Dr. Rajesh H. Kulkarni is the Head of the Department – Information Technology at MVSR Engineering College, Hyderabad, a 42+ year legacy autonomous institution consistently ranked among the top engineering colleges in Telangana. He has also served at MVSR as Senior Associate Professor and Associate Head – Data Science, contributing to academic leadership, curriculum modernization, and research growth.

With 29+ years of academic, research, and administrative experience, Dr. Kulkarni has held pivotal roles across reputed institutions in Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Previously, he served as Professor & Director at Smt. Indira Gandhi College of Engineering, Navi Mumbai. He has been a Senior Mentor (Innovation Ecosystems) at the Ignition Incubation Center (IIC-India), Navi Mumbai, and a mentor to IPAdventures LLP, Pune, an IPR-focused startup.

A passionate educator, researcher, institution builder, and change agent, he has delivered 70+ workshops, FDPs, webinars, and invited talks, reaching 50,000+ faculty members, professionals, and students nationwide. His areas of expertise include Data Science, AI/ML, Explainable AI, Research Methodology, Intellectual Property Rights, and Academic Leadership.

He is the Founder of Uma Publications, Nanded, and CAVE Academy, Pune, and has authored 9 books, published 25+ research papers in SCI, SCOPUS, and UGC-CARE journals, and holds 11 published patents, 2 granted design patents, 1 trademark, and 1 copyright across Data Science, Machine Intelligence, IoT, Healthcare Analytics, Usability Engineering, and Intelligent Systems.

Dr. Kulkarni earned his B.E. (CSE) from Dr. BAMU, Aurangabad, M.Tech from JNTU Anantapur, and Ph.D. from JNTU Hyderabad, with a certification in Human–Computer Interaction from IDC, IIT Bombay.

His institutional contributions include serving as Program Chair/Organizer for DAPCom-2024 and IEEE INDIACom (ARSAMA-2022 & 2023), leading the Mission 300 Training Initiative, conducting career awareness programs across 11 cities and 60+ locations impacting 30,000+ students, enabling industry and international MOUs (AIT, Chulalongkorn University, PIM, MUST, IUKL), and contributing to NBA & NAAC accreditation, Board of Studies, curriculum design, and research ecosystem development.

Dr. Kulkarni is deeply committed to bridging academia, industry, research, and innovation, with a strong focus on outcome-based education, applied research, institutional excellence, and societal impact.