Speaker Name : Prof (Dr.) B. Ravi

About Speaker : Dr. B. Ravi is a product of three well-known institutions: NIT Rourkela where he did his B.E. in 1986, IISc Bangalore for Masters and Ph.D., and IIT Bombay, where he is Institute Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He held visiting appointments at West Virginia (in 1996), Purdue University (in 2006), and at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore (in 2016). Prof. Ravi works in two areas: metal casting and medical devices, and heads the twin labs E-Foundry and BETiC (Biomedical Engineering and Technology incubation Centre) with several multi-disciplinary multi-institution R&D projects with over Rs. 500 million of R&D funding. He has guided 14 Ph.D. & 75 Masters students, published 250 technical papers, filed 18 patents, and a book ‘Metal Casting’ with 10,000 copies in circulation. He gave 300 talks in conferences and institutes and conducted 60 training courses benefitting over 2000 engineers and teachers. During the last 25 years, Prof. Ravi developed several novel technologies: a design for castability (in 1992), rapid tooling (1996), 3D printed medical models (2006), and Cloud-based simulation (2012). His AutoCAST software is used in 100+ SME foundries, and online E-Foundry has over 70,000 visitors worldwide. He has mentored several medical device innovators like a digital stethoscope, laparoscopic cauterizer, orthopedic surgery planner and prosthetic leg, which have been transferred to industry, NGOs or hospitals. The above work won several prestigious awards, such as DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Gold Medal- twice, and covered in the media. His book: ‘Made in My India: The Past, Present and Future of Indian Manufacturing Industry’, received an award by then-Prime Minister Shri A.B. Vajpayee in 2003. Prof. Ravi represented India thrice at World Foundry Congresses: in Germany (1989), USA (1996) and Spain (2014). In the last three years, he was invited by top institutes across India, as well as from UK, USA and Taiwan to share his thoughts on collaborative translational research. At the national level, Prof. Ravi serves as an advisory committee member for several Government agencies (like DST, DBT and DHI), as well as institutes including BKL Walawalkar Hospital, Dervan; LN Mittal Institute of Info Tech, Jaipur; and VJTI, Mumbai. He is Associate Editor of Indian Foundry Journal as well as Sadhana, and editorial board member of several international journals. Prof. Ravi is committed to indigenous product innovation; working with teachers to enhance the employability of students in the manufacturing sector, and contributing to thought leadership and policy-making at various levels.