Director

He joined the Department of Civil Engg, IIT Kgp, in 1994, after a full time UG teaching experience of 5+ years {in SDM Coll of Engg & Tech (SDMCET), dhArwAD, KA and KLE Tech University, BVB campus HubbaLLi, KA as well as in Clemson University, Clemson SC, USA}. During his long association with IIT Kgp, he has the following major milestones to his credit:

1.  Co-authored a text book on ‘Environmental Hydrology and Hydraulics’ published by Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, USA in 2006.

2.  Co-ordinated two All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) sponsored short term courses [in 1998-99 and in 2010-11 on ‘Sustainable Development through Integrated Water Resources Planning and Mgt’ and on ‘Green Infrastructure’, respectively].

3. Served a Dean, Faculty and subsequently as Dean, Faculty of Engg and Architecture (FoEA) for 2.5 years [starting from Apr 2020] till Sep 2022.

4. Visited and presented a technical paper each [as lead author/sole author] :

   a) In Three Gorges Dam Project City, Yichang, Hubei, China [in 1999, on ‘A small Hydropower project proposal in Sub Himalayan W Bengal’].

   b) In Houston, Texas, USA [in 2006 on ‘Holistic Environmental Education through sustainable Habitats’].

   c) In Univ of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius [in 2010 on ‘Qualitative & quantitative water conservation considerations’].

   d) Australia India Water Centre (AIWC@5) Partner Forum and International Symposium organized by the Australia India Water Centre at Sydney, Australia [November 2025]

He has served IIT Kgp as Asst Warden/ Warden/ Coordinating Warden [Allotment] for 7+ years; as Engg Drawing & Computer Graphics Freshman course Coordinator for 8+ years and as Chairman, Students' Brotherhood Fund Committee (SBFC) for 12+ years. In IIT Kgp, the Team led by Professor dEsAi [along with two Associate Deans of FoEA] was looking after the student and faculty related academic affairs, in 12 out of 19 departments, 6 out of 15 centers and 6 out of 15 schools, during Oct 2020 - Sep 2022.

At the National level, he is presently serving as:-

1. An Executive Committee (EC) member, AICTE

2. A Board of Governors (BoG) Member for the National Institute for Technical Teachers Training & Research (NITTTR) Kolkata, WB,

3. A BoG Member, Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER), Thiruvanthapuram, KEraLA (KL),

4. A BoG Member, IIIT RAichUr, KA].

5. Prior to that he also served as Officiating Chairperson, BoG of IIT dhArwAD, Officiating Chairperson, BoG, IIIT dhArwAD, Officiating Director, IIIT dhArwAD.

6. An EC member, Visvesvaraya Technological University, BeLagAvi, KA and shouldered many other administrative responsibilities.

Professor dEsAi has delivered many prestigious invited talks/ lectures in the recent past [some of them are as follows] :

1. 2nd Founders’ Day Oration, Shri dharmasthaLa ManjunAthEswar (SDM) University, dhArwAD, KA [November 2022].

2. 4th AN KhOslA Memorial Lecture in the Water Resources Development and Mgt (WRDM) Dept, IIT Roorkee, UttarAkhaND (UA), [January 2023].

3. Foundation Day Lecture in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) National Institute of Traditional Medicine (NITM), BeLagAvi, KA [May 2023].

4. Dr. S RadhAkriSHNan Memorial Lecture, KarnATaka Univ. dhArwAD (KUD), KA [September 2023].

5. International Symposium on Digital Libraries, Sustainable Development in Education (DLSDE-2023), IIT Kharagpur, WB [November 2023].

6. Expert Talk on “Planning a Net Zero Water-Energy-Waste Academic Campus” in the GESH (Green Energy and Sustainability Hub) Sustainability Conclave held at IIT Bombay [December 2024]

7. Health, Wellness and Human Values through Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) [MNNIT (MotilAl Nehru National Institute of Technology) PrayAgrAj, {January 2025}; NIT (National Institute of Technology) Warangal {February 2025}].

8. Lecture on “Holistic Environmental Education for Accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” at NIT Pondicherry on [April 2025].

9. Distinguished Speaker at the Bengaluru Skill Summit 2025 organized by the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood (SDEL), Government of Karnataka at BengaLUru [November 2025].

10. Keynote Speaker at the International Conference on Sustainability, Circularity, Outreach and Policy for Environment (SCOPE 2025) at IIT Kanpur and presented a topic named “Planning a Net Zero Water-Energy-Waste Academic Campus through Design and/or Retrofitting” [November 2025].

Professor dEsAi has professional interests in Integrated Watershed Mgt (IWM), flood/ drought mitigation/mgt, green infrastructure (i.e., climate resilient water and/ or energy related infrastructure), promoting voluntary afforestation through Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) on “VarSHA  nakshatrANi / Vriksha nakshtrANi” (i.e., precipitation constellations/ vegetation constellations), Indianization of Roman Script [for ensuring proper transliteration into Indian Languages] Achieving Health, Wellness and Human Values also through Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), as well as in linking modern science and technology with scientific and technical material available in classical Indian languages like Samskrita, KannaDa, etc.