Prof. Laxmidhar Behera who is currently the Poonam and Prabhu Goel Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur has been appointed as the new Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi. Besides this, he is an affiliate faculty member of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). 

“It is a great honour and simultaneously a huge responsibility. I will strive hard for the all-round and holistic development of the institute where culture of excellence will be a norm,” said Dr Laxmidhar Behera. 

Considering his educational background, Dr Behera earned his B.Sc (Engg) and M.Sc (Engg) from the National Institute of Technology Rourkela in 1988 and 1990 respectively. In 1997, he received a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Welcoming the new Director, Dr A.K. Chaturvedi, the current acting Director of IIT Mandi and Director of IIT Roorkee, said, “Prof. Behera is a renowned academic, I am sure his inspirational leadership of IIT Mandi will ensure growth, along with continuity, on the solid foundation laid by the founding Director Prof. Timothy Gonsalves.” 

Prof. Laxmidhar Behera, over the past 26 years of his research and teaching career has contributed significantly to areas such as Intelligent Systems and Control, Vision-based Robotics, Warehouse Automation, Brain-Computer-Interface and Drone-based Pipeline Inspection Systems. In addition to establishing industrial collaboration with TCS, Renault Nissan, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore, he had made significant technological development in areas such as robotics-based ware-house automation, vision and drone guided driver assistance system, and drone guided pipeline inspection systems. 

Between 2007 and 2009, he worked as a Reader at the University of Ulster, United Kingdom. In addition, he served as a visiting professor at ETH Zurich and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FHG), Germany. He supervised 22 PhD candidates to completion. Besides three graduate-level textbooks, he has authored 110 peer-reviewed journal articles, 208 conference papers, and 17 book chapters.