R10 LIFE MEMBER PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH –V K DAMODARAN

Kerala Section

Prof. V.K. Damodaran joined the league of more than 400,000 members of the prestigious professional society of electrical and electronics engineers viz., IEEE in 1981. He became a Senior Member in 1990 and Life Senior Member in 2012. Since the transition of Kerala to a Section from a sub-section under Bangalore section in 1984, Damodaran was associated with expanding the member strength and reach of IEEE in Kerala, as well as to the rest of India, through his multifarious professional activities and his official work of science and technology promotion.

Working as Newsletter editor of Kerala Section; as organizer of many conferences; as technical editor and author of engineering books in the local language and English; as IEEE Section executive, and as Head of the State Science and Technology administration set-up, Damodaran (endearingly called by colleagues as VKD), was the natural choice for being elected as the Chair of Kerala Section in 1991. As the India Council Newsletter Editor thereafter for 10 years in two spells; as the Executive Vice-Chair of IEEE India Council in 2001; as General Chair of ISGT Asia (Smart Grid) conference in 2011; as R10 Life Member Committee Chair in 2016; as MGA level Member of Life Member Committee in 2017 & 2018; as Member of sub-committees of IEEE EAB related to Engineering Projects in Community Services, Humanitarian Activities, Accreditation, Editing, Chair of Asia Teacher in Service, and the like; as Advisor or General/Technical Chair of several other international conferences organized by Kerala Section, and currently as the General Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference 2021, VKD has been a mentor, leader, or doer in spreading the message of IEEE in the Section, in India Council, in Region 10, and also globally.

Receiving 2012 R10 Historic Achievement Award for Renewable Energy Application, from Toshio Fukuda, then R10 Director & now Past President of IEEE at Chiang Mai, Thailand.

VKD has a unique style of turning his career into a hobby and hobby into a career; working with the people and working as a statutory officer; conducting research on the people and with the people as well as for the people; rising in protest as a consumer activist, protector of environment and nature; science popularizing; author & public speaker; broadcaster & community educator; quasi-judicial officer; director of several technical departments; international consultant (mainly for UN) on energy and environment, and even as Secretary to Government of Kerala. He has travelled to and worked in over 50 countries; taught at College of Engineering, Guindy (now Anna University) & CREC (now NIT Calicut) and served as Assistant Director & Head of Technical Sciences at State Institute of Languages Kerala, and as Regional Electrical Inspector to Govt. He has served as Founder Director of S&T and Environment and Energy Management Centre-Kerala as well as Founder Controller of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology; Managing Director of International Network on Small Hydro Power, Hangzhou, China and the supervisor of implementation of UNIDO Regional Centre on SHP (for Africa) in Abuja, Nigeria, and the like. In official positions and in IEEE, VKD is noted for his outreach and for creating an IEEE image of ethical engineering.

Receiving Kerala State Award for Life Time Achievement in Renewable Energy and greeted by the State Chief Minister Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan on 22 Feb 2021 at Trivandrum, India.

Public Awards that came in recognition of his work of 58 years, the latest being The Kerala State Renewable Energy Award 2019 (Lifetime Achievement Award for RE promotion in the State), Lifetime Achievement Award by Kerala Consumer Guidance Society, Lifetime Achievement (Section Chair) Award by IEEE India Council (2020), The TMA Gold Medal and Management Leadership Award 1999, Third Millennium Medal from IEEE President (2000), Outstanding Volunteer Award by India Council (2000), Historic Achievement Award for Application of Hybrid RE to remote rural areas in Africa by IEEE R10 (2012), IEEE EAB Award for design of outstanding teacher training module for early career faculty (2014), IEEE R10 Outstanding Contribution to Continuing Engineering Education Award (2014), Kerala State Award for Protection of Silent Valley Rainforests (2010), Energy Conservation Award by Energy Conservation Society (1996), and several others by Kerala Section over the years.

Currently, VKD is Chair of Kerala Section Consultants Network, and also the Chair of Kerala Section Grievance Redressal Committee. He is guiding the following institutions in an honorary capacity for the past decade or more:

With Co-awardee Ranjit R Nair, EAB Chair & Vice President of IEEE Dr. Sourabh Sinha and Ms. Karen Panetta, President IEEE-HKN at 2014 IEEE EAB award ceremony at New Jersey, USA
  • Chairman, Centre for Environment and Development
  • Chairman, Foundation for Advanced Clean Energy Studies
  • Chairman, Chakshumathi Assistive Technology Centre for the Blind
  • Chairman, Nature’s Green Guardians Foundation
  • President, Vakkom Moulavi Foundation Trust
  • Director and Mentor (R&D and Training) Team Sustain Ltd., Kochi [Solar & Waste to Energy]
  • Director General, Experience Foundation
  • Director General, International Non- Governmental Cooperation Organization for Renewable Energy (INGCORE)
  • Member of Kerala State Council for (and EC) Science, Technology and Environment
  • Board (and EC) of EMC-Kerala
  • Trainer & Chair of judging committees on innovations by school students and the youth nationally.

The vast knowledge fund and network of IEEE globally, nationally, regionally, and locally in Kerala, are the confidence giving elements for all these “wanted, can’t wait activities” in these present times.