THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : V P Mahadevan Pillai has been appointed as the Kerala University vice-chancellor. Governor P Sathasivam, the Chancellor of Universities in the state, chose Pillai from among the three names shortlisted by the search committee. Mahadevan Pillai is currently serving as the head of the Department of Optoelectronics in the university. He gets a four-year term as the vice-chancellor.
A native of Pongumoodu in Thiruvananthapuram, Pillai has also held the position of the chairman of the Board of Studies (Optoelectronics), Kerala University. Earlier, he had served as the member of the Board of Studies in CUSAT, Kochi; Periyar University, Alagappa University and Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur. He was also a member of the Kerala University academic council, senate, CSS academic committee and faculty of applied sciences.
He is also a life member of the Material Research Society of India, Indian Science Congress Association, Optical Society of India and the Indian Society for Non-destructive Testing. Pillai is a former chairman of KCSTE Research Fellowship 2018 examination committee and the university nominee of academic council, Fathima National College, Kollam.
Pillai is a visiting professor of Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany (Institute of Sensorics and Information Science) and resource person for several UGC-sponsored refresher programmes, seminars, workshops and short-term courses.