Professor Noel Lindsay is the Dean of Business at Adelaide Business School and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Entrepreneurship) at the Adelaide University, Australia, where he also serves as Professor of Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation. He holds a BCom (Hons) and PhD, is a Member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners and Chartered Accountants ANZ, and is a Fellow of CPA Australia.

Prof. Lindsay provides strategic leadership to the Adelaide Business School and the University’s ThincLab Innovation Hubs, driving institutional change toward a more entrepreneurial university culture. He has previously served as Academic Director of the University’s Ngee Ann-Adelaide (NAA) Campus in Singapore, Head of the School of Marketing and Management, and Acting Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion. Internationally experienced, he played a key role in developing an Australian university presence in South Africa with campuses in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town. Beyond academia, he has founded and scaled ventures in Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa, with active involvement in venture capital fundraising and investment.

His outreach interests include community engagement through online education, blended learning, and digital platforms like MOOCs and SPOCs. His research focuses on business and social entrepreneurship, emphasizing the empowerment of disadvantaged communities through entrepreneurial activity.

PDr Prahalada Ramarao is a renowned missile and rocket scientist with distinguished tenures at both DRDO and ISRO. An alumnus of Bangalore University and IISc, he holds a Master’s in Aeronautical Engineering with a specialisation in Rockets and Missile Systems, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad.

Over five decades, Dr Ramarao has led pivotal roles in missile development, aerodynamics, propulsion systems, and aerospace innovation. As Director of DRDL (1997–2005), he led major projects such as the AKASH missile system and the BrahMos joint venture. At DRDO HQ, he was instrumental in strengthening international collaborations, driving technology transfer initiatives, and shaping DRDO’s industry interface.

His numerous honours include the Padma Shri (2015), Scientist of the Year (DRDO), the Eminent Engineers Award by the Institution of Engineers (Delhi), and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hyderabad Management Association, among others.

Dr. Shivakumar is a leading architect of U.S. technology and innovation policy with over 20 years of experience. He specializes in securing global scientific leadership, advanced manufacturing, and regional economic development. His work is frequently cited in federal legislation, most notably influencing the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021

Prof. M. P. Gupta is the Director of IIM Lucknow and a pioneer in the field of e-governance in India. Formerly the Head of Management Studies at IIT Delhi, his research has been foundational to national programs like Digital India. With over 260 publications and three decades of experience, he is a leading voice on integrating technology with public policy and management education

Dr. Debabrata Das is serving as Director of IIIT-Bangalore (IIIT-B). Before joining IIIT-B in 2002, he had served at G S Sanyal School of Telecommunication at IIT Kharagpur and later at Kirana Networks in New Jersey, USA. He is Project Officer of National Mission for Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) of IIITB COMET Foundation in the areas of Advanced Communication System, from DST, Govt of India. He was PI of multiple sponsored projects from Intel, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Motorola Research, Tejas Networks, Nokia, Govt. of India, in the areas of Broadband Wireless MAC/QoS/Energy-saving, and IMS. His main areas of teaching and research interest are Wireless Access Network's MAC, QoS, Power saving and IoT.

He has more than 225 peer reviewed papers in different Transaction/Journals and International Conferences. Dr. Das has received 9 best paper awards. He has 12 US/Indian patents and 10 more are under review. He and his wireless network team had contributed ideas to IEEE Wireless Broadband Standard. He has received Prof. K. Sreenivasan Memorial Award 2017 for excellent teaching and Prof. S V C Aiya Memorial Award 2022 for Research in the areas of Telecommunication from IETE. Dr. Das has received India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) Technovisionary Award (Techno Mentor) 2026 and IIT - Kharagpur Distinguished Alumnus Award 2025. Dr. Das is recipient of IEEE Bangalore Section Medal-of-Honor 2025, IEEE Region-10 Outstanding Volunteer Award 2020, Global IEEE MGA Achievement Award 2012 and Outstanding Volunteer Award IEEE Bangalore Section 2008. He is Fellow-IETE, Fellow-IE and SM-IEEE and Member of National Academy of Science India (NASI). He was Chairman of IEEE India Council for the year 2023 and 2024 and IEEE Bangalore Section 2017. Dr. Das is in Steering, Empower and Technical committees of multiple Departments of Government of India and Government of Karnataka.

Professor Krishnan writes extensively on strategy and innovation, and has more than 200 publications spanning outlets that include refereed journals, the popular press, case studies, book chapters, and books. These include two books on innovation: From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation: The Challenge for India, published in February 2010, and 8 Steps to Innovation: Going from Jugaad to Excellence (co-authored with Vinay Dabholkar, and published by HarperCollins in March 2013). The latter won the Best Book Award 2013-14 from the Indian Society for Training and Development.

Prof. Milind Atrey is the Deputy Director (ART) and INOX Chair Professor at IIT Bombay. A former Dean of R&D, he is a leading authority on cryogenic systems and heat exchangers. He has been instrumental in fostering India’s deep-tech ecosystem and serves on the International Cryogenic Engineering Committee. Prof. Atrey is an alumnus of IIT Bombay (PhD) and has extensive international experience in the UK and Germany.

Prof. B.S. Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad, Officiating Director, IIITDM Kurnool and President, The Indian Institute of Metals is a Metallurgist and Materials Scientist and has been associated with three IITs for the last 33 years (IIT Kharagpur (1992-2004), IIT Madras (2004-2019) and IIT Hyderabad (since 2019)).

He has pioneered the fields of non-equilibrium processing of materials, high entropy alloys and other advanced materials. Prof. Murty has authored 500+ journal publications, 4 books, supervised 57 PhDs, completed about 75 sponsored research projects, and filed 20+ patents. He is a recipient of numerous awards including Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award and is a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, ASM International, Indian National Academy of Engineering and all the three Science Academies of India. He has an Honorary PhD from Swinburne University and Deakin University.