User:Ssmantha/sandbox

Dr. S S Mantha, an eminent academician and an able administrator, is Former Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, AICTE (2009 to 2012). Having joined AICTE in March 2009 as Vice Chairman and quickly elevated to being the Acting Chairman, he has been at the forefront of bringing in the radical changes for transparency and accountability in its administration. On completion of his tenure at AICTE, Dr. Mantha worked as Professor of Robotics, Control Theory and AI in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at VJTI, Mumbai and superannuated on May 31, 2016.

Mantha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the M S University, Baroda, and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai. From humble beginnings, he progressed to be the Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, a position he held for 6 years at VJTI, subsequent to which he was appointed Pro Vice Chancellor, SNDT Women’s University, by the Government of Maharashtra, where he served for two years with distinction. Mantha advises the Government of Maharashtra on IT initiatives including the Citizen Facilitation Centre of Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) which won National and International awards.

He is widely travelled internationally having represented several committees on Education of the Government of India in different Countries. He worked for the entry of Indian accreditation system to be a part of the Washington accord. He was instrumental in creating the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework which was later re christened as the National Skill Qualification Framework. The credit framework for Skills is his contribution to the World of Skills. As a part of this process he has interacted with several community colleges across the World and signed some meaningful MOU’s, one notable being with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).

As Chairman of the AICTE, he created the regulations for the Blended learning paradigm for the Country and the regulations for twinning programs in Engineering and Technology. As a proponent of Fraunhofer and Max Planck type model Institutions to be setup for productization for Make in India, he initiated a pilot project in AICTE.

Mantha is currently Adjunct Prof. at the National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore and advises the Government of Karnataka on Skills.

Academics and Administration

 * Currently Adjunct professor at NIAS, Bangalore.
 * Formerly Professor and Head Department of Mechanical Engineering, VJTI
 * Dean faculty of Technology, University of Mumbai
 * Pro Vice Chancellor, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
 * Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, GOI

Other Boards and Committees

 * Advisor, Government of Karnataka, Skills Mission,
 * IT Expert Government of Maharashtra
 * Lead Expert, NeGD, ministry of Electronics, GOI
 * Advisor to Universities on Quality Improvement

Contributions to the Higher and Technical Education of India

 * E Governance at AICTE for Transparency and Accountability
 * Several IT initiatives in SNDT University and Mumbai University
 * Collaborations and MOU’s with the World Community Colleges and Universities
 * Work on National Skills Qualification Framework
 * Work on Blended Learning paradigm
 * Several Quality initiatives

Interests

 * Higher Education
 * Accreditation and Assessment
 * Skills for all, especially the underprivileged
 * Blended Learning
 * Digital Initiatives for improving quality of Life

Honours and Awards

 * Maharashtra State award for Best Teacher in Engineering and Technology for the year 2001-2002
 * IInd prize at all India paper presentation held in September 1999, for the paper titled “Improving Technical Education - a practical approach” conducted by National Board of Accreditation, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi.
 * INFOCOM CMAI 4thNational Telecom Award 2010 for best “e-governance initiative in Higher Education”, presented on 20/05/2010
 * HR Nexus – the HR Network, “Leadership award in the field of Education, 2010”
 * Silver Edge Award for the e-governance project of AICTE instituted by United Business Media and Information Week
 * Good Governance National Technology Award, 2010 for the E-Governance initiative of AICTE instituted by the Good Governance Magazine.
 * 5th National Telecom Awards 2011 (NTA 2011), awarded for "Excellence in Education through e - governance" on 17/05/11 by CMAI and Star News
 * 6th National Telecom Award 2012 for Best Enabler for Technical Education in India
 * 7th NTA ICT World Communication Award 2013 for Best E-Initiative in Education Sector
 * Life time achievement Award in the field of Education, SOE Global Education Awards, 2013 – 2014
 * SKOCH Order of Merit Award for e – Governance at AICTE, 2014, given at the 37th SKOCH awards Summit on Minimum Government and Maximum Governance
 * Recognised as Fellow IIIE

Personal Life
A second generation Mumbaikar, Dr. Mantha lives in Mumbai with his wife and daughter. His wife, Mrs. Shailaja Mantha is a practising Clinical Psychologist and English Lecturer at G N Khalsa College. His daughter, Manasa Mantha is a Marketing Communications Professional after having completed her Engineering and MBA from Mumbai University.