Prof. VenkappayyA R. dEsAi is a distinguished Engg Academician with 33+ years of full time teaching experience, out of which 27+ years have been Indian Institute of Tech, Kharagpur (IIT Kgp), W Bengal (WB), India..
He obtained his B Engg {Civil} degree in 1983 from BVB Coll of Engg and Tech (BVBCET), HubbaLLi, KarnATaka (KA) [presently known as KLE Tech University]; M Tech {Hydraulic and Water Resources Engg (HWRE)} degree in 1986 from the Karnataka Regional Engg Coll (KREC), Surathkal [presently known as the National Institute of Tech, KA (NITK); PhD in Civil Engg in 1993 from Clemson Univ, Clemson, S Carolina (SC), USA.
He joined the Department of Civil Engg, in 1994, after a full time UG teaching experience of 5+ years {in SDM Coll of Engg & Tech (SDMCET), dhArwAD, KA and BVBCET HubbaLLi, KA as well as in Clemson Univ, Clemson SC, USA}. During his long association with IIT Kgp, he has the following milestones to his credit:
- Co-authored a text book on ‘Environmental Hydrology and Hydraulics’ published by Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, USA in 2006;
- Co-ordinated two All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) sponsored short term courses [in 1998-99 and in 2010-11 on ‘Sustainable Development through Integrated Water Resources Planning and Mgt’ and on ‘Green Infrastructure’, respectively];
- Served a Dean, Faculty and subsequently as Dean, Faculty of Engg and Architecture (FoEA) for 2.5 years [starting from Apr 2020] till Sep 2022 last week;
- Visited and presented a technical paper each [as lead author/sole author]:
a) In Three Gorges Dam Project City, Yichang, Hubei, China [in 1999, on ‘A small Hydropower project proposal in Sub Himalayan W Bengal’];
b) In Houston, Texas, USA [in 2006 on ‘Holistic Environmental Education through sustainable Habitats’];
c) In Univ of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius [in 2010 on ‘Qualitative & quantitative water conservation considerations’].
He has served IIT Kgp as National Service Scheme (NSS) Program Officer, for 3 years; as Asst Warden/ Warden/ Coordinating Warden Allotment, for 7+ years; as Engg Drawing & Computer Graphics Course Coordinator, for 8+ years and as Chairman, Students Brotherhood Fund Committee (SBFC), for 12+ years. In IIT Kgp, Professor Desai [along with his team of two Associate Deans of FoEA] was looking after the student and faculty related academic affairs, in 12 out of 19 departments, 6 out of 15 centers and 6 out of 15 schools, during Oct 2020 - Sep 2022.
At the National level, he is now serving as the Academic Advisory Committee (AAC) member, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC); as an Executive Committee (EC) member, AICTE; as a Member, Board of Governors (BoG), National Institute for Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTTR) Kolkata, WB; a Synergy Committee Member for NAAC, National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).
Professor Desai has professional interests in Integrated Watershed Mgt (IWM), flood/ drought mitigation/ mgt, green infrastructure (i.e., climate resilient water and/ or energy related infrastructure), promoting voluntary afforestation through Indian Knowledge System (IKS) on VarshA nakshatrANi /Vriksha nakshatrANi (i.e., precipitation constellations/ vegetation constellations) as well as in linking modern science and technology with scientific and technical material available in classical Indian languages like Samskrita, KannaDa, etc.