Rate My Professor V. Kamakoti

Veezhinathan Kamakoti is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and Engineering from Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, University of Madras, in 1989. He completed a Master of Science by research in 1992 and a PhD in 1995, both from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras. Following his doctorate, he undertook postdoctoral research at the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, from 1995 to 1997. Prior to joining IIT Madras as Assistant Professor in 2001, he worked as a Senior Design Engineer at ATI Research Silicon Valley Pvt Ltd. He was promoted through the faculty ranks and has served in administrative roles, including Associate Dean for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research. In January 2022, he was appointed Director of IIT Madras, a position he continues to hold. Kamakoti’s research specializations include secure systems engineering, computer architecture, and computer-aided design for VLSI design systems. He led the team that developed and booted India’s first indigenously designed microprocessor, SHAKTI, intended for applications in mobile computing and networking. He co-founded the Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems Engineering group at IIT Madras. Among his honors are the Padma Shri awarded in 2026, the Inaugural IIT Madras Young Faculty Recognition Award in 2007, the DRDO Academic Excellence Award in 2014, and the Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation National Fellowship in 2020. He has also served as Chairman of a task force on leveraging artificial intelligence appointed by the Union Commerce Ministry in 2017 and as a member of the National Security Advisory Board.