The Director

Born in Pune in 1949, Dr. Sadanand Gokhale did his schooling in Pune and Sholapur. He obtained B.Tech and M.Tech in Aeronautical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai in 1973. He proceeded to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he completed M.S. and Ph.D. After a brief stint as PDF he returned to India and joined Department of Aerospace Engineering in I.I.T.- Madras towards the end of 1980. His broad area of specialization is in Rockets and Missile Propulsion, CFD, Simulation and Optimization. His interest in computers and academics saw him trying his hand in use of Multi-media in School and Engineering education.

Dr. Gokhale held various administrative positions during his stint at I.I.T.- Madras. The major highlight of it was as Management Representative, I.I.T.- Madras, was the first research University achieving ISO 9001 certification. The Industry participation in the non-academic activities of the Institute was another welcome change during 90s. Innovative initiatives for the students was attempted and were successful, ranging from vehicle free/ plastic free/ cigarette free student hostel sector, battery operated electric vans for the green campus, sports complexes, personal accident and mediclaim medical insurance etc. He is trained moderator in German Methodology Goal Oriented Project Planning and has facilitated well over dozen projects for National and International Government Bodies in scientific and social projects.

Apart from arranging short term workshops for industry professionals as a routine academic activity, Dr. Gokhale has carried out research and consultancy work for predominantly defense and space organizations amounting to more than Rs.50 lakh. He continues to assist these agencies in flow and combustion simulations areas including hypersonic flows. He has guided number of undergraduate and post graduate projects.

He had a brief stint as the Director of NIT Calicut during 7/2003 and 4/2005, where lot of initiatives were started to upgrade educational quality. He has served on various committees of national bodies including AICTE and MHRD. Music and reading books (as and when time permits) are his favorite past times. Once upon a time he used to whack a ball on tennis court as well - right now watching tennis and cricket on TV is the best he can do, due to the tight time constraints.