICT panel of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Coimbatore zone (2009-2014)

Conferences

• Has emerged as one of the most prolific technical and motivational speakers in the region having inaugurated/keynoted over 250 technical conferences, workshops, associations and events including prestigious events such as of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Connect, NASSCOM Foundation CSR Leadership conference, Indian Science Congress (ISCA), NBA World Summit of Accreditation (WOSA) etc
• Scientific and Program Committee member for 100+ international/national conferences in USA, Canada, France, Belgium, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, UAE, Oman, Brazil etc
• Has the unique distinction of organizing the top student events of 4 professional bodies namely IEEE, CSI, IETE and ACM in India viz. IEEE All India Student Congress (AISC) 2013, CSI 29th National Student Convention (NSC) 2013, IETE Student Forum National Congress 2015 and nine editions of ACM International Collegiate Programming contest (ICPC).
• Member, Organizing Committee (OC), CSI 2016, 51st Annual Convention of Computer Society of India Organizing Committee member for IEEE Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Conference (R10 HTC) 2014
• Was a member of the Indian delegation to ACM ICPC World Finals – World Championship of Programming at Orlando in May 2011 which made a bid to host the ICPC World Finals in India
• Organizing Joint Secretary, CSI 25th National Student Convention (NSC) 2009
• Coordinator, Network Forensics tutorial, IFIP Networking 2010 at IIT Madras

Awards, Fellowships and Achievements

• Star faculty of Amrita, gifted & highly rated teacher, resourceful administrator, outstanding organizer, astute researcher and accomplished compere. Is master of ceremony for major university events like convocations and major launches.
• Has been regularly getting one of the highest points in the Faculty Appraisal among all faculty of Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore since 2010 and approval rating of 90% in UCSD (2003)
• Best Faculty of the Year (2018) conferred by Computer Society of India (CSI) and Free & Open Source Software in Education (FOSSEE) initiative of IIT Bombay under MHRD National Mission on Education using ICT at IIT Bombay, Mumbai on 22 February, 2018. Award was presented by Dr. D.B. Pathak, Padmashri awardee and Professor at IIT Bombay, Mumbai and jury included Dr. S.S. Mantha, Former Chairman, AICTE
• Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) Fellow (2017)
• Global Chapter Achievement award of IEEE Education Society (2013). As Vice-Chair of the IEEE Education Society, India council, was one of the 4 officers to be presented with IEEE citations at Frontiers in Education (FIE) 2013 conference at Oklahoma in October, 2013. This is the first time that India features in this award. Previous two year award winners were Hong Kong and Spain Chapters of IEEE Education Society
• ASDF Award for Best Academic Administrator (2012). Award presented by Dr. Olivier Crepin LeBlond, Chair, ALAC of ICANN, one of the bodies in Internet governance
• Computer Society of India (CSI) Academic Excellence award for prolific publishing in international conferences (2016)
• CSI Academic Excellence award for maximum publishing in the CSI Communications journal, oldest Computer Science journal in India (2014, 2013, 2011)
• Erasmus Mundus fellowship (2009)
• Instrumental in CSI Coimbatore chapter winning best regional chapter award in India five times, of which the 2011 win, in his role as Secretary, was the first time in Category B in the chapter’s 27 year history.