Dr. Maheswari R
Principal - Rajalakshmi Institute of Technology

Dr. Maheswari R is an accomplished academic leader with over 24 years of experience spanning academia and industry. Her leadership roles at premier and top NIRF-ranked institutions have played a transformative role in shaping innovation, academic excellence, and forward-thinking education. A certified expert in Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning, she also holds a prestigious global certification as a Knime Data Analyst. Her research contributions are widely recognized, with publications in high-impact journals and over ₹2 Crore worth of research grants secured from national funding agencies such as AICTE, ICMR, and DST.
Dr. Maheswari R’s outstanding achievements have earned her multiple prestigious honors, including the MHRD’s Spoken Tutorial Leader Award, IEEE Women in Engineering Award, FOSSEE Master and Contributor Award, Best Faculty Award, Best Researcher Award, Best Alumni Chapter Award, Special Club Award (Event Management Club), Bhishma Acharya Award (2024), Dr. Abdul Kalam Award (2024), a Lifetime Achievement Award (2024), Academic Excellence Award (2025), As Dean of Innovation, she spearheaded the establishment of several multidisciplinary Centers of Excellence and led the Entrepreneurial Development Cell, inspiring students to engage in creative problem-solving, innovation, and research. Through her mentorship, students have excelled in Hackathons, project contests, and secured research internships at premier institutions like IITs, CSIR, and ISRO, thereby significantly enhancing the institution’s innovation ecosystem.
She spearheads innovations as the leader of the Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC), where she has been instrumental in achieving the maximum star rating for the institution. She also places strong emphasis on strategic and budget management by implementing data-driven budgeting strategies that ensure academic excellence while efficiently managing institutional resources. Furthermore, she plays a pivotal role in navigating accreditation and compliance processes such as ABET, NAAC, IQAC, and NBA, thereby ensuring the continuous delivery of world-class education and curriculum.
Beyond academics, Dr. Maheswari R has fostered meaningful global academic-industry collaborations through Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with reputed organizations and universities in USA, Malaysia, Oman, Microsoft, and Dell, opening up knowledge exchange, research partnerships, and internship opportunities for students. She has been instrumental in introducing more than ten new programs and specializations in emerging fields such as AI & ML, Cybersecurity, Data Science, and Big Data Analytics, aligning academic offerings with industry demands and technological advancements.
She has championed student-centered initiatives by enabling their participation in national and international internships, including placements at IIT Bombay, CSIR laboratories, ISRO, FLSmidth, GiBots, Technology Frontier, Nanoyatto, and OYO, among others. As a Zonal Officer for the Spoken Tutorial Project of IIT Bombay, she has led IT and software skill training programs across Tamil Nadu, promoting digital literacy among thousands of learners. In her leadership roles as Dean, Director, Head of Department, and Convener, she has implemented strategic planning and data-driven KPIs, conducted multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary campaigns, strengthened accreditation readiness, championed innovations through the Institution’s Innovation Council achieving five-star recognition, and promoted stakeholder engagement across industry, alumni, and parent communities. Her commitment to quality education, research excellence, innovation, and internationalization continues to drive Rajalakshmi Institute of Technology towards new heights of academic distinction and global recognition.

Dr. Sundar R
Director - Rajalakshmi Institute of Technology

Dr. Sundar completed his Bachelor's degree, B.E. (ECE), in 1979 at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and his Masters degree, M. Tech, in 1981 at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He obtained Ph.D in 1994 from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over 38 years of combined academic and industrial experience. He had been a faculty in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras from 1987 till 1999. From 1999 till 2011, he has been in the Industry driving, guiding and mentoring technical teams in state-of-the-art development and implementation of systems solutions and products. Listed below are some of the major activities handled by him when in Industry.

• System-on-Chip Architectures for VOIP Gateway with multiple RSIC processors and DSPs
• SoCs for multimedia Phone
• Custom Smartphone Implementation
• Real-time video streaming solutions over wireless network for military surveillance
• Hardware subsystem for helmet mounted Display, Camera and IR ranging solution

From November 2011, he was heading the Department of ECE at Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai. From 2014, he was heading the “Centre for Sponsored Research and Consultancy” and the "Centre of Excellence in Machine Vision - A TIFAC-CORE Lab"at Rajalakshmi Engineering College. Currently, he is the Director of Rajalakshmi Institute of Technology.
His areas of specialization include Machine-Vision Solutions, MEMS & Microfluidics, Video-Streaming-over-IP, System-on-Chip Architectures, Voice-over-Packet Systems, Embedded Systems Design, Digital Signal Processing, Speech Technologies, Digital Systems and VLSI Design.
He has several research publications & conference papers to his credit. He has several on-going and completed sponsored projects from DRDO-ER & IPR, DST-TSDP, DST-IDP, GTRE-DRDO, RCI-DRDO and DST-Sensors in different areas of technology.