UPES appoints new Deans for School of Engineering and School of Modern Media
New Delhi: UPES, a leading multi-disciplinary university announced the appointment of Dr. Nalin Mehta as Dean – School of Modern Media and Dr. Gurvinder Singh Virk as Dean – School of Engineering effective January 2021. In their new roles they will be responsible for driving academic excellence, faculty development and engagement, industry outreach, among others.
Dr. Nalin Mehta takes the helm of the School of Modern Media after serving as an Executive Editor with The Times of India. Prior to this he had been associated with The Times of India as its Consulting Editor and with India Today (English TV news channel) as the Managing Editor. He is an award-winning social scientist and author of five best-selling and critically acclaimed books, including India On Television (winner of the Asian Publishing Award for Best Book on Asian Media, 2009) and Behind a Billion Screens (Shortlisted as Business Book of the Year, Tata Literary Live, 2015). Dr. Mehta has been adjunct professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and has held senior positions with the Global Fund in Geneva, Switzerland, and UNAIDS. Dr. Nalin Mehta holds a Doctor of Philosophy, Politics from La Trobe University, Melbourne, MA International Relations from University of East Anglia, UK (as DFID Commonwealth scholar) and BA (Honours) Journalism, University of Delhi.
Dr. Gurvinder Singh Virk, Dean, School of Engineering is an electrical engineer specializing in control systems and robotics in his academic and commercial careers. He has an expertise in wide areas of robotic control theory and its application to real- world scenarios and have specialist knowledge in model-based, control, intelligent embedded systems, neural-networks, and evolutionary system. Dr. Virk serves as a Trustee and Treasurer of CLAWAR Association Limited, UK, which promotes advancement of education and science for the public benefit in the field of robotics and associated technologies. Prior to his new role, Dr. Virk was the Chairman & CEO of Endoenergy Systems Limited. He had also been associated with esteemed universities like University of Lincoln, London South Bank University, IIT – Ropar, Massey University, New Zealand. Dr. Virk studied Electronic & Electrical Engineering from The University of Manchester and holds a PhD from Imperial College, London.
Welcoming the new deans, Dr. Sunil Rai, Vice Chancellor, UPES said, “We are delighted to have Dr. Nalin Mehta and Dr. Gurvinder Singh Virk join us in our journey towards holistic development of our students, overhaul of pedagogy, leading to academic excellence. Their extensive experience and passion for their respective industries will benefit the students immensely by way of on-campus and off-campus experiences, future-oriented curriculums, and meaningful industry outreach.”